The times and democrat. [volume] (Orangeburg, S.C.) 1881-current, 1908-10-06
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL,
Lesson lI.-Fourth Quarter, For
Oct. II, 1908.
THE INTERNATIONAL SERIES.

Text of che Lesson, ! chron. xvii, 1-14.
Memory Verses, 1a, 1+Golden Text,
! Kings viii, 5e-commentary Pre-
pared by Rev. D. M. 'stearns.r >.
copyright, loos. by American Press AssOciation.]
Our lesson today has for its topic
the covenant with David concerning
the kingdom, the third unconditional
covenant in Scripture. a covenant
generally has two parties to It. and If
either party fails the matter falls
through. But on three different occa-
sions God promised for His own sake
to do certain things without binding
man to anything on his part. and be-
cause of His faithfulness these cove
nants stand. and lisa. xiv, "a. will ap-
DIV to each of them. THE Lord Of
Hosts hath sworn, saying. Surely ns |
have thought so shall II come to pass.
and as have purpose so shall it stand"
The first was with Noah concerning
the earth, the second with Abraham
concerning the land and his seed and
this third one with David concerning
the throne ard the. kingdom. to be es-
tablished forever That we may look
beyond David and Solomon to the
everlasting Kingdom Of which God
spake notice Acts ii. 80. where we
learn that David knew that God spake
to Him of the Messiah. who. raised
from the dead. would sit on his throne
Although our lessons will continue
for few weeks yet in Samuel. we are
asked 10 turn to Chronicles for this
lesson. 1t matters little. as. ii Sam
vii and Chron. xvii are almost word
for word identical The two chap
tiers should be carefully compared.
sentence ut the beginning of the Sam
uel chapter should be given special at
tention. THE Lord had given him
rest round about from all his enc
mics" Compare Chron. xii. 9. IS:
xiii, 25; Kings Y, 4: Matt Il. %. %.
and other verses on the rest and peace
and quietness which the Lord alone
can give. but which He loves 70 give
to all who truly come to Him. Ps.
xviii should be read carefully. for see
its title. Neither prophets nor apos-
ties have always the miId of the Lord.
but sometimes speak from themselves
their own thoughts. as when the disci-
Piles found fault with Mary "a Beth
any See also Jer. xiii. Il. II. 81.
22, etc. Preachers are often tempted
| to agree with those to whom they are
indebted for favOrs or position Ma
| than's do all that is in thine heart,
| for God is with thee" was not of God.
for that same night different mes
sage came from God to Nathan for Da-
vid. and that message Is our lesson
portion. Both David and Nathan were
truly the Lords servants. but even
such need to remember lisa. ". 8. 8.
The thought Of habitation on earth
for Gcd is seen in Ex Ky. =. and is
indorsed by God in Ex. XIV. 3. but He
had been content to dwell In tent
among them and had not yet spoken
of any more permanent dwelling. The
time for such had not fully come. but
later we shall see that He gave to
David by His Spirit the plans for the
temple and permitted him to provide
very largely for it Il .Chron. xviii. II.
l2, 10: xxx. 1-S). In the Lords service
all must be of Him-time. place. cir.
cumstances. provision. all. We need
| to remember in what condition He
found us and to what He had rnised
us and His purpose concerning US In
order that we may walk worthy of
Him (yerses 10: see also Ps. xl. l-3:
Eph. il, 40: Y. 1. 2: Rom. XII. l. p.
The words In verse 8 Of our lesson
concerning the place and the planting
point us onward to the one thing that
God says He will do with all His heart
and soul at the time Of the kingdom
Jer. xXXii. ~. See also the quietness
and assurance that shall be forever
when He doeth this lisa. xxxii. II. 1SI.
We have seen at the beginning Of our
lesson that the seed Of David here
spoken of was not. Solomon, but Jesus
Christ raised from the dead, for only,
an immortal man could reign forever.
See Rom. /. IA: Rev. Y. s. 6: xii. l6.
The saying in II Sam. vii. IA. III he
commit iniauity." is perple1ing as 1t
reads in our version. for we know that
Jesus knew no sin and did no sin and
there was no sin In Him. but there
,is good authority for this reading of
that sentence. when iniquity shall
be laid upon Him." and that makes
all clear. for we know that our iniqui-
ties were laid upon Him. and He bare
| our sins In His own body on the tree
But, while receiving all possible COM
fort concerning our own individual sal.
vation from the great truths concern
| Ing Him and His suffering in our
stead, we must never forget that He
suffered also as Israevs Messiah and
that through Israel as nation when
converted it is the purpose Of the Lord
to bless all nations. Read Ps. xvii in
that light and al is clear.
We can take individual comfort from
much of ISa. ILL and xii and similar
portions. and yet the former will be
peculiarly lsrael's national confession
and the latter their national anthem
when the kingdom comes. rs David
|