Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1920-08-12
SABBATH SCHOOL
LESSON
For August 15th-2 Sam. 1919, 10;
18:1-15.
By DIR. MARION M'H. HULL
Golden Text: Whatsoever a man
soweth that shall he also reap. Gal.


e:7.
David was seventy years old when
he died Solomon must have been
at least twenty-five. Therefore when
Solomon was born David must have
been about forty-five. AS Solomon
was the second child of the union
wife of Uriah, Davids great sin must
have occurred when he was just past
mid-life. 1t is fact, not we'll rec
ognized, that there is a change that
comes over man between forty and
fifty, this is physical in that he
usually puts on flesh; but more i'm
portant is the psychological disturb
ances because of which there is apt
will express it more forcefully), in
his moral nature. This period is
one of peculiar danger, therefore; and
unfortunately many men, who until
then, have been exemplary charac-
ters, are caught unawares by the arch
themselves. Some of the conse,
quences of his sin, that marred the
whole of the latter years of David,
are to form the basis of our study
today.
You remember the circumstances
that led up to the great sin of the
king. The father of the king of the
Ammonites had died, and out of the
goodness, of his heart, David wanted
pathy, and at the same time to re-
turn some of the favors that had
been shown him by the dead sover-
etgn when he needed friend. SO he
sent messengers to the king of AM
mon. But the princes of that coun-
try were suspicious, and poisoned
the mind of the, king, making him
believe that David had some ulterior
motive in the mission. They took
the messengers and shaved half of
their boards and cut off their clothes
at their hips, and sent them back to
their country to be the laughing
stock of all who saw them. David
heard about it, and kept them in hid
circumstance, however, was the
cause of a terrible war between these
two nations.
The details Of that war are too
numerous to deal with here; but suf-
flee it to say that David sent Joab
to lead the hosts while he tarried at
Jerusalem, at first. When the sec
ono battle occurred, David himself
led the army to victory; and if he
had stopped right here, there would
have been no further trouble; but he
was not content with taking the de-
fenslve-for in both of the former
battles the enemy had attacked him
put ne seemed to have been greedy
yenge on the Ammonites, for he sent
Joao to utterly destroy the Ammon-
ties, and to lay siege to Rabbah,
their principal city, while he remain
ca at nome. 1t was not the Lords
battle, therefore, that he was fighting.
or having Joab to fight, but purely
selfish one on his own hook.
Sins and sorrows
What terrible train of sins fol-
lowed! Here are some of them:
Pr1de-he thought he was able to
stand any temptation now, and he
trusted in his own strengt the
lust of the eyes, the lust of the
common sins of mankind, and David
fell for them. Then he committed
adultery. He tried to cover up his
sins, but only God can cover sin;
ne dissembled, he tried to make
Or1ah think he was the best friend he
his sin in any other way he murdered
Uriah, using the word of the Am
mon1tes. He got away with it as far
as his people were concerned; they
did not even suspect him. But God
is not Knocked; whatsoever a man
soweth, that shall he also reap. He
sent his servant Nathan to bring him
to a conviction of his sin. While
God hated David's sin, He still loved
David just as much as He had ever
done; God hates sin, but loves the
sinner. Nothing the sinner can do
can in any wise change His love, for
it is from everlasting to everlasting.
David saw the point when his sin
was brought to him face to face; and
he was big enough to confess it and
forsake it. He recognized also the
fact that he had sinned against God;
this was what Nathan had tried to
impress upon him. All sin is against
God. And when he confessed it, Ma
than had the inexpressible joy of
telling him that his sin was covered
up now sure enough, never to be seen
again or remembered by God.
4 But this did not prevent the con-
sequences of it. Just look how dread
full these were; the death of his baby;
the ruin of his daughter; the" murder
of another son by brother; the ex-
lie, of another son whom he loved de-
votedly, and probably the more be-
cause he felt that he had been partly
responsible for his sins; the es-
arrangement of that boy when he had
been brought back to the city; the
rebellion of Absalom; the desertion
suicide; the sudden fight of the king
from his city to save his life; the
death of twenty thousand of his sub
jects who had followed the lead of
Absalom; and finally the death of
Absa1om himself. Say, is the game
worth the candle?
Paul wrote to the Corinthians (and
they are applicable to US today:
Now, all these things happened to
them for an ensample: and they are
written for our admonition, upon
whom the ends of the age are come.
Wherefore let him that thinketh he
standeth, take heed lest he fall. There
hath no temptation taken you but
such as man can bear: but God is
faithful, who will not suffer you to
be tempted above that you are able,
but will with the temptation also
make a way Of escape that you may
be able to bear it," q Cor. 1O:11-13).
And that way is Christ. In Him you
can keep from SHINING. If you sin,
and confess it, His blood will cleanse
you from all sin, for He is our Advo-
cate with the Father. He can wan
away all the stain of your sins, but
for your own good, He will allow
the consequences to remain, that you
may be reminded never to do that
again. But remember that He is the
only One who can keep you from sim
ming now, and thus avoid all the