THE K I N G ' S B U S I NE S S “ Ruth clave-unto her” Ruth 1:14, “ The same is my mother,” Matt. 12:50. The strong cords of love drew Ruth out of the land of Moab and knit her deep into the lineage of Israel and the ancestry of the Messiah. The beautiful affection between Ruth and Naomi goes far to redeem that especial relationship from the ribald and repulsive jesting that is so often heaped upon it. FRIDAY, June 25. 1 Sam. 3:1-13, 19, 20 . The Call of the Boy Samuel. The child Samuel ministered before the Lord and was the doorkeeper of God’s house in Shiloh. He opened the tabernacle doors at morning and shut them at night. He lighted the seven- branched candlestick at sunset and put it out at sunrise and kept the house of God in order. His best known name in after years in Israel was the Seer. His purity of heart and love for holy things qualified him to be a seer. He saw the face and heard the voice of God and all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established to he a prophet of the Lord. He saw enough of God and man that terrible night when he was called to make an old man of him before morning. While yet a child, he saw that the wages of sin is death. Israel never had a better judge than Hannah’s son. SATURDAY, June 26. 1 Sam. 9:15-21. Israel’s First King. Saul was no common man. He was a choice young man and a goodly. Among the children of Israel there was not a goodlier person than he. From his shoulders upward he was higher than any of the people. He had a fine physique and a regal bearing and his very sins seem possessed of a certain lurid grandeur. For a time his life and reign seemed full of promise. He was not a man after God’s own heart. He was a stranger to the grace of God and
611 in the eleventh chapter of Hebrews his name is conspicuous for its absence. Physical perfection does not atone for intellectual weakness or spiritual fail ure. It makes them even more con spicuous. Man is measured by brain not brawn. Magnanimity of soul is disso ciated from the physical. God looks not uppn the outward appearance. SUNDAY, June 27. 1 Sam. 16:4-16. A Shepherd Chosen King. In the call and anointing of David we may discover the need of a special prep aration for the service of God. Prophet, priest and king were set apart to their various offices by having oil poured upon their heads. This was the symbol of having the Holy Spirit conferred upon them to qualify them for what they had to do. In the New Testament each be liever is considered a prophet, priest and king, all in one. Every one there fore needs a special unction of the Holy Spirit. For this we should make earn est supplication and exercise believing appropriation. We cannot do our ap pointed work unless the Spirit of glory and of God shall rest upon us. David was taken from the sheep-fold to the throne and Christ is now lifting those from the sinking sands of sin who are destined to reign with Him through the ages of eternity. MONDAY, June 28. 1 Sam. 17:1-11. Israel Challenged. The armies of Israel and the Philis tines were facing one another in battle array. Neither dared to take the initia tive. At length the Philistines chal lenged the Israelites to decide the strug gle by single combat. They named Goliath as their champion. He was from eight to ten feet high and wore metallic armor weighing over a hun dred pounds. David was the youngest of Jesse’s eight sons. The three eldest were in the army of Saul and David was sent from home with a supply of food for them. When he saw Goliath’s de-
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