The times and democrat. [volume] (Orangeburg, S.C.) 1881-current, 1908-11-17
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL,
Lesson VIII. Fourth Quarter,
For Nov. %, 1908.
THE INTERNATIONAL SERIES.

THE INTERNATIONAL SERIES.
Text Of the Lesson, Kings !, 32-4o,
5e-5s-Mcmory Verses, 80, 4o-Goldon
Text, I chron. xviii. documentary
Prepared by Rev. D. M. stearns-
Copyright, 1905. by American Press A7'octaaon.I
"Whatsoeyer the Lord pleased, that
did He In heaven and in earth, In the
seas and all deep. places" ops. c1IIv,
g.. "The Most High ruleth In the king
dom of men and giveth it to whomso-
ever He will he doeth according to
His will in the army Of heaven and
among the inhabitants OF the earth
Dan. iv, 80, 35). Even when our Lord
was crucified Herod and PLATE and the
people of Israel did what the hand and
counsel of the Lord determined before
to be done (Acts iv, 81, 2s). So 1t Is al
ways, through good men and bad men,
and even the devil, and through good
men who often act unwisely, God Is
ever working out His eternal purpose
which he purposed in Christ Jesus our
Lord Eph. iii. 11). He who sees and
declares the end from the beginning
says, MY counsel shall stand, and |
will do all My pleasure" Qsa. XVI, 10;
Ps. xxxiii, 10, 1D. Men are left free
to do as they choose and are guilty IL
they do wrong, but God Is ever work
ing out His purpose in spite of every
thing and every one who may be set
against Him.
Thus we see it in our lesson today.
David being old, one Of his sons, ADO
nijah, whom he had never displeased
by even asking him why he did any
thing, exalted btmseif to be the king,
though he knew that the Lord had
given the throne to his brother Solo
mon, and Joab, who was David's chief,
and Abiathar. tho priest whom David
had SO protected and made one with
him, followed Adonijah q Kings T. g.
7; II, 15). It does not seem 50 strstnge
that spoiled boys, like Absalem and
Adonijah. should be 30 desperately
wicked, but to see priest like
Ablathar Joining him 10 perple1ing. It
seems 30 easy to turn from what Is
right and do the wrong thing.
There were some who remained
faithful to David, such as Nathan, the
prophet Zadok, the priest; Benaiah, the
son of. Jehoiada, one Of Davld's mighty
men who slew lion in pit In snow
time, and also an Egyptian with the
mans own spear, and did many
mighty acts III Sam. xxili, 20-23; I
Kings 1, 81. Nathan told Bathsheba,
the mother of Solomon, how things
were going. and she and Nathan
brought word to David, whereupon
David called these three faithful men
and bade them cause Solomon to ride
upon his own mule and have him
anointed king over Israel and Judah,
that he might sit upon his throne and
be king in his stead (verses 32-35).
This was as the Lord had purposed,
for He had said to David, Behold, q
son shall be born to thee, who shall be
man Of rest, and will give
peace and Quietness unto Israel In his
days, and I will establish the
throne of his kingdom over Israel for
ever q Chron. xxi, 0, 10y, prom
ise primarily, but only partly true OF
Solomon, but yet TO be fully and COM
pletely seen in Jesus as the Son Of
David Qsa. tx, 6, {; Jer. kill 5. 6;
Luke 1. 31-33). Then sat Solomon
upon the throne Of David, his father,
and his kingdom was established
greatly q Kings ii, 12), or as 1t is writ
ten tn l Chron. xxx. %, Then Solo
mon sat on the throne Of the Lord
as king instead Of David, his father,
and prospered, and all Israel obeyed
+ him." No throne but this was ever
called the throne Of the Lord. The
days come when the same city, Jerusa-
lem, shall be called the throne Of the
Lord and all the nations shall be gath
cred unto it, to the name Of the Lord
to Jerusalem (Jer. iii, 10. David's
charge to Solomon in chapter II and In
I Chron. xviii Is worthy of being
laid up in the heart. Note specially
these words: "Know thou the God Of
thy father and serve Him with q perfect
heart and with willing mind, for the
Lord searcheth all hearts and under
standeth all the imaginations Of the
thoughts" Il Chron. xviii, 9).
For over twenty years have found
special blessing In these. That express
sion, "the Imagination Of the
thoughts" is found again in chapter
xxx, IS, and again sad contrast in
Gen. Vi, 8. How deeply God searches
not only the heart but the thoughts Of
the heart. and somehow, back Of that
the Imagination Of the thoughts How
much and how continually we need the
precious blood which cleanseth from
all sin! In the last chapter Of II Sam.
we find word from David in verse q
which Is worthy Of application to all
believers, Neither will offer burnt
offerings unto the Lord my Ged Of that
which doth cost me nothing" And
this was in connection with the pur-
chase Of the place where the temple
was afterward buildcd QI Chron. III,
y. 1t was also the place whore Abra-