Belding banner. (Belding, Mich.) 1889-1918, 1915-03-17
SUNDAY SCHOOL
LESSON FOR MAR. q
BANNER FOR ITS MANY
READERS
ACCORDING TO THE
INTERNATIONAL SERIES
Text OF the Lesson, 1 Sam. XIV, 1-13.
Memory Verse, 7-Golden Text Rom.
XIII, documentary, Prepared by
Rev. ID. VI. Stearns.


| Our first introduction 10 Jonathan.
4 the son of saul. is In chapter Kill. 2.
where We lind him the captain of
! thousand men shifting Il garrison OF the
| Phiistnes and thus melting them to
gather against Israel I'm numbers as
the sand which is on the seashore
! txiii 80. causing many In Israel to
| hide wherever they could-in caves.
rocks. high places and in pits and to
dee over Jordan. while those with
! saul followed him with trembling Ii
was sad indeed ana II reproach TO God
10 have His people in such distress.
hui the fault was wholly with them.
Let uS lay it TO heart that when be-
/ liCvcrS are cast down or overcome In
! stead Of victoriouS ii Is Il reproach 10
our God.
Samuel had instructed Saul to wait
at Gilgal seven days until he should
come and offer sacrifices and show him
what To do Whapter x. 81. Saul waited
seven days. hut not quite the full time.
and. aS he said forced himself and Of
| fcrcd the burnt Offering. and just as
hc had finished Samuel came and re
proved him and told him that his king
dom would not continue. but that the
Lord had sought Him Il man after His
own heart tchupter xiii. Sill. Did
YOU ever wait all but the time that
would have brought the person or thing
yen expected and then grow restless
and just missed IL: IT So you can prob
ably sympathize somewhat with Sanl.
But next time wait more patiently and
the full time. for. though He tarry. He
Will surely come in the fullness OF time.
whether IL he for some dcliverance In
your daily life or TO the air for us all.
Jonathan is one OF the most beanti-
full of all the characters in the Bible
and his love for David one OF the most
beautiful of love stories-a rare man
indeed. seemingly raised up by God to
be Il true friend and comfort 10 David
But we shall meet him again in our
studies In our lesson verses he is a
real hero and. with his armor bearer.
starts Il wonderful deliverance for Is
rael. His reliance was on the Lorh
and his courage most unusual. tor
what could two men expect to do? IL"
must have remembered Deut XXI. 30.
and the assurance that one should
chase thousand and two put ten
thousand to fight. for hear him Ell
courage his armor bearer with the
words. 1t may be thar the Lord will
work for us. for there is 10 restraint
TO the Lord to save 10y many or by
few Verse O.. Ii may have been that
he thought OF the great deliverance by
Gideon'S three hundred Dudg. vii 1. q.
and possibly Asa long afterward was
encouraged ny the remembrance or
Jonathan I'll Chron. xiv. ~. ! have
been personally strengthened and en-
couraged by each Of these records and
expect some day in the kingdom 10
have good fellowship with Gideon and
Jonathan and Asa and lots of others
whose records have greatly helped me
Jonathan's helper must have had the
same spirit ms his master and greatly
helped him with his good words. DO
all that Is In thine heart: behold. am
with thee according 10 thy heart"
Verse ~. They sought guidance OF
the Lord and received the token they
asked for il He would have them go
forward oversees 10. 10. so they brave
ly scaled the rocks. just these two. and
the Lord wrought n victory and fought
with them by great earthquake
verses 1870. When Saul and his men
heard OF the battle and the noise OF
victory they. with those who had been
IN hiding. took part In the defeat OF the
Philistines. and so the Lord saved Is
rael that day" verses 1929. The rest
of chapter xiv tells OF what looks like
a great mistake OF Saul's. which caus-
ed much trouble and but for the inter
ference of the people on behalf OF jon
athan might have resulted in his death.
Saul had evidently begun To 20 astray.
as shown i'm his not waiting the full
time appointed by Samuel and also I'm
his receiving no answer from God
when he asked counsel of Him.
When one has ceased to be controlled
by God there is no knowing what he
may do. for il God is not controlling
II is the devil. Even In the record Of
Simon Peter when be testified of our
Lord. Thou art the Christ. the Son Of
the living God" Jesus said. My Fa-
ther who is in heaven revealed that to
thee" In the same chapter IL is re-
corded that Jesus had to say to him.
Get thee behind me Satan: thou art
an offense unto me. for thou savorest
not the things that be of God. but
those that be of men" Matt. xvi. 16. IL.
23I. The tongue Is an unruly member.
sometimes blessing and sometimes
cursing. but this ought not so TO be
Gas. iii. s To-. There is one good thing
written of Saul in chapter xiv, 81. He
built an altar unto the Lord his first
one. II Is also written that he deliver
ed Israel out Of tho hands Of them that
spoiled them. but II Is also written