The Oakes times., 1908-09-03
THE INTERNATIONAL SERIES.
Text Of the Lesson, . Sam. x,xl.
Memory vsrss, s-ooldsn Text,
Amos ", 12-commsntary Prepared
by Rev. .. N. otsarns.

more again for him (xxvii, 10. Da-
vid's strange conduct before Achish in
chapter xxi, 1915, his now seeking ref
uge with him and yet lying to him, all
show us at least this-that God finds
the best Of man but very poor mate
rial and has great occasion to exer.
else continual forgiveness. There Is
but one perfect man in all the Bible
story. and we must learn to see Jesus
only. In chapter xviii we have an in
stance of consulting spirits and what
came Of 1t. We know that this sort Of
thing is all Of the devil and is an
abomination unto the Lord Deut. xviii,
1912, but in this case the woman got
more than she expected, and Samuel
was allowed to appear with a message
to Saul which he had not expected and
which certainly had no comfort for
him in 1t. There is no use in saying
that the work Of mediums and so
called spiritualists is all humbug and
sleight Of hand. No doubt much of it
is, but whatever is real about 1t is the
work Of the devil, and we have no rec.
ord Of God ever interfering as He did
in the case Of Samuel.
The Philistines gathered their ar
mics against Israel, and David and his
GOO went out with them, but the
princes Of the Philistines insisted that
they return. and David yielded to the
entreaty Of Achish and returned, only
to find that the Amalekites had invad-
ed the south and had burned Ziklag
and had taken captive all those who
had been left in 1t. Then David and
his COO wept till they had no more
power to weep; but, worst of all, Da-
vid's men turned against him and
spake Of stoning him. In this time Of
great darkness it is written that "Da-
vid encouraged himself in the Lord his
God" Xxx. g.. Compare II Tim. iv,
1918. The story Of David's inquiring
Of the Lord, of his finding the young
man of Egypt, one Of the band of the
Amalekites. and how he pursued them
and smote them and recovered all is
told in the rest Of the chapter. Fail
not to notice in verse "a the law that
those who tarry by the stuff are to
share equally with those who go out to
the battle, and let the home ones find
comfort and encouragement.
Our special lesson chapter is the rec
ord of the defeat Of Israel by the Phil
istines and is summed up in verse @
in these words: $50 Saul died, and his
three sons. and his armor bearer, and
all his men that same dag together" |"
The Philistines' treatment Of the bod
les Of Saul and his sons when they
found them among the slain on the
battlefield the next day is indeed q
sad story concerning those who might
have been the honored Of the Lord. So
also is the record Of the burning Of
the bodies and the burial Of the bones
under tree at Jabesh. What God
would have done for Israel had they
relied on Him Is seen in the words Of
Deut xxi, 80. "How should one
chase thousand and two put ten
thousand to dight?"
over Goliath, and also the day that
Jonathan and his armor bearer saw
the power Of God on their behalf
Chapter XIV, and in every case where
Israel walked with God and relied upon
Him. We cannot wonder at anything
that might overtake SAM, but to zee
jonathan among the slain and his body
30 Ill treated does seem sad indeed,
and we can heartily join in David's
lamentation in II sam. l. Is, 2a Some
might not be able to join 20 heartily
In his kind words concerning Saul, but
We all know that We are apt to think
and speak ~ well a. possible Of people
after they, are gone, however much
they may have wronged us while they
lived. Il 10 wonderful how much good
may be seen at such time even in
ones enemies. Would It not be well to
see as much good as possible even in
the worst people at all times and,
while hating sin, love the sinner even
as our Lord has taught us? While we
know that all are by nature children
Of wrath and that in us-that is, in
our desh-dwelleth no good thing, in
the sight Of God Eph. ii, 2, 8; Rom.
VII. 49, there is much In all, compared
with others. that might be commend
ed, and thus by kind words they might
be drawn to Him who is altogether
lovely, who said. Neither do I con-
denim thee" What a most glorious
gospel It is. this gospel Of the grace Of
God, which makes known to us love
90 far exceeding that Of David and
Jonathan a. heaven Il higher than the
earth! An to thu condition of thoga