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TH E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
Saul had rejected the opportunity God gave him, and was in turn Re jected by God as the king. Here the die was cast and the sentence pro nounced, but the fulfillment of the sentence did not come for some years afterwards. God would give Saul time to fully reveal what he really was, and at the end there would be no oppor tunity for even the poor excuse he had offered to Samuel. It is a tremendously awful thing «for any sinner or saint to trifle with the commands of God. Points and Problems 1. “It repenteth me that I have set ■up Saul to be king" (1 Sam. 15:11). This is the language of appearance, not actuality. God used human terms by which to et forth a seeming change in the mind of God. Whereas, God -did not change His mind. God never changes (Mai. 3:6). It was Saul who had changed. Because God does not change and his nature remains ever the same, it is necessary for Him to act differently toward the sinner than toward the one obedient to His will. 2. "And it grieved Samuel; and he cried unto the Lord all night" (v. 11). Here is another picture of the prayer life of Samuel. The first book of Sam uel is full of instances showing the man in prayer. 3. "I have performed the command ment of the Lord" (v. 13). A look at verse 3 of this chapter will reveal the fact that Saul only partially had per formed the will of the Lord. Thus he was not telling the whole truth. There are many like Saul today in this re spect. They think that because they do some of the things God wants them to do that they are doing all. 4. “They have brought them from the Amalekites" (v. 15). Note how Saul shifts the blame for disobedience over to the people. “They” scared the sheep and the oxen. We see the same thing in verse 21. One of the hardest things for man to do is to confess his own sin. He is prone to seek in every way possible to cast the blame on.someone else. 5. The failure of. Saul is indeed most tragic, for he was a man with remarkable advantages. In spite of these advantages, he made shipwreck of his life and this chapter sets forth the following elements in his failure: a compromising spirit (v. 9), pride (v. 17), hypocrisy (vs. 14-15) greed (v. 19), evasion of personal responsibility (v. 21), disobedience (v. 22), rebellion (v. 23), stubbornness (v. 23), rejection of the Word of God (v. 23), and insin cerity (v. 24). Later in Saul’s attitude toward David, we see plainly the ele ment of jealousy which so marred his life (cf. 18:6-9).
Golden Text Illustration 1 S amuel 15:23
and'-you will feel better” (1 Sam. 16:15, 16). Saul asked who this man was. When he learned that it was David, a shep herd boy, and that he was wise and good-looking, and that the Lord was “with him” (v. 18), Saul sent for him right away. When he received the message from King Saul, David was out in the fields, quietly taking care of his father’s sheep and thinking about a secret. You see, David knew that because Saul had allowed sin to grow in his heart, the Lord could not let him keep on being king. God had said that David himself was to be the next king. David could have boasted about this to sinful Saul, but he didn’t. The Bible says: “David came to Saul, and stood before him: and he loved him greatly . . . and . . . David took a harp, and played with his hand: so Saul was refreshed and was well” (vs. 21, 23). David must have been saying in his heart, “I will praise the name of God with a song” (Memory Verse), and “1 will be kind to others for the Lord’s sake, for that is what He wants us to do.” OBJECTS: Two swords cut from cardboard. (One should be covered with silver paper, and the other with black paper. On one side of the black . sword put a few drops of red ink. On the side of the silver sword put a red cross.) LESSON: Have you boys and girls ever seen a sword? The swords I brought with me this morning are only imitations, but they remind us of real ones. One is black and the other is silver in color. They represent t\yo men in the Bible who had the same name. One is mentioned in the Old Testament and the other in the New Testament. Can you guess their name? “Saul.” Yes, you qre right. Saul was the first king of Israel, and hundreds of years later Saul was the name of the man in the New Testament who per secuted the church. The second Saul is better known by the name Paul, which was given him after he became a Christian. These two. Sauls had two swords. King Saul had the sword of death. Object Lesson S auls and S words
In India the twenty-third regiment had been swindled out of their pay by an under-officer. As a protest the men resolved to disobey that officer, march to the General’s house, and lodge a petition aga'nst him. In the morning the regiment was called but when the officer gave the command, they re fused to obey, and marched the six miles to the General. The General thought their petition was right, but could not permit their insubordination. “What shall I do?” he asked himself. “The petition must be granted, but it cannot be in this way.” His reply. to the men was: “You will get your answer In the morning in the barracks yard.” Next morning the bugle sounded to call the Twenty-third- to fall in—the men appeared—the General was there, but at his back was the black sepoy army in full force. The sepoy army was ordered to drive the Twenty-third regiment from their weapons. When they were stripped and disarmed for their disobedience, and were made prisoners of war, the General said: “I forgive you. Your p e t i t i o n is granted.” T h i s historic occurrence is repro duced thousands of times in the moral and spiritual world. Men think they can obtain their desires and right% wrongs independent of the law, only to find that they cannot receive the blessing of God until they are strip ped and “prisoners of war” because of disobedience.—From The Bottle of Heaven, by Revilo.
David and His Harp 1 S amuel 16
MEMORY VERSE: “I will praise the name of God with a song” (Psa. 69:30). AIM: To show that God’s child will show kindness to others. APPROACH: When we have done Wrong, we are very unhappy. King
Saul was so un happy that he felt ill, and the reason was that he had s i n n e d . He dis obeyed God (1 Sam. 15:3, 9); he l i e d ( v. 13 ); h e w a s proud (v. 17) ; and he b l ame d other people for his own How could any one 11 that sin in his
bad deeds (v 21). be happy with < heart?.
LESSON STORY: Saul’s servants saw how ill and troubled the king was, and they said something like this: “We know a man who can play sweet music on the harp. If you will send for him, he will play for you,
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