Evening star., 1927-09-24


! /. heavens; and His kingdom ruleth
! over all.''-Psalm ellie.
The quarter that closes with this
weeks lesson has been devoted to
the history Of the early kings of
Israel. Biography is the soul of his
tory" Saul, Samuel, David. Nathan.
Solomon, Jeroboam, Rehoboam, Go
Hath and Jonathan have been the
outstanding personalities whose lives
we have studied. Samuel, the last
of the judges, educated for the priest
hood under Eli and founder Of the
prophets, was the chief figure Of the
earlier days of the kingdom. He sue
cessfully stamped his personality upon
the history of the nation because he
represented to the people the person.
ality, power and program of Jehovah
as the Supreme Ruler Of the king
dom. His sons by their self-seeking
and the corrupt sale Of their decisions
did not follow his excellent example.
1t was their corruption that filled
the nation with a desire for a change
from the old form of government by
a Judge who represented God to a
monarchy.
Jealousy existing between the tribes,
especially Judah and Ephraim, were
contributing causes that promoted a
public demand for king. The lack
of unity among the tribes, an empty
treasury and no military organization
or equipment with which to meet the
oppressors of the nation had helped
to create the peoples desire for
king. Samuel reluctantly agreed TO
the establishment Of a kingdom, but
not before warning the nation of the
perils that they faced in seeking a
king like other nations. He anointed
both Saul and his successor, David.
during his long life as a civil servant
of Israel.
The First Kings.
The first king was courageous.
energetic executive, who stood head
and shoulders above the people,"
Although God had revealed him to
Samuel, who called him and anointed
him to be king, by an apparently
trivial providential meeting, he was
chosen by the people to be their ruler
and military leader. Israel was a
constitutional monarchy, according to
by Samuel, who guided Saul during
his early years along the pathway of
success. Just as long as the king was
obedient to Gods commands he won
his campaigns against the nations
enemies. He failed to completely re-
move the tribal jealousies, although
he did secure unity among them,
equipped a conquering army, devel-
oped national spirit and organized
the states activities. He disobeyed
God, due to a mental breakdown
which resulted from the strain Of his
task. Men are in the habit Of think.
ing that his administration was
failure because they remember how
he refused to wait for Saul to offer
sacrifice before a battle, consulted
with the witch of Endor and finally
took his own life. Samuel's mourn
ing for him and David's tribute ought
to make US judge his life by lis result,
then we would recognize him as q
great king in spite of his defects.
David was different from Saul In
stature and family life. Jesse was a
prominent leader of the tribe of Ben
jamin. while Saul came from a COM
paratively insignificant family. He
was engaged in doing menial work
when God made known to Samuel that
He had selected David to succeed
saul. During his career as shep-
herd, he grew in his knowledge and
confidence in God, whom he came 10
speak Of in later years as his Good
shepherd. lie demonstrated his faith
n Jehovah in volunteering to meet
Goliath, the Philistine giant, who
cursed God and challenged any man
from Israel TO meet him. Ills victory,
which came by using his shepherd
sling, five pebbles and his trust in
jehovah. made him a national figure.
His success as a warrior filed Saul
with Jealousy. which is a symptom of
insanity, 50 that he was driven into
exile and pursued as an outlaw. 1t
was at this period that We studied
The fraternal spirit Of Jonathan. who
saved the life Of David. whose eul0gy
praised his love, which surpassed that
Of a woman, when he died upon the
battlefield with his father and brothers.
David's Success and Sin.
Saul's death made possible David's
return and his choice as king OF
Ju al. After seven years reign at
Hebron over the southern Kingdom
David was annointed the third time as
Ing over the united Eingdom. Under
MS diplomatic reign the tribes were
uhlted into strong kingdom, with
Jerusalem as its capital. The union Of
the tribes and the capture of Jerusa-
lem, which he made the center of his
government, a; oused the Philistines,
whom he defeated, and made a trib-
ucary power by treaty. This resulted
in an alliance with Hiram of Tyre,
who gave David help, aid and assist
ance IN his building program at Jeru-
salem in return for the commercial
protection given him by the safe trade
route TO Egypt secured through
Dayid's dominion.
David transferred the ark to Jeru-
salem and made the capital city the
center of religious worship for the
| tribes. He planned to build a temple
for the worship of Jehovah, for David
perceived that the Lord had estab-
ltshed him king over Israel, and that
| He had exalted his kingdom" The
Psalms, which he collected and added
the singing of the same to the
| spiritual worship of Israel, have
| touched the hearts of men throughout
| all countries and the centuries They
reveal the depths of his spirituality
and his absolute trust in the purpose
and power of Jehovah. Human biog-
raphers would have passed over the
sin of David. Not so the Bible, for we
studied how Nathan reproved the king
for his sin. The king revealed his deep
sorrow for his iniquity, acknowledged
| his transgression and sought Gods
pardon. st. Augustine has pointed out
that the fall of David has been re-
corded that those who have not fallen