Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1915-05-12
SUNDAY SCHOOL.
Lesson VII. Second Quarter,
For May is, 1915.
THE INTERNATIONAL SERIES.

W oxt 81 the Lesson, San. HIStp o ~
Memory Verses, II, 12-Goiden Tsxt,
Luks vi, 27-commentary Prepared
By Rev. D. m. stsarns.
The lesson today Is record OF one
OF the occasions on which David had
Saul completely at his mercy, but he
refused to lay hands upon him or to
listen to the suggestion Of Abishai that
David would permit him to smite Saul,
for he said. AS the Lord liveth, the
Lord shall smffe him. or his day shall
come to die, or he shall descend into
battle and perish verses 9, 1o). Thus
David left the matter wholly In the
hands Of the Lord. Illustrating his own
words, Commit thy way unto the
Lord; trust also In Him. and He shall
bring it to pass" Cps. xxxvii. 81. Sam.
xxi tells how his end came.
On this occasion David took the spear
and the cruise of water from Saul's
bolster that he might show him how
he had him in his power. but did not
harm him. David was able to do this
without any one knowing it because
deep sleep from the Lord was fallen
upon Saul and his men verses IL, ~.
Compare Gen. ii. 81: XIV, Il. and consid-
er Peters release from prison. though
he was bound with chains between
two soldiers. and there was a guard at
the door Of the prison tActs XIII $40,
IS, 19). Truly the God Of Israel Is the
God that doest wonders FPS. lxxii IS;
lxxvii. 144. David. with his trophies,
stood on the top Of q hill afar OF and
cried to Abner that, though he was a
valiant man, he was worthy to die be-
cause he had failed to take care of the
king, and he told him to look for the
kings spear and cruise Of water that
had been by his bolster verses 1916.
Saul knew David's voice and pro-
fessed to be very grateful to him for
sparing his life, asking him to return
to him. and saying that he would no
more seek to do him harm. but David
knew his enemy too well. and after
telling him to send for his spear. they
again parted. each going his own way
verses 1928. This was not the first
time that David had Saul In his pow
err, but refused to harm him. See In
chapter xiv how he cut of the skirt
OF Saurs robe and how Saul then pro-
fessed penitence and good will and
spoke of David's being king some day
Thus Saul sought him every day, but
God delivered him not into his hand
txxiii. 14l In the end Of chapter xiii
there is the record Of an incident that
looked like close call for David. but
Saul was suddenly called OF and David
escaped. All through the story we can
hear David saying: THE Lord is the
strength OF my life. OF whom shall
be afraid?" FPS. xvii, 1-3)
The cave OF Adullam story In chap
ter xxi is full Of interest, beginning
with his seeking place Of safety for
bis father and his mother till he could
know what God would do for him and
ending with his words Of comfort to
Abiathar: abide thou with me. Fear
hot, for he that seeketh my life seeketh
thy life, but with me thou shalt be In
safeguard" Chapter XIV tells Of the
death and burial Of Samuel and then
the story Of drunken Nabal and his
beautiful wife Abigail-beautiful In
wise counsel to David and in her con-
duct toward him. Some Of her mem
orable words are ever with me: Bound
In the bundle Of life with the Lord thy
God" txxv, 90, bundle which cannot
be broken. for those to whom He gives
OBJ Al % fInhxa -
80. Chapters xvii, xxx, xxx, tell the
story Of Ziklag. which Achish gave Il
David. but to which David returned OF
one occasion to find the town In ruins
and the wives sons and daughters OF
himself and his 600 followers al
gone into captivity. That was one OF
the most trying times in all David's ex
perience. and they all wept until the,
had no more power to weep. Th,
grief of David. almost beyond endur
ance, was heaped up by the threat q
his GOO followers to stone him, as II hl
was the cause of al, this. so that Da
vid seemed. as far as human sympathy
was concerned, to be absolutely alone
Then we read the words which hav,
helped SO many. David encouraged
himself in the Lord his Cod txxx. 81.
A somewhat similar Incident in TIL
life of Paul lis recorded in III Tim. Il
1918. The way that David found th'
enemy, the Amalekites. through tn,
guidance Of an almost dead Egyptian
servant. whom he restored to life. ans
how he recovered all-wives. sons
daughters, spoil. nothing lacking 4
any. and much additional spoil-is
very thrilling record and should en-
courage us all to wait on the Lord am
not to think anything too hard TO
Him. There We're 200 of David's me-
90 weak to join in the pursuit Of tn
snemy, but they, too. shared in tn
spoils Of victory. and David made 1t
law that those who larry by the stui
shall share equally with those who 6
forth to battle xxx. 10. 24. Let al
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