Belding banner. (Belding, Mich.) 1889-1918, 1915-02-24
SUNDAY SCHOOL
LESSON FOR FEB. q
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Commentary Prepared IN An Inter-
esting Way by Rev. ID. NJ.
Stearns

When the men vi Beth shpnirsA as
900 uicn because OF tneIT i.+4t-
gres-i ion thtA sent 10 the men OF IS
| Jain iearinI 10 come ana take tile
/ away irUln them. TOR they SAID - Il
is able 10 stand before this hOly l.sAa
liod: Their question Is Il very sug
-estive one. for the holiness who,
Gud requires in His Jaw, whicn l.
noiy and Just and good, is SO grcar
that no man can stand before it. even
as IT is written: IF thou. Lord. should
est mark inlquitics. . Lord. who shan
,tandi But there is forgiveness With
thee ." dsom. vii. II; rs. cXxX
-. The way out for All, for all have
| sinned and come short. is that the nee
essary holiness is found in Christ. who
! perfectly kcrt tins molly law AMI Is
i made righteousness unto all who re-
ceiye Him eli Cor. V. II: Cor. /. 80
The ark found II resting place at kir
| jath jearim for many years in the
house of AbinadaD in the Mill until
David removed II 10 IA tent which he
had pitched for il in Jerusalem I'll
| Sam. vi, g. H. After ii had been TWEEN
I rs years there Israel seemed 10 awake
10 Il desire for the Lord. for Ii Is said
that they "lamented after the Lord
! verses |, y.
1t may have been that after the
catastrophe at EbeneZer. in which the
sons of ELI were slain ana the ark OF
God taken and because of which Eli
died. Samuel returned to his IA
TIERS home at Ramah. for there he
! lived all his life afterwards; there he
built IN altar unto the Lord: there he
| judged Israel going in circuit 10 Bethel
| Giigal and Mizpeh. and there he died
and was buried ii, 10 ii, II; vii. i6. IL;
XIV. Il. Ever since the i'hliStine vic
tory Israel had been under their pow
er, but now Samuel encouraged them
10 put away their idols. return unto the
Lord with all their hearts and serve
Him only. that He might deliver them
out of the hands of the PhilistineS
verses 3. A.. The one thing that the
Lord is looking for in all the world Is
n whole heart for Himself Cl Chron
xvi. 81; no idols. nothing to grieve or
hinder. but such yielded hearts that
He can magnify Himself in us and
work in us all Ills good pleasure Heb
xiii, 20I. So all Israel gathered togeth.
er 10 MiZpeh that Samuel might pray
for them oversees J. 81 They drew wa
ter and poured il out before the LORD
and tasted and confessed their sin.
The wise woman of Tekua said. I'VE
are as water spit ON the ground, which
cannot be gathered up again Gil sam
xiv, III. and in Lam. Ii. - We rend
Pour out thine heart like water bc
fore the face of the Lord. True
emptiness before Him will always
bring His fulness; He perfects Ills
strength in our weakness; when we
are nothing then He can work. There
must be no will nor way nor thoughts
OF ours TO hinder The PhiliStines,
hearing of the Israel movement, went
up against them, for when the people
of God turn to Him with purpose of
heart the devil always wakes mp to
oppose Israel did the right thing in
saying to Samuel. Cease not To cry
unto the Lord our God for us So
Samuel offered sacrifice and cried
unto the Lord. and the Lord heard
him aud Numbered with great thun-
der and discounted the Philistines. ana
they came no more into the coast OF
Israel all the days OF Samuel verses
7-13l.
We are reminded of such words AZ
these: The God of glory thundereth;"
God thundereth marvelously with
His voice: great things doeth He.
which we cannot comprehend" FPS
xxx. 3; Job xxxvi. 81. Neither thun
der nor lightning should canse us any
fear IL we are right with Him, but
should rather make us rejoice To hear
His voice and see His might As
Noah. Daniel and Job are quoted as
samples of righteous men Eek. xiv.
1920. so Muses. and Samuel are men
toned as great intercessors der. XIV,
u. At the same place where the
! Philistines conquered Israel and cap
tured the ark there the Lord overthrow
them and delivered Israel (chapter Nv.
/; VII, 12i. and Samuel set up his me-
mortal stone and said. "IIitherto- hath
the Lord helped u.s. All who trust in
the Lord can surely say the same, and
we should say always: "Benceforth
unto Him who died for US and
rose again." "HencefOrth hid
up for me crown of righteousness"
QI Cor. V, 10; ii Tim. Nv. 81 By the
great sacrifice of Himself we are re-
deemed; by His sacrifice as burnt
offering. typifed in Samuel's Offering
verse 81, we become wholly dedicated
to Him Uev. ~. and when we willingly
acknowledge II and desire to serve Him
only then we may expect to see His
power on our behalf and His working
In and through us.
Samuel's home MT Rnmah and the
three other places where he judged
Israel are full Of interest historically
his home because OF the story Of Han
nah and her song; Mizpeh because OF
1srael's return to God ut this time