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2. “I have provided me a king" (16:1). A marked distinction is in ferred here between the former king and the king of God’s own choosing. Saul was the kind of a king the people wanted. David was the kind of a king God wanted. Moreover, he was of the tribe of Judah from which the Messiah was to come (Gen. 49:10). It is also good to remember that God still has His King ready for rulership. Evil kings may reign for a while but one day God will say: “It is enough. The time has now come for My King- to ascend the throne.” 3. "And the Lord said . . . say,'I am come to sacrifice to the Lord" (16:2). Some find difficulty with this passage, thinking there is a bit of deceit here. But the thing Samuel did was right for three reasons: (l)*God told him to do it and what He does is always right. (2) It was an act of worship which provided an ideal back ground for the service of anointing which followed. Samuel’s action can not be called deception because he actually did exactly what God told him to do although the matter of the anointing was not openly referred to. (3) God is under no obligation to divulge p s plans to any man. It is His right to conceal some things for a time that greater glory may follow. 4. "There remaineth yet the young est» and, behold, he keepeth the sheep" (16:11). God’s choices are often irrespective of age limits or occupa tion. God looks for hearts which will respond to His will and way. Men with hearts like this will overcome disqualifications. Golden Text Illustration 1 S amuel ,16:7 A poor woman' in Cincinnati ap proached George Herrmann and skid, “Doctor, do you ever do anything for charity? I am a poor woman and have heart trouble. ''Won’t you ex amine my heart with the X-rays free- of costs?” “Yes, I will examine you,” said’ the doctor. Soon the X-ray machine began to crackle, and the physician gazed at her heart. He was surprised to see some $20 gold pieces hidden in a chamois bag under the woman's gar ment. “How is my heart, doctor?” asked the patient. “Your heart is pretty bad,” replied the doctor. “You lied when you said you were poor. Take that money out of your waist and pay me $5.” The woman nearly collapsed, but paid the $5. Altogether, she had about $100. The X-rays had made the discovery. Likewise our “Lord looketh on the heart” (1 Sam. 16:7). — 1,000 Tales Worth Telling, by Hy Pickering.
A Happy Day for David 1 S amuel 16 MEMORY VERSE: “Thou hast put gladness in my heart” (Psa. 4:7), AIM: To help the child tc give his heart to Christ. APPROACH: Sometimes We p l a y games in which we choose sides. Our
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heavenly Father is “ choosing” people too. To be on His side, a person must have one thi ng, David had it. LESSON STORY: Davi d' s f a m i l y lived in Bethlehem, and his f a t h e r’s n a m e .was Jesse.
heart, and a white magnet. (One sack should be large and fancy in appear ance and the other a common one. Place the black heart in the large sack, and the tip heart-in the other.) LESSON: These sacks are very much like people/ They are different in many ways. One is good looking, and the other is small and plain. The size and quality of the sacks are not the greatest difference, however. Often the differences in people do not show up until they are tested. If I push the two sacks across the table With my hand, they move along to gether, but if I want them to be drawn by this magnet, they quickly show their differences. One f o i l o-w s the magnet, and the other remains behind. These sacks remind me of two peo ple in the Old Testament. One was tall and handsome, but he failed to follow the Lord wholeheartedly. The other was small and looked rather common, but he followed the Lord. Can you guess of whom these sacks remind us? “Saul and David.” Yes, that is the correct answer. The difference in the way these sacks act toward the magnet is not due to their outward appearance, but to t h e i r hearts. We will open them and see what we find. .The large one has a black heart in it, and the small one has a white heart. S a u l disobeyed God because his heart was not right. David obeyed God and kept His commandments be cause his heart was clean in the sight of God. If I had asked you to choose be tween these two sacks before I opened them, most of you would have chosen the large one. When David was to be anointed king over Israel, Samuel was warned against making a mistake. We read, "man looketh on the out ward appearance, but the Lord look eth on the heart” (1 Sam. 16:7).
One day Samuel, the minister or prophet of the Lord, went to Jesse’s home, because the Lord had sent him there. “ Samuel,” the L o r d whispered a secret to Samuel in words like these, “I will show you which ohe of Jesse’s sons is to >e the next king of Israel.” One. by one, the sons of Jesse met Samuel. The first one, named Eliab, looked exactly like a king. But the Lord spoke to His servant in words that only he could hear, and the Lord said something like this: “Be careful, Samuel. You are logking at how tall Eliab is, and what' a fine body he has. “The Lord seeth not as man seeth . - the Lord looketh on the heart’ (v. 7).” So Eliab was not chosen. The sec ond son, and the third, and the fourth stood before Samuel, until he had seen seven of them. But every time the Lord said, “Not this one.” . Then David, the youngest boy, came in from the field where he cared for the sheep. Nobody thought he was important, and he didn’t even know why his father had sent for him. How surprised he was—and his family was surprised, too—when Samuel took oil and touched David’s head with it, ,tlie sign that he was to be made king! God had whispered to Samuel, “This is the one!” For God had seen that David had one important thing — a heart that was “with the Lord” (1 Ki. 15:3). If we give our hearts to Him, as David did, the Lord may choose us for important work for Him. Object Lesson S acks and S ouls OBJECTS: Two paper sacks, a tin heart painted white, a black cardboard
SEPTEMBER 17, 1944 TH E K IN G D O M STR O N G L Y E STAB L ISHED 2 S amuel 1
TO 5 Blessed be ye of the Lord, that ye have showed this kindness unto your lord, even unto Saul, and have buried nim. 6 And now the Lord show kindness and truth unto you: and I also will requite you this kindness, because ye have done this thing.
2 Samuel 2:4 And the men of Judah came, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah. And they told David, saying. That the men of Jabesh-gilead were they that buried Saul. r V 5 And David sent messengers unto the men of Jabesh-gilead, and said unto them,
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