The Tupelo journal., 1903-07-10
Il SUNDAY SCHOOL.
Lesson In the international Series
July IL, 1~0O3-SauI CHOSEN
King.
THE LESSON TEXT.

lT1E LES0ON IEAI.
q Samuel 10:l7-z7J 86s8E 8
II. And Samuel called the people to-
gether unto the Lord to Mizpeh; a
IL. And said unto the children of Israel:
Thus saith the Lord God OF Israel: I
brought up Israel out OF Egypt, and de-
livered you out of the hand of the Egyp-
tians, n out of the hand of all king
doms, and Of them that oppressed you
~. And ye ave this day rejected your
God, Who Himself saved you out of all
your Universities and your t~ribulations; nj
We have said unto Him: Nay, but set a
king over us. Now. therefore. present
yourselves before the Lord by your tribes,
and by your thousands.
20. And when Samuel had caused all the
tribes of Israel to come near, the tribe of
Benjamin was taken.
q. When he had caused the tribe of
Benjamin to come near by their families,
the family of Matri was taken and Saul
the son of Kish was taken; and when they
sought him, he could not be found.
%. Therefore they inquired of the Lord
further, If the man should yet come thith-
er. And the Lord answered: Behold, he
hath hid himself among the stuff.
%. And they ran and fetched him thence;
and when he stood among the people, he
was higher than any of the people from
his shoulders and upward.
"A. And Samuel said to all the people:
See ye him whom the Lord hath chosen,
that there is none like him among all the
people? And all the people shouted and
said: God save the king.
Is. Then Samuel told the people the man
ners of the kingdom, and wrote 1t in a
book. and laid it up before the Lord. And
Samuel sent all the people away, every
man to his house.
26. And Saul also went home to Gibeah;
and there went with him a band of men,
u.hnCa a nj @ God hn1 fn,tnhnI
q. But the children of Belial said: How
shall this man save us? And they despised
him, and brought him no presents. But
he held his peace.
TEXT.-The Lord is our
King; He Will save us.-Isa. 33 :22.
OUTLINE OF SCRIPTURE SECTION.
Sauls meeting with Samuel. .1Sam. 9:1-A.
Saul anointed king...........1 Sam 9:25-10:8.
Saul a changed man...........1 Sam. 10:9-l6.
Saul made king.......E.......l sam. l0II-E.
TIME.-Thee eleventh century BIC. The
exact date is uncertain.
PLACE.-Mizpeh, supposed to be a hill
town four miles north of Jerusalem and
about two miles south Of Ramah, where
Samuel lived.
NOTES AND COMMENTS.
Sauls Meeting with Samuel.-The
whole story of the selection of Saul
to be king of Israel would, on a cas-
ual reading, appear to be a series of
mere casual happenings, and chance
certainly does enter into the episode,
but no more, we venture to think,
than in the hives we all lead. 1t is to
be carefully borne in mind, however,
that chance, while it may come upon
us by surprise, is not an accident in
the Divine economy, but a part of
the plan of Providence. That is to
say that in our partial knowledge, or
almost total ignorance, there is such
a thing as chance, but looked at from
the other viewpoint, hat of Divine
omniscience and omnipotence, what
nutely ordered. Now, it CHANGED that
Saul was off on a search for his fathers
asses, which had wandered from
their accustomed haunts. 1t also
CHANGED that his search was in vain.
1t CHANGED that by the time Saul
they were not very far from the
town in which Samuel lived, and. fur
ther, that Sauls servant remembered
that the man of God might direct
them. That is the human side. Now,
from the Divine side it seems that
God told Samuel hat he was to meet
at a certain specified time a man
like Saul, who was to be anointed
by Samuel as king of the Jews. Much
to Saul's surprise upon meeting the
prophet, the latter outdid the former
in the Difference shown the other.
Indeed, Saul was not treated as the
stranger that he was, but as the king
he was to be. Then. after this I'M
usual and unexpected hospitality,
Samuel told the young Benjaminite
that he was the chosen of God to be
the king of Israel.
Saul Amounted King. - The next
day Samuel had Some further con-
%versation with Saul, and then accom-
panied him a little way on his jour
ney. Walking thus out of the vii
lage, Samuel requested Saul to send
his servant on before. that they
might be alone. Thiswasdone, andthen
oil was taken by the prophet and poured
oFCI Tic Hcdu VI tic luIuTe KING, ana
a solemn kiss sealed the
Saul was then told that the Spirit of
the Lord should come upon him, and
that he should be, at least for a time,
as one of the prophets.
Saul a Changed Man.-It is record
ed that no sooner was Saul alone
again than God gave him another
heart" and when an his homeward
way he met a company of prophets
the spirit of God came upon him,
and he prophesied among them" This
was an evidence of the new heart,
because Saul among the prophets so
impressed the people, who evidently
were not unfamiliar with his past
life, that it became a saying among
them: us Saul also among the proph-
ets?"
Saul Made King.--In due time Sam
uel called the people together to Miz-
peh to formally select a king. Then
was publicly given The warning Sam
uel had been instructed by God to
give against rejecting the God who
had brought them out of Egypt and
had saved them so often when the
nation was in danger and putting in
His place q king.
Fir. md Thi~tle.