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T H E
K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
June 1924
may not make his example a pretext for fanatical under takings.— Isaac E rre tt. 17:39 He was panoplied in the Name. His confidence was no t in him self bu t in Another. The flame of his pu r pose was God-reliant zeal th a t swept him out of the class of those who do the merely possible into the high company of the doers of th e impossible. Does th e Name mean as much to you?— Selec. 17:45 If Goliath had ducked his head, God would have made David’s stone duck too.— Jo h n MacNeill. S atan is the champion of th e unseen “ principalities and powers” against whom we w restle bu t we have a companion, too, in the last king in David’s line, Who came to destroy th e works of th e devil. Are we tru stin g Him to win our victories for us?— Banks.
It is the crisis which brings out what is in a man, the principle which governs him. F aith was not created in David a t this tim e of crisis, but th e occasion b rough t it out.- Let us remember th a t back of P ete r’s denial, there was sleep; back of Ju d a s’ betrayal, stealing; back of P au l’s life, a desert experience. W hat is back of your life? Topics fo r Study (1) How does God a tte st His choice of men? (2) Did Saul’s own arm or prove valueless a t last? (1 Sam. 31 :3 ). (3) W ith w hat sword may Christians always be confident of victory? (Heb. 4 :1 2 ). (4) Is it ever incompatible w ith faith to use “m eans?” (5) Whom does David typify in th is conflict?
( 6 ) Whom does th e Philistine typify? (7) How may we gain sim ilar victories?
ELEMENTARY K ate H . Haus
A fter God rejected Saul as King, He sent Samuel to an oint ano ther to ru le afte r Saul. Samuel was sent to a man named Jesse, to anoint one of his sons as King of Israel. Jesse had seven of his sons brought before Samuel, bu t not
16:3 Bethlehem means th e “ house of b read .” It lies five miles south of Jerusalem and here David was born, and lis tened to his fath e r Jesse rehearse in his ears th e romance of th e la tte r’s g rand fath er and grandm other, Boaz and Ruth. Here too g reat David’s g reater Son was born.S-B anks.
one was chosen by God. Then Samuel asked if th e re was an other son, and was told th a t • th e re was a hoy, a shepherd in the field. Samuel had him sent for, and as soon as he came, God told Samuel to
COMMENTS FROM THE COMMENTARIES V. V. Morgan
16:7 Special instruction is given unto Samuel concerning th e “ outward ap pearance.” There had been the out ward show w ith Saul bu t no inward
obedience. God was afte r h e a rt and not body. See vs. 7. There is a Divine discrim ination here. Man looks on “ ou t w ard appearance” God on “ the h ea rt.” See also 1 Chron. 28 :9 ; Ps. 7 :9 ; Jer. 11:20; 17:10; 20:12.—Tucker. 16:13 When we are introduced to David, it is to have his name ever before us in th e Divine oracles. His is the first hum an name in th e New T estam ent and the la st hum an name. See Matt. 1 :1 ; Rev. 22:16.—Tucker. 17:1 The system pursued by the Philistines in th eir op- presion of th e ir Hebrew neighbors was to make frequent raids into the upland valleys, stripping them of th e ir h ar vest and vintage and carrying off any of the population they could capture, to sell them in foreign m arkets as slaves.— Geikie. 17:1-3 The arm ies of the Philistines and of the Israelites were facing each other in a narrow p a rt of th e valley of E lah. The crests of th e hills are about a mile ap a rt and five or six hundred feet high. One arm y occupied th e highland on th e north and th e o th er the highland on the south. F o r one arm y to leave its place of defense and descend into the plain and ascend th e hill on the o ther side would be to give the other arm y an advantage and invite defeat. Each arm y waited thu s day afte r day hoping th a t the o ther would leave its place of security, bu t n eith er would do so.— Prac. Com. In Arab w arfare it is very common for a w arrio r to advance from th e rank s and challenge any one from th e op posing arm y to meet him in single combat. The early his tory of Islam furnishes several instances.—P rof. H. P . Smith. 17:4 He was a survivor of th e ancient race of Anakim, descendants of whom found refuge in Gaza, Gath and Ash- dod afte r most of them had been exterm inated by Hoshua in the Valley of Edom. (Josh. 11:21,22). He was terrifying Israel as his kind had terrified the spies of Kadeshbarnea.— Banks. The cubit, or distance from th e elbow to th e ex trem ity of the m iddle finger, is variously estim ated a t from eighteen to twenty-one inches: th e span, or distance be tween the extrem ities of the thumb and little finger in the outstretched hand, is reckoned as half th e cubit: so th a t Goliath’s heigh t was between nine feet nine inches and eleven feet four inches. The most probable estim ate is about ten feet th ree inches.— Cam. Bible. 17:12 We have no record to tell us the length of time th a t elapsed between the anointing of David and the com b at between him and Goliath. It appears to have been a number of years.—P ract. Com. Saul may continue for a time, ju s t as Satan does now, b u t God has in David, ju st as in Christ, His man in the waiting. He is king though the coronation has not yet come.— Selec. 17:37 David had a rational basis for his tru s t in God, in his past achievement. It is well to remember this, th a t we
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anoint him a s 'th e next King. So David, th e shepherd boy, was anointed King. Can you recite the Psalm th a t David wrote? Let us say it together. Can you te ll w hat giant David killed? Let the children tell all they can of th e story, and then supply w hat they lack in th e telling, as they never tire of th e story. This g reat giant over nine feet ta ll defying a boy w ith only a sling shot, while he had a g rea t spear, and sword and shield. Tell how Saul came to let David go against the giant, and how he tried to have David wear his heavy armour. The lesson is, th a t each one m ust fight sin in his own way w ith God’s help. David had his sling and GOD, while Goliath had spear, sword and shield, bu t NOT GOD. David gave God all th e credit of th e battle, so God guided the stone th a t killed Goliath. A tiny stone kills a g reat giant. J u st so a little prayer will kill a g reat tem ptation to sin, on our part, if we bu t pray. Satan has many giants trying to kill God’s children, w ith sins of different kinds, which each child must fight w ith God’s help in his own way. Every one can name some of the giants th a t get afte r them a t home, a t school, on th e playground, and in many other places. Some of the g reat g ian ts of today, are cigarettes, bad language, bad companions, and ugly movie pictures, Sunday games, staying away from Sunday School, and bad conduct when in Sunday School, and careless handling of Bibles. Each one needs th e rig h t kind of a sling to fight these different giants. The leath er of th a t sling is “Love for God,” the strings are, “ Service,” th e stones are, “F a ith ,” “ P rayer,” “T ru st,” “Obedience,” “Courage.” These w ith God hack of them will conquer any tem ptation th a t may come to us a t any time, or any where. When God has any g reat work for a man to do, He always chooses a man who obeys. Make it clear to th e children th a t obedience is needful in home, school or wherever we are, if we are to succeed in life. There is always someone th a t every man and woman need obey as well as children, if we are to be helpful a t all times. Memory Verse: “ I th e Lord thy God will hold thy rig h t hand, saying unto thee, F ear not I will help thee.” Isa. 41:13.
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