The Yale expositor., 1908-07-10
SAUL CHOSEN
KING
Sunday School Lesson Tor July IL. 1908
Specially Prepared for This Paper

men must be Just, ruling in the fear of
God."-2 Sam. 1913
TIME-Immediatsly following the last
lesson, B. c. about 1894 CUssher)
OUNTRY.-Southern Ephraim and
benjamin. l Sam. ga s1
Comment and Suggestive Thought.
DR.. Newman, one of the subtlest and
acutest OF preachers. after attempting
three times to preach on Saul, is com
PEELED to confess that Sauls character
continues to be obscure to him. and
he warns us that we must be exceed
ingly cautious while considering Sauls
so obscure character" And yet the
story is a truer mirror OF human ma
ture.
His Native Pride-He belonged to
one of the smallest tribes, at one time
nearly extinct Judges 20), but sit
uated between the two greatest d.
visions, Ephraim and Judah, which
facts removed all grounds of jealousy
His rejection by some. even after his
election Il Sam. 10:2O, shows how
great the danger was, especially from
Ephriam or Judah, the rival tribes.
His Personal Fitness.-Saul was a
choice young man in the height of his
personal attractions for leader
There was not among the children OF
Israel goodlier person than he; from
his shoulders upward he was higher
than any of the people. He had a
splendid body and a stately gait, and
the very sins of his soul had a certain
lurid grandeur about them alsO."-Al.
! exander Whyte. Before the invention
of firearms, personal strength was es-
sential in a leader, as indeed it is still
among the Arabs. Int. Crit Com
We see the same need in some OF our
sports, as, for instance, football. Saul
was every inch a king"
Saul had the natural characteristics
which made IL possible for him to be
a great and useful king He possessed
self-restraint. he was master of him
self, the first essential He was mod.
est, not conceited. He had the mill.
tary instinct, capacity for generalship,
shrewd mind. patience that could
wait. the unfiinching nerves, the
worthy opponents which makes sue.
cess so graceful and imperial com.
mand so easy 10 endure. "-Wilber-
force. And he had that indescribable
personal magnetism which made him a
| popular idol
He was specially prepared by the
influences of Gods spirit. After Sam
uel had anointed Saul TO the kingdom,
We come upon this very obscure Scrip
| ture: And It was so that when Saul
had turned his back to go from Sam
uel, God gave Saul another heart, and
the Spirit of God came upon Saul, and
he prophesied" Il Sam. 1910. He
was turned into another man" q
! Sam. 1850. And he Immediately
Joined himself to the religious
guild Of his people. and had the out
ward form at least Of prophecy in its
wilder and more ecstatic moods, such
as sometimes occurs now to certain
| temperaments in times of great eX-
element.
THE children of Belial." Belial Is
not a proper name. 1t means worth
lessness" or "wickedness" (Cheyne).
| They were the rabble, the wicked, the
| base. These treated Saul with con-
tempt, as an inexperienced young man
| from the country, unframed in both
craftsmanship and war. He held his
peace" He was wise, self-controlled
and patient.
How to Treat Insults-A young man
who had been badly insulted came to
Father Graham hot with anger and
bent on immediate revenge. wait"
said Father Graham; AN insult is like
mud; 1t will brush of much better
when 1t is dry" The young man
waited, and the very next day the in
sulting person came to beg his for
giveness.
The Coronation.-After his victory
over the Ammonites, Saul's popular
ity among the people was very great,
and Samuel saw that the time was
ripe for a hearty national confirma-
ton of the step taken at Mizpeh by
the national assembly. The prophet
therefore called the people together at
|
dan. This ancient center of the He
brew religion was the most suitable
place for the coronation OF Saul and
the ratification of the kingdom. Thus
Edward VII. was crowned more than
year after he became king.
Here the previously divided and I'M
certain people, with one voice con-
firmed the new king in his authority,
and the New Era of the United King
dom was begun.
He still had the advice and counsel
of Samuel. He thus entered upon a
career that might have ended in I'M
told usefulness and blessedness. Won
derful and beautiful possibilities
were spread out before him, like the
promised land before Moses on Pisgah.
The morning of his kingdom rose al.
most cloudless.
Practical Points.
God calls all men to his service In
much the same way as he called Saul.
There is a secret call, manifested in
| s-L