The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-07-25
International SundaySchooL
 Lesson
Third Quarter. Lesson NV. I :
 xS, Is-zs. July %, 10@8.
SAUL REJECTED BY THE LuHD l.

sAuI. REJECTED BY THE LORD.
 The splendid military genius of Saul adds another victory to a long and brilliant roll. The ancient and invete- rate enemy Of Israel who disputed ms first approach to Canaan Is now annihi- lated. Moses' victory at Rephidum mas Its complement in the long battie-line which reaches from Havilah to shur. The conquering hero returns. The Analekite king in chains graces his triumph. spoiis and booty are in the tran. Arriving at historic Gngal, monumental trophy s erected there. Two hundred thousand victors chant the paean. It is a happy hour in the nations history. There is a truce to war. The vine may now be cultivated and the sheep folded without the app prehension of incursions of Amalekite banditti.
 But a dead fly causes the ointment of victory to stink. Saul, the conqueror, has himself more in view than the Lord He has now fairly broken with the theocratic Idea of Israel He is as- sertfn9 his will against that of Jeno~ yah. whose vicegerent only he Is. By this weIl-pIanned and spectacular '.triumph" he hopes to settle his tot tering throne, and, despite the explicit prediction of the prophet, secure 1t to heir apparent. The ruling passion or the sovereign asserts itself; he VIII conserve his dynasty at all hazards.
 Nemesis, in the person Of the Lords prophet. stands directly in the path even of a kingly triumphal procession. Samuel's career as a prophet began as the bearer of such evil tidings as made the ears of those who heard them tin- gle, when, as a child, he so regretfully revealed to his foster-father. Eli, the disRraceful end of his priestly line. Now, at the close of his long, honor able, useful course, he Is the messen- ger of such evil portents as have sburned in him. and made him an earnest though unsuccessful interces- sor for a whole night.
 Sadly, but fearfully, he stands In the kings way, to deliver his terrible mes sage with answering fidelity. He calls a halt to the triumph. At sound of his voice the jubiIate dies. The ova- tlon to the victor Is suddenly meta morphosed into funeral train. For that moment Saul dies Io God and to his better self.
 How Is the mighty fallen! Con- science has made a coward. There Is no need of an accuser. It Is pfti- ful sight A fulsome greeting is tele- scoped with an extravagant asserva- tion, to which even dumb brutes give the lie. The man of valor, like an arr rant coward, shifts the responsibility. He makes a scapegoat of his army,
 Right valiantIy does a prophet con front king flushed with victory in the presence of an army laden with spells. He cites him to bis humble origin and to the proyidentiat charac- ter of his exaltation. He calls him to witness the well-known and exact terms of his commission against the Amalekites. He drives and clinches the charge of disobedlence. Saul makes one more pitiful effort at evasion. The spoil was reserved for sacrifice.
 The phophet shivers to atoms this refuge of lies. His ethical discrimina- ton falls like a trip-hammer upon the recreant kings last shelter. Oherings tainted with insincerity and dtsobed- ience are an offense to Jehovah. NOT can the taint elude his omntsetence The witch-hunter Is detected in a greater sin than witchcraft-the asser- tion of his own will against that Of God The crusides against idolatry Is, in view of his better advantages. convicted of a more heinous onense than idolatry. namely, the stubborn as- sertion of his own selfhood against the word and person of Jehovah,
 All the brave banners trail in the dust The paean changes to the dead march: and Saul begins his descent to hell. There is a moment of strong compunction. It Is judicial repent ance in view of the pains and penal ties impending. In a paroxysm of grief the king grasps the prophets mantle with such a desperate clutch that it is torn. The seer makes tho rent robe the emblem of the Kingdom torn from Saurs grasp.
 The last plteous appeal of the hum- bled monarch Is pitched to the key of his ruling passion. when he cries. Honor me before the elders of my people and before Israel" Saul's doom is sealed. He is rejected. There is no second probation for him. All generous, humane. patriotic impulses leave him.
 The Teachers Lantern.