The Tupelo journal., 1903-09-11
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
Lesson I'm the international Series
for October II, 19O3-God's
Covenant with David.
THE LESSON TEXT.
10 Ca,.,naI r.iTeA

saying,
s. Go and tell my servant David, Thus
saith the Lord Shalt thou build me an
house for me to dwell in?
g. Whereas l have not dwelt in any house
since the time that / brought up the chill
dren of Israel Out of Egypt, even to this
day. but have walked in a tent and in a
tabernacle
Z. In all the places wherein have walked
with all the children of Israel spake | a
word with any of the tribes of Israel, whom
l commanded TO feed my people Israel,
saying. Why build ye not Ne an house Of
cedar?
s. Now therefore so shalt thou say unto
Ny servant David, Thus saith the Lord Of
Hosts. ] took thee from the sheepcote.
from following the sheep, to be ruler over
My people, over Israel;
3. And l was with thee whithersoever
thou wentest and have cut off all thine
enemies out of thy sight, and have made
thee great name like unto tie name of
the great men that are in the earth.
10 Moreover l will appoint place for
Ny people Israel and will plant them, that
they may dwell in place Of their own.
and move no more; neither shall the chill
dren of wickedness afiict them any more,
as beforetime
II. And as since the time that command
ed judges to be over My people Israel, and
have caused thee to rest from all thine
enemies. Also the Lord telleth thee that
He will make thee an house.
II. And when thy days be fulfilled, and
thou shalt sleep with thy fathers. l will
set up thy seed after thee, which shall pro-
coed out of thy bowels. and will establish
his kingdom
10. He shall build an house for My name,
and l will stablish the throne of his king
dom for ever
IA. will be his father, and he shall be
My son. If he commit iniquity, l will
chasten him with the rod of men, and with
the stripes of the children of men:
Is. But My mercy shall not depart away
from him, as l took it from Saul, whom /
put away before thee.
Is. And thine house and thy kingdom
shall be established for ever before thee;
thy throne shall be established for ever.
GOLDEN TEXT.-Thy throne shall
be established for ever.-2 Sam.7.16.
OUTLINE OF SCRIPTURE SECTION.
David Plans to Build Temple. 2 Sam, 1:l-3.
God Forblds Him. 3 Sam ,:4-l7.
Davld Prayer..'.... - sam, ':ls-z9;
Read also the parallel account in l
Chron., Il; also Psalm SO. which is hymn
of praise in the same strain
NOTES AND COMMENTS.
David Plans to Build a Temple-In
furtherance of his desire for thorough
and lasting revival of religion in the
Jewish nation David had 1t in his heart
to build to God magnificent temple.
He had conquered all of Israel's enemies,
now was the time to lay the cornerstone
of peace and prosperity. He expressed
this desire to Nathan, the prophet who
is now mentioned for the first time.
Co said Nathan, do all that is in
thine heart; for the Lord is with thee"
God Forbids Him.-But the first i'm
pressions of even the best of men can
be erroneous; so Nathan discovered thai
very night Praiseworthy as the task
might seem, it was not for David to per-
form. Now it is to be noted that God
does not here give the reasons why
David should not build the temple, but
house since the time that brought up
the children of Israel out of Egypt even
to this day, but have walked in tent and
in tabernacle" A reason, however, is
given in l Chron. 1913 to the effect that
It was not entirely fitting that man of
war, and upon whose hands was the
stain of blood, should build temple to
the God whose message was one of peace.
1t may also be that the time for this
project was not quite ripe. Davids
work was one of organization, and while
he had conquered the enemies of Israel
1t is more than likely that he had not
yet put the kingdom upon that firm basis
which would perpetuate it after his own
death. Saul was the first king, but he
was not equal to the task of organization
This fell to David. This latter reason is
limited at in the promise of God that He
will perpetuate the house of David, and
that to his son will fall the task of build
ing the temple. In this connection comes
the promise to David: Thy throne shall
be established forever"
David's Prayer.-This is a prayer of
gratitude. How humbly David asks If
1t was small thing that thou hast
brought (or guided) me hitherto"
Raised from shepherd to be king of
conquering nation. Surely this was no
small thing in itself But that his
throne should be established forever
words failed to do justice to the graft
tude he felt. No wonder David ex-
claimed: Wherefore Thou are great,
o Lord God; for there is none like Thee,
neither is there any God beside Thee, ac-
cording to all that we have heard with
our ears" Not alone for the personal
blessing did David give thanks, but that
Thou hast confirmed to Thyself Thy
people Israel to be people into Thee
forever"
Current Interpretation, l think, writes
Prof Willis F. Beecher, in s. s. Times,
emphasizes the thought that David's
son shall build the temple, which David
himself is prohibited from building.
And certainly this thought had the
greatest Importance to David. But this
is not where the account itself places the
emphasis. 1t devotes one clause (v. 13al
to the building of the temple by David's
seed. and a dozen clauses Q3 bic, 10,
24-29) to the perpetuity and eternal
dominion of David's seed and the rela-
lions between this eternally operative
promise to David and Gods earlier
promise to Israel. 1t makes the latter
SO much more important than the build
ing of the temple that David does not
even mention the temple when he goes
in before the Lord Tvs. 1920.
Rams Horn Blasts
Morning prayer sets a picket for the