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T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
June 1924
Saul was frightened and depended upon meeting Samuel in 7 days, and when he did not come, Saul added another sin to his list by offering a sacrifice to God, which only a priest had a rig h t to do. It ju st goes to show, th a t if we le t one sin get a good hold of us, others are sure to follow. When Samuel did come he told Saul how wrong he had acted, and th a t he had lost his kingdom and God’s help hy his foolish disobedience, as he had displeased God very much. We forget th ere is a lim it to God’s patience w ith us. Make th a t clear to th e children. Saul’s army had dwindled down to 600. Through all Israel, only Saul and Jon ath an had a sword or armour, and th e Philistines were w aiting to fight them. While th e waiting continued, Jo n ath an said to his arm our bearer, let us go over to th e Philistines, it may be God will give them to us. Jon ath an was depending upon God, so he did not fear. The two climbed over the hills between two sharp rocks, rig h t into th e P h ilistine’s sight. When the Philistines saw them they called to them to come on. So Jonath an said, we will go, for God has given them to us, and he and his arm our bearer went after them . God helped Jonathan, and they gained the victory. When God is our helper we will conquer every enemy. I t was not long be fore God gave Saul another opportunity to obey Him. He was sent to fight an enemy th a t had been very mean to Israel a t one time. Saul was told to u tterly destroy them and not keep any treasu res or cattle th a t belonged to them. Saul conquered them , bu t Kept'some of th e ir cattle against the command of God. A fter th e victory Samuel came to Saul, and Saul pretended he had fully obeyed God. In this he lied. Samuel told him th a t he was betrayed by th e cattle he had kept against God’s command, and th a t God had re jected him completely, and no son of his should rule Is rael, no t even Jonathan. Obedience to God is th e only thing th a t counts in His sight. Unless we love God very much, we will no t try to obey Him. Memory verse: “To obey is b etter th a n sacrifice.” 1 Sam. 16:22. JUNE 29, 1924 DAVID AND GOLIATH 1 Samuel, Chapters 16 and 17 Golden Text: “Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and e a rth .” Psalm 124:8. Outline: (T) David Declines Saul’s Armour. Saul’s disobedience concerning Amalek resulted in his rebuke by Samuel and his rejection by God. Though he had grown in power and popularity w ith th e people, the kingdom was to be given to another. God told Samuel th a t He had selected LESSON a king from the house of Jesse, h u t did EXPOSITION not give him full' instructions as to His T. C. H orton choice. He said, “ I will show you,” com manding him to go to Bethlehem and of fer sacrifice a t the house of Jesse. Samuel did as th e Lord commanded, and in th e house of Jesse separated his seven sons and called them to the sacri fice. As he looked upon th e first son, Eliab, he saw a splendid specimen of hum anity and supposed th is was the man God had chosen for th e king. Samuel is still thinking of Saul. We are all inclined to judge from appearances, (2) David Disdained by the Philistine. (3) David Defies and Defeats Goliath. Introduction.
(chap. 2:35)' and David was certainly entitled to be char acterised as “ a man afte r God’s own h ea rt,” from his ard en t zeal and undeviating exertions for the in terests of the tru e religion, in opposition to idolatry.— Jam ieson. 15:3 There are times when a signal dem onstration of di vine justice is needed for m ankind in th e in terests of mor ality; th e re are times when stern judgm ent is th e tru est mercy, and the penalty of prem ature physical d eath is by no means the most terrib le fate which can overtake men even in this world.— Cam Bible. Amalek is a type of the flesh, and th ere is an analogy between th e need of his u tte r destruction in Isra el’s time, and our own need to crucify the flesh and the lusts thereof. (Gal. 5 :2 4 ).— Banks. 15:9 Josephus says th a t Agag was saved for his sta tu re and beauty. We are not to believe th a t motives of hum an ity actuated Saul, and th e disobedient king made no such claim. Agag could be held for ransom. He was saved perhaps to grace Saul’s trium ph and to be an evidence of his victory; perhaps from a feeling of sympathy w ith a fellow king. Every surgeon knows th è necessity of removing all the diseased portions, or w hat is left will make another surgical operation necessary.—Peloubet. 15:11 Man’s repentance implies a change of mind, God’s a ' change of circum stances and relations. He has not changed, bu t is ever th e same; it is man who has changed in his position relatively to God.—Edersheim . His re pentance is not to be understood as though He who fore knows all things reg retted His action, nor is it a sign of mutability. A change in the a ttitu d e of man to God neces sarily involves a corresponding change in the a ttitu d e of God to m a n— Selec. 15:18 So easy was th e service', and so certain the success, th a t it was ra th e r to be called a journey th an a war.— Matthew Henry. 15:20 Men are ap t to .cry out w ith Saul, “ I have obeyed the commandment of the L o rd ;” but, alas, when it comes to be examined, how have they obeyed Him? Possibly they have, w ith Saul,, destroyed the Amelekites; have con stan tly and openly opposed the. declared enemies of religion. Moreover, perhaps, whatever was vile and refuse th a t they have destroyed utterly. But the best of th e sheep and of the oxen th e things which were" dear to them , these they could not spare.-—Dr. S. d a r k . 45:22 Obedience is the te st of love. Tell us not of your rap tu res, your visions, your sacrifices, when your daily life contradicts the requirem ents of God’s Word.—P ract. Com. The old Hebrew system abounded in sacrifices of various kinds. They recognized th e principle of atone ment. The Christian religion has one g reat sacrifice, “ the Lamb of God th a t ta k eth away th e sin of the world,” bu t it also recognizes various kinds of offerings on th e p a rt of the individual. The ceremonial sacrifices were righ t, bu t th ere was something b etter th an sacrifice.—Griffith. 15:23 This saying of Samuel came literally tru e in Saul’s case. Through disobedience he was forsaken of God, and became a prey to the Evil Spirit, and was led on in time to reso rt to w itchcraft (Chap. 27:7) and perhaps to consult teraphim (1 9 :1 3 ). Here is a solemn warning for these la tte r days.—Wodswortli. A fter Saul had been King two years, he chose him an arm y of 3000, keeping 2 0 0 0 for himself, and giving his son Jon athan , who was a good man, 1000. He evidently felt pro,ud in his own streng th , and past victories, forgetting how God had helped him fight. A g reat arm y came against him which he was not able to meet, for th e Philistines held Israel in scorn. God did not help Saul for He hates -pride. This g reat army frightened Israel, and instead of calling upon God they hid wherever they could among the mountains, and in caves, and some even crossed over the riv er Jordan. 0 * 0 1 E NCE 3ETTE THAN i i m ELEMENTARY K ate H . Haus
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