1 Samuel 1:15
I have poured out my soul before the Lord.
Hannah’s soul was full of complaint
and grief, which flowed over into her face and made it sorrowful. But when
she had poured out her soul before the Lord, emptying out all its
bitterness, the peace of God took the place of her soul-anguish, she went
her way, and did eat, and her countenance was no more sad. What a glad
exchange! How great the contrast! How much the better for herself, and for
her home!
Is your face darkened by the
bitterness of your soul? Perhaps the enemy has been vexing you sorely; or
there is an unrealized hope, an unfulfilled purpose in your life; or,
perchance, the Lord seems to have forgotten you. Poor sufferer, there is
nothing for it but to pour out your soul before the Lord. Empty out its
contents in confession and prayer. God knows it all; yet tell Him, as if He
knew nothing. “Ye people, pour out your hearts before Him. God is a refuge
for us.” “In everything, by prayer and supplication make your requests known
unto God.”
As we pour out our bitterness, God pours in His peace. Weeping goes out of
one door whilst joy enters at another. We transmit the cup, of tears to the
Man of Sorrows, and He hands it back to us filled with the blessings of the
new covenant. Some day you will come to the spot where you wept and prayed,
bringing your offering of praise and thanksgiving.
1 Samuel 2:19
His mother made him a little coat.
What happy work it was! Those nimble
fingers flew along the seams, because love inspired them. All her woman’s
art and wit were put into the garment, her one idea and ambition being to
make something which should be not only useful, but becoming. Not mothers
only, but fathers, are always making little coats for their children, which
they wear long years after a material fabric would have become worn out. How
many men and women are wearing to-day the coats which their parents cut out
and made for them long years ago!
Habits are the vesture of the soul.
The Apostle bade his converts put off the old man, “which is corrupt,
according to the deceitful lusts,” and to put on the new man “which after
God is created in righteousness and true holiness”; to put off anger, wrath,
and malice, whilst they put on mercy, humility, and meekness. What words
could better establish the fact that habits are (as the name indicates) the
clothing of the inner life? Where and how are habits formed? Not in the
mid-passage of life, but at its dawn; not in great crises, but in daily
circumstances; not in life’s arena but in the home, amid the surroundings of
earliest childhood. Oh that the spotless robe of Christ’s righteousness may
ever be exhibited before those with whom we daily come in contact!
By their behavior to each other and to
their children; by the ordering of the home-life; by their actions, more
than by their words; by the way in which they speak, and spend their leisure
hours, and pray—men and women are making the little coats which, for better
or worse, their children wear ever after, and perhaps pass down to after
generations.
1 Samuel 3:10
And the Lord came, and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel!
See the urgency of God! Four times He came, and stood, and called. Mark how
He stands at the door to knock. At first He was content to call the lad once
by name; but after three unsuccessful attempts to attract him to Himself, He
uttered the name twice, with strong urgency in the appeal, Samuel! Samuel!
This has been called God’s double knock. There are seven or eight of these
double knocks in Scripture: Simon, Simon; Saul, Saul; Abraham, Abraham.
How may we be sure of a Divine call?
We may know God’s call when it grows
in intensity.—If an impression comes into your soul, and you are not quite
sure of its origin, pray over it; above all, act on it so far as possible,
follow in the direction in which it leads—and as you lift up your soul
before God, it will wax or wane. If it wanes at all, abandon it. If it
waxes, follow it, though all hell attempt to stay you.
We may test God’s call by the
assistance of godly friends.—The aged Eli perceived that the Lord had called
the child, and gave him good advice as to the manner in which he should
respond to it. Our special gifts and the drift of our circumstances will
also assuredly concur in one of God’s calls.
We may test God’s call by its effect
on us.— Does it lead to self-denial? Does it induce us to leave the
comfortable bed and step into the cold? Does it drive us forth to minister
to others? Does it make us more unselfish, loving, tender, modest, humble?
Whatever is to the humbling of our pride, and the glory of God, may be truly
deemed God’s call. Be quick to respond, and fearlessly deliver the message
the Lord has given you.
1 Samuel 4:3
Let us fetch the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord.
Israel had been defeated with great
loss. Their only hope of being able to hold their own against the
Philistines and the people of the land was in the protection and help
vouchsafed to them by God. They knew this, and thought that they would be
secured, if only the Ark of the covenant were on the field. They forgot that
it was only the material symbol of a spiritual relationship; that it was
useless unless that relationship was in living force; and that the bending
forms of the cherubim, emblematic of the Divine protection, would not avail
if their fellowship with the God of the cherubim had been ruptured by
black-sliding.
There is a sense in which we are
always sending for the Ark. The reliance on outward rites, such as baptism
and the Lord’s Supper, on the part of those who are alienated from the life
of God; the maintenance of the forms of prayer and Scripture-reading which
no longer express the passionate love of the soul; the habit of
church-going, which so many practice, not because they love God, but because
they think that it will in some way secure His alliance in life’s battle—
all these are forms in which we still fetch the Ark of the covenant, whilst
our hearts are wrong with the God of the covenant.
It should never be forgotten that
nothing can afford to us protection and succor but vital union with Christ.
We must hide in His secret place if we would abide under His shadow. We must
dwell in the most holy place if we would be shadowed by the wings of the
Shekinah. There must be nothing between us and God, if we are to walk
together, and enjoy fellowship with the Father, and with His Son, Jesus
Christ.
1 Samuel 5:3
Dagon was fallen upon his face to the earth before the Ark of the Lord.
The idols of the heathen represent
demons who are their accepted gods, just as the Ark was the symbol of the
presence of Jehovah. In the one case there was a material representation of
the demon; but in the case of the Ark there was only a throne, the Mercy
Seat; and no attempt was made to represent the appearance of the God of
Israel. When placed in the Holy of Holies, the Shekinah shone between the
cherubim; this alone spoke of the Divine Spirit who filled the apparently
vacant throne. When the effigy of the fish-god was confronted by the Sacred
Ark, it was as though the demon spirit and the Divine Spirit had come into
contact, with the inevitable result that the inferiority of the one ensured
the crash of its effigy to the ground.
What a lesson this must have been to
the Philistines—similar to that given Pharaoh in the plagues of Egypt, and
with the same object of leading them to see the superior greatness of
Jehovah! How great the encouragement to Israel—to know that God could defend
His superiority! And how striking the prognostication for the future, when
all the Dagons of the world shall be broken before the symbol of Divine
power and love!
Bring the Ark of God into your life.
Set it down in your heart, and forthwith the Dagons which have held sway for
so long will one after another succumb. “The idols He will utterly abolish.”
Let Christ in—that is the one need of the soul; and let Him take full
possession of you. Then He will do His own work. Darkness cannot abide
light; nor the defilement of the Augean stable the turning in of the water
of the river.
1 Samuel 6:12
And the kine went along the highway, lowing as they went.
That two milch kine which had never
borne the yoke should move quietly along the high road, turning neither to
the right nor to the left, and lowing for the calves they had left behind,
clearly indicated that they were possessed and guided by some mysterious
power, which we know to have been God’s. And if He were able thus to
overpower the instincts of their nature, and to compel them to do His will,
may we not infer that all circumstances, and all men, however unwittingly,
and against their natural instinct, are subserving the purposes of His will,
and bearing on the Ark? The fish yields the tribute money; the colt of the
ass waits where two ways meet to bear the Redeemer; the man with the
waterpot leads to the upper room; the Roman soldiers enable Paul to fulfill
the mission of his life, in preaching the Gospel without hindrance in the
very heart of Rome.
As we go forth into the world, let us
believe that the movement of all things is toward the accomplishment of
God’s purpose. Herein is a fulfillment of the Psalmist’s prediction about
man, which can only be perfectly fulfilled in Jesus Christ, the second
Adam—that all things are under His feet, all sheep and oxen, yea, and the
beasts of the field. Everything serves Christ and those who serve Christ. In
a true sense all things are ours; they minister to us, even as Christ to
God.
And against our natural inclinations
let us always regard the claims of God as paramount; and dare to go His way,
though our heart pines for those we leave behind. “He that loveth father or
mother, son or daughter, more than Me, is not worthy of Me.”
1 Samuel 6:20
From Our Daily Walk
March 5 - STANDING
BEFORE GOD
"Who is able to stand before this holy Lord God?"-- 1 Samuel 6:20.
THE PHRASE "to stand before God" designates a high-toned religious
life; it includes the knowledge of God, the faculty of executing
His commands, and the power of interceding for others. The phrase
was a favourite one with Elijah, as expressing the spirit of his
great career, and we surely desire that the spirit and attitude of
our life may be designated thus. But if this is to be something
more than a vague wish, or idle dream, there must be a close
adhesion to great principles.
Amongst many it is the general tendency to follow the practice of
the majority. We drift with the current, and allow our lives to be
settled by our companions or our whims, our fancies or our tastes.
If we have a momentary qualm, in contrasting our lives with the
standards of primitive simplicity, of which Scripture, or the
biographies of the saints are full, we excuse ourselves by saying
that so long as the main purpose of life is right the details are
unimportant. But what we are in the smallest details of our life,
that we are really and essentially.
What a revolution would come to us all, if it became the one fixed
aim and ambition of our lives to stand before God, and to do
always those things that are pleasing in His sight. It would not
make us less tender in our friendships, or less active in our
service. It would not take the sparkle from the eye; the nerve
from the grasp; or the warm glow from the heart. But it would
check many a vain word, arrest many a silly jest, stop much
selfish and vainglorious expenditure, and bring us back to
whatsoever things are true, honourable, just, pure, lovely and of
good report.
We must hold lightly to the things around us. It is difficult to
say what worldliness consists in, for what is worldly to some
people is an ordinary part of life's circumstance to others. But
all of us are sensible of ties that hold us to the earth. We may
discover what they are by considering what we cling to most; what
we find hard to let go, even into the hands of Christ. Whatever it
is, flit hinders us from living on the highest level; if it is a
weight that impedes our speed heavenward, it should be laid
deliberately on God's altar, that we may be able, without let or
hindrance, to be wholly for God.
PRAYER - May the Holy
Spirit enable us to realise in daily life our true position in Thy
purpose. May we in heart and mind thither ascend, and with Him
continually dwell. May our affections be set on things above, not
on things of the earth. AMEN.
1 Samuel 7:8
Cease not to cry unto the Lord our God.
Samuel was famous for his prayers.
They are repeatedly referred to in the brief record of his life. In the
Psalms he is spoken of as the one “who called upon God’s name.” Indeed, he
fought and won Israel’s battles by his strong intercessions. Mary of Scots
said that she dreaded the prayers of John Knox more than the battalions of
the King of France. So his people were accustomed to think that if the
prophet’s hands were held out in importunate prayer, their foes must be
restrained.
In the Life of Mr. Reginald Radcliffe,
one who contributes a reminiscence interjects a remark which deserves to be
carefully pondered:— “The great secret of the blessing which came from God
to the awakening of whole districts, the quickening of Christians, and the
salvation of multitudes, was prayer, continued, fervent, believing,
expectant. There was never anything striking in the addresses; but through
communion with the living Christ, the word came forth with living and
life-giving power. Often would the forenoon be spent in continuous prayer.”
This may well convict some of us of the cause of our failure. We have
expected the Lord to thunder and discomfort our Philistines, and with a
great deliverance; but we have ceased to cry unto the Lord.
Ye that are the Lord’s remembrancers,
cease not to cry unto Him. If the judge avenged the unfortunate widow, shall
not God avenge His own elect, who cry day and night? It is recorded of our
Lord that He prayed early and late, and all night. He prayed when He was
about to be transfigured; for His disciples; in the Garden of Gethsemane;
and for His murderers. How much more do we need to “pray without ceasing”!
1 Samuel 8:6
But the thing displeased Samuel..., And Samuel prayed unto the Lord.
A little further down in the chapter
we learn that Samuel rehearsed the words of the people unto the Lord. His
prayer, to a large extent, was a rehearsal of all the strong and unkind
things that the people had said to him; and in this way he passed them off
his mind, and found relief. There is a suggestion of close communion with
God in the expression, “He rehearsed them in the ears of the Lord.” It had
been the habit of his life to be on intimate terms with his God.
Things do not always turn out as we
had hoped, and we get displeased for our own sakes and God’s. We had planned
in one direction, but events have issued in another; and the results have
threatened to become disastrous. There is but one resource. If we allow
vexations to eat into our heart, they will corrode and injure it. We must
rehearse them to God — spreading the letter before Him as Hezekiah did;
making request like Paul; crying like Samuel.
Surely it is the mistake of our life,
that we carry our burdens instead of handing them over; that we worry
instead of trusting; that we pray so little. The grass grows thick on the
pathway to our oratory; the cobwebs hang across the doorway. The time we
spend in prayer is perhaps better spent than in any other way. It was whilst
Samuel prayed thus, that he saw the Divine program for Israel:
“And he who at the sixth hour sought
The lone house-top to pray, There gained a sight beyond his thought— The
dawn of Gentile day. Then reckon not, when perils lour, The time of prayer
misspent; Nor meanest chance, nor place, nor hour, Without its heavenward
bent.”
1 Samuel 9:6
Behold, there is in this city a man of God.
There is a street in London, near St.
Paul’s, which I never traverse without very peculiar feelings. It is
Godliman Street. Evidently the name is a corruption of godly man. Did some
saint of God once live here, whose life was so holy as to give a sweet savor
to the very street in which he dwelt? Were the neighbors who knew him best,
the most sure of his godliness? Would that our piety might leave its mark on
our neighborhoods, and the memory linger long after we have passed away!
A generation or two ago in the
Highlands, there were earnest and holy men who were known by the significant
title of the men. No great religious gathering was deemed complete without
them. Their prayers and exhortations were accompanied by an especial
unction.
In such manner Samuel’s godliness was
recognized far and wide. The fragrance of his character could not be
concealed. And this gave men confidence in him. They said, “He is an
honorable man; all that he saith cometh surely to pass.” How much credit
redounds to godliness, when it is combined with trustworthiness and high
credit amongst our fellows!
Let us seek to be God’s men and women.
Let us live not only soberly and righteously, but godly, in this present
world. Let us remember that God hath set apart the godly for Himself. The
godly are the godlike. They become so by cultivating the fellowship and
friendship of God. Their faces become enlightened with His beauty; their
words are weighty with His truth. After being for a little in their company,
you detect the gravity, serenity, gentleness, beauty of holiness, which are
the court manners of heaven.
1 Samuel 10:7
Thou shalt do as occasion serve thee.
This is an example of how God demands
of us the use of our sanctified common-sense. Samuel sketches to Saul the
course of events during the next few days; showing how clearly our lives lie
naked and open to the eyes of God, and how easily He can reveal them when
necessary. But whilst the various incidents are told, the prophet does not
feel it incumbent to tell this goodly young man how he should behave in any
given instance. “When these signs are come upon thee, thou shalt do as
occasion serve thee.”
We are reminded of a parallel in the
life of Peter. The angel of God unbarred the prison-doors, and led him
forth, because nothing short of Divine power would avail. He led the dazed
Apostle through one street, because he was too bewildered to realize what
had happened. But, as soon as the night-air had brought him to his senses,
the angel left him “to consider the matter”— to use his own judgment. The
result of which was, that he went to the house of Mary.
One of the divinest of our faculties
is the judgment, before which the reasons for and against a certain course
of action must be adduced, but with which the ultimate decision lies. It is
a tendency with some to depreciate the use of this wonderful power, by
looking for signs and visions to point their path. This is a profound
mistake. God will give these when there are complications in which the
exercise of judgment might be at fault; but not where it is sufficient.
Where no sign is given, carefully divest yourself of selfish considerations,
weigh the pros and cons, ask for guidance, dare to act; and having acted in
faith, never look back or doubt.
1 Samuel 11:14
Come, let us go to Gilgal, and renew the Kingdom there.
It is good to have days and occasions
for renewing the kingdom. Already Saul had been anointed king. It was a
recognized matter that he should inaugurate the days of the kings, as
distinguished from those of the judges. But his great victory at
Jabesh-Gilead seems to have wrought the enthusiasm of the people to the
highest pitch, and to have presented a great opportunity for renewing the
kingdom. They went to Gilgal to do this, because there, on the first
entrance into Canaan, Israel had rolled away the reproach of uncircumcision,
which symbolized their lack of separation.
Jesus is our King. The Father hath
anointed Him, and set Him on His holy hill; and we have gladly assented to
the appointment, and made Him King. But sometimes our sense of loyalty and
devotion wanes. Insensibly we drift from our strenuous endeavor to act
always as His devoted subjects. Therefore we need, from time to time, to
renew the kingdom, and reverently make Him King before the Lord. Go over the
old solemn form of dedication; turn to the yellow leaves of the diary; bring
under His scepter any new provinces of influence that have been acquired;
tell Him how glad and thankful you are to live only for Him. Let this be
done at Gilgal, the place of circumcision and separation, with the Jordan of
death flowing behind, and the Land of Promise beckoning in front. There is a
sense in which we can consecrate ourselves only once; but we can renew our
vows often.
Blessings abound where’er He reigns;
The prisoner leaps to burst his chains; The weary find eternal rest, And all
the sons of want are blest.
1 Samuel 12:22a
The Lord will not forsake His people for His great Name’s sake.
The certainty of our salvation rests
on the character of God. Moses, years before, had pleaded that God could not
afford to destroy or forsake Israel, lest the Egyptians and others should
have some ground for saying that He was not able to carry out His purpose,
or that He was fickle and changeable. “What wilt Thou do for thy great
Name?” Samuel uses the same argument. We also may avail ourselves of it for
our great comfort.
God knew what we should be-how weak
and frail and changeful-before He arrested us and brought us to Himself.
Speaking after the manner of men, we might say He counted the cost. He
computed whether His resources were sufficient to secure us from our foes,
keep us from falling, and present us faultless before the presence of His
glory with exceeding joy. He foreknew how much forbearance, pity,
consolation, and tenderness, we should require. And yet it pleased Him to
make us His people. He cannot, therefore, now run back from His purpose;
otherwise it would seem that difficulties had arisen which either He had not
anticipated, or was not so well able to combat as He had thought. What an
absurd suggestion! In the former case there would be a slur on His
omniscience; on the other, upon His omnipotence.
“What if God should cast you into
hell?” was asked of an old Scotchwoman. ‘“Well,” she answered, “If He do,
all I can say is, He will lose mair than I will.”
The gracious promise given to Joshua
may be appropriated by every trembling saint of God “I will never leave thee
nor forsake thee.” And to the poor and needy He says, “I the God of Israel
will not forsake them.”
1 Samuel 13:12
I forced myself, therefore, and offered a burnt offering.
This was wholly outside Saul’s
province. Samuel had engaged to arrive within the seven days: they had
nearly expired, and still there were no signs of the prophet; and Saul,
yielding to the promptings of his impetuous nature, took the matter into his
own hand, and rashly assumed an office to which he had no right. He
protested that he had been very unwilling to add the function of priest to
that of king. But this was notoriously contrary to the truth. For some time
he had chafed against Samuel’s prerogative, and now sought to supersede the
Divine order.
It seemed but a small act, and, to
superficial judgment, not enough to warrant the loss of his kingdom; but it
was symptomatic of a great moral deficiency. He had not learned to obey the
commandment of the Lord: how could he rule? He could not control the hasty
suggestions of his own nature, in favor of the deliberate movement of the
Divine order: how could he be God’s chosen agent? He acted on the showings
of expediency, rather than of faith: how could he be a man after God’s own
heart? The restlessness and haste which characterize the present age must
not be allowed to affect our service for God; for thereby the progress of
the Gospel will be hindered rather than helped.
We must learn to wait for God. He may
not come till the allotted time has almost passed; but He will come. He
waits for the exact moment in which He can best succor you. Not till
patience has been exercised, but before it has given out. In the meanwhile,
be sure that your safety is secured; He will see to it that the Philistines
shall not come down to overwhelm you.
1 Samuel 14:27
His eyes were enlightened.
The Philistines were in full flight.
The Israelites followed hard at their heels through the wood. It was there
that the honey dropped in rich abundance on the ground, and there Jonathan
tasted a little, dipping the end of his rod into it. It made all the
difference to him, warding off the excessive exhaustion which paralyzed the
rest of the army.
The Word of God is sweeter than the
honeycomb.— Luscious to the sanctified taste; enlightening to the dimming
eyes; strength-giving to the weary. It drops in abundance to the ground, as
though inviting the hand of the Christian warrior or wayfarer to take it
freely. If there is no taste for the written Word, it may be assumed that
the living Word has not been enthroned in the heart; for where He reigns
supreme, there is a longing for the food which alone can fit us for the
Christian life.
Where we cannot take much, let us take
some.— There was not time for Jonathan to sit down and take his fill. He
could only catch up some as he hastily passed through the forest-glade; but
that little made all the difference to him. So, in the early morning, or at
midday, if we cannot fill our hearts with Scripture, we may catch up a
morsel, which will minister untold refreshment, and clear our spiritual
vision.
We specially need to do this when
flushed with success.— Too often, when we have had success in the battles of
the Lord—a good time in preaching or teaching— we are apt to congratulate
ourselves, and suppose that we can live on the emotions excited. But,
probably, there is no time when we need more absolutely to turn to the Word
of God. In victory, as in defeat, we must be fed and nourished.
1 Samuel 15:22
To obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.
This is a great principle, which is
repeatedly enforced throughout the Bible. Men have always been apt to
divorce religion and morality, and to suppose that a certain tribute of
sacrifice to God will be sufficient compensation for notorious evildoing.
But in every age God’s servants have protested against the notion, and have
insisted, as Samuel did with Saul, that it were better to obey, although
there should be no spoil from which to select victims for sacrifice. This
was Christ’s perpetual protest against the Pharisees.
Let the Ritualist beware.— There is a
grave fear lest extreme attention to the outward rite may be accompanied by
carelessness to the inward temper. When the outward observance is the
expression of the attitude of the soul, it is to be respected even by those
of us who feel that excessive symbolism is hostile to the devout life; but
where the rite takes the place of the soul’s devotion, or condones a lax
morality, it cannot be too sternly deprecated. Though all the Levitical
rites should be observed without flaw, they could not compensate for the
persistent neglect of the least item of the decalogue. “God is a Spirit; and
they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.”
Let us all beware.— We are apt to make
sacrifices of time and money and energy for God, and to comfort ourselves
with the reflection that such as we are may be excused if in small lapses of
temper, or disposition, we come short of the Divine standard. No; it cannot
pass muster. One sin mastered, one temptation resisted, one duty performed,
is dearer to God than the most costly sacrifices that were ever piled upon
the altar.
1 Samuel 16:13
The Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward.
What may not a day bring forth! Here
was a shepherd lad, summoned hastily from his sheep, and anointed king. But
an even greater blessing came into his life that day, for he was mightily
endued with the Holy Spirit. Without doubt, during his early years the
Spirit of God had dwelt within him, molding his character, inditing his
songs; but, henceforth, the Spirit was to abide on him, as a Divine unction.
Why should not this day witness a
similar transformation for you; not in the change of earthly position, but
in your reception of the “power from on high” through a renewed enduement?
Why should not the Spirit of the Lord come mightily upon you from this holy
hour, even as your eyes glance down this page? Though it is quite possible
that you have been empowered once, there is no finality in God’s bestowals;
the apostles were filled and filled again (Acts 2 and 4).
The age of Pentecost in which we live
is distinctly one of Divine anointing. It awaits all who will separate
themselves to God, and receive it for His glory. The characteristic
preposition of this age is on. If you have not received power, seek it; he
that seeketh findeth; nay, receive it— to ask is to get. If the Master,
though begotten of the Holy Spirit, forbore to preach the Gospel, and bind
up broken hearts, till He had been anointed as the Christ by the Spirit, who
descended on Him at His baptism; how foolish it is for us, who were born in
sin, to attempt similar work, apart from similar enduement! The promise to
each child of God is: “Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is
come upon you; and ye shall be witnesses unto Me” (Acts 1:8).
1 Samuel 17:26, 36
The armies of the living God.
This made all the difference between
David and the rest of the camp. To Saul and his soldiers God was an
absentee— a name, but little else. They believed that He had done great
things for His people in the past, and that at some future time, in the days
of the Messiah, He might be expected to do great things again; but no one
thought of Him as present. Keenly sensitive to the defiance of the
Philistine, and grieved by the apathy of his people, David, on the other
hand, felt that God was alive. He had lived alone with Him in the solitude
of the hills, till God had become one of the greatest and most real facts of
his young existence; and as the lad went to and fro among the armed
warriors, he was sublimely conscious of the presence of the living God amid
the clang of the camp.
This is what we need. To live so much
with God, that when we come amongst men, whether in the bazaars of India or
the market-place of an English town, we may be more aware of His
overshadowing presence than of the presence or absence of any one. Lo, God
is here! This place is hallowed ground! But none can realize this by the act
of the will. We can only find God everywhere when we carry Him everywhere.
The miner sees by the candle he carries on his forehead.
Each of us is opposed by difficulties,
privations, and trials of different sorts. But the one answer to them all is
faith’s vision of the Living God. We can face the mightiest foe in His name.
If our faith can but make Him a passage, along which He shall come, there is
no Goliath He will not quell; no question He will not answer; no need He
will not meet.
1 Samuel 18:5, 14–15, 30(18a)
David behaved himself wisely.
There must be some strong reason for
the fourfold repetition of this phrase in so short a space. It is as though
the Holy Ghost would lay very distinct stress on the Divine prudence and
circumspection, which must characterize the man whose life is hid in God.
Let us walk with God, abiding in Him, subjecting our thoughts and plans to
His communing about all things with Him, talking over our lives with Him,
before we go out to live them in the presence of our fellows. Then we too
shall have this gracious wisdom, which is more moral than intellectual—the
product of the grace of God rather than of human culture.
Our life shall commend itself to men
(1 Samuel 18:5).— David’s was good in the sight of all the people, and more
wonderful still, in the sight of Saul’s servants, who might have been
jealous. A life lived in God disarms jealousy and envy. He who, as a boy,
did His Father’s business increased in wisdom, and in favor with God and
men.
Our life shall rebuke and awe our foes
(1 Samuel 18:15).— Saul stood in awe of him. When traps and snares are laid
for us we shall be enabled to thread our way through them all, as Jesus did
when they tried to entangle Him in His talk. We shall have a wisdom which
all our foes together shall not be able to gainsay or resist.
Our name will be precious (1 Samuel
18:30).— People loved to dwell on the name of David; it was much set by;
they noticed and were impressed with the beauty and nobility of his
character. We must always view our lives, amusements, and undertakings, in
the light of the result which will accrue to Him whose name it is our
privilege to bear.
1 Samuel 19:6
And Saul hearkened unto the voice of Jonathan.
It was a noble act of Jonathan. He
might have withdrawn from his friendship with David when it threatened his
relations with his father; but, instead, he stepped into the breach, and
pleaded for his friend, endeavoring to eradicate the false and ungenerous
conceptions of which Saul had become possessed. It is an example we do well
to study and copy. For his love’s sake, as well as for his father’s, he was
extremely eager to effect a reconciliation between him to whom he owed
allegiance of son and subject, and this fair shepherd-minstrel-warrior, who
had so recently cast a sunny gleam upon his life.
Men often misconceive of one another.
Jealousy and envy distort behavior and actions which are in themselves as
beautiful as possible. Misrepresentation will blind us to the true
excellences of one another’s characters. Wrong constructions are often put
on the most innocent incidents. We cannot help these things, they are part
of the sad heritage of the Fall; but we may often take up the cause of a
misunderstood man, and at the risk of losing our own reputation, and
diverting to ourselves some of the odium which attaches to him, we may stand
as his sponsors.
Even if we dislike another, as Saul
did David, let us give scope to the good Spirit to plead his cause at the
bar of our hearts, as Jonathan did for his friend. Let us consider all the
kind and loving things that may be said of him; let us put ourselves in his
position; let us be willing to believe and hope all things. Let us plead for
others, since this is a work in which Christ’s followers most closely
approximate to Him who ever liveth to intercede.
1 Samuel 20:18
Thou shalt be missed, because thy seat will be empty.
Jonathan and David had entered into a
covenant, each loving the other as his own soul. Anxious to shield his
friend from the wrath of his father, Jonathan discloses to David the plan by
which he shall know how matters fared in the royal palace. David’s vacant
seat suggests a lesson for us.
There are a good many empty seats in
our houses. Those that occupied them can never do so again; they have gone
never to return again, and we miss them sorely.
Let us see to it that we do not leave
our seats in the home circle needlessly vacant. Let not the mother be away
at the dance, or even at the religious meeting, when she should be at home,
joining in her children’s evening prayers. Let the father be very sure that
God has called him elsewhere, before he habitually vacates his place in the
evening family circle. Let each of us avoid giving needless pain to those we
love by leaving empty seats. But if God calls us away to His service, then
for those who miss us, another Form shall glide in, and sit in the vacant
chair; and they will become conscious that the Master is filling the gap,
and beguiling the weary moments.
Above all, let not your seat be empty
in the house of God, at the ordinary service, or at the Lord’s Table. We are
too prone to allow a trifle to deter us from joining in the sacred feasts.
At such times we are missed, our empty seat witnesses against us; there is a
lack in the song and prayer, which cries out against us; there is a distinct
loss to the power of the service, which is in proportion to the number of
earnest souls present. Oh that there may be no empty seats at the marriage
supper, vacated through our unfaithfulness!
1 Samuel 21:9
There is none like that; give it me.
What David said of the sword of
Goliath we may say of Holy Scripture—the sword of the Spirit— “There is none
like that.”
There is no book like the Bible for
those convinced of sin.— The Word of God assures the sinner of God’s love in
Christ, whilst it refuses to condone a single sin, or excuse one
shortcoming. The Bible is as stern as conscience herself against sin, but as
pitiful as the heart of God to the sinner. It, moreover, discloses the
method by which the just God becomes the justifier of those who believe.
There is no book lake the Bible for
the sorrowful.— It tells of the Comforter; it reminds us that in all our
sorrow God also is sad; it points to the perfect plan according to which God
is working out our blessedness; it insists that all things are working
together for good; it opens the vision of the blessed future, where all the
griefs and tears of men shall be put away forever.
There is no book like the Bible for
the dying.— “Read to me,” said Sir Walter Scott, on his dying bed, to his
friend. “What shall I read?” “There is only one book for a dying man,” was
the answer; “read to me from the Bible.” The Book which tells of the Lord,
who died and rose again; of the mansions which He has gone to prepare; of
the reunion of the saints; of the fountains of water of life— is the only
pillow on which the dying head can rest softly.
In these days of debate and doubt
there is no such evidence for the Divine authority of the Bible as that
which accrues from its perpetual use, whether in our own life, or in the
conviction of the ungodly.
1 Samuel 22:3 (22a)
Till I know what God will do for me.
We shall never get to the end of all
that God will do for us, if only we perfectly give ourselves up to Him.
David had a very imperfect vision of all that was in God’s plan for him; he
had an inkling, but that was all. And we have still less. Yet let us
recapitulate some of the things which God will do for us.
He waits to give us the spirit of
Sonship: so that we may ever be conscious of His Fatherhood, and look up
into His face in the garden of Gethsemane, and on the Mount of
Transfiguration alike, calling Him Abba, Father.
He longs to lead us to full
consecration; to lead us into such close association with Jesus in His
redeeming purpose, that we may become His willing bond-servants, with no
other purpose and aim in life than His service and glory.
He desires to deliver us from all
known sin: that we may be blameless and harmless, His children without
rebuke in this sinful world, who walk before Him in holiness and
righteousness all our days.
He wants to anoint us with the Holy
Spirit: so that our ministry to men may have more of the savor of Christ;
may plough deeper furrows in human hearts; may have more abiding results.
He desires us to come into partnership
with His Son— here in His redemptive purpose, yonder in His throne. To this
indeed He calls us.
Who can know all that God waits to do,
not here only, but yonder, when life has entered upon its eternal stage!
“Now are we children of God; and it is not yet made manifest what we shall
be” (1 John 3:2, r. v.).
1 Samuel 23:9
He said to Abiathar the priest, Bring hither the ephod.
David was passing through one of the
most awful experiences of his life, when his men spoke of stoning him
instead of taking up his cause. How many times in this chapter we are
informed that David inquired of the Lord! Some three or four times the
appeal for direction was renewed, as though he were fearful to stir one step
by the light of his own unaided wisdom. In that changeful life of his, it
must have been extremely difficult to set the Lord always before him, and
await Divine direction. Many a time his circumstances might seem to demand
immediate action rather than prayer; and the rude soldiery must have
insisted on their voice being heard rather than a priest’s; but David was
not deterred by one or the other, and still held to his practice of
consulting the Urim and Thummim stone, set in the ephod; which was probably
a splendid diamond, flashing with God’s distinct “Yes,” or growing cloudy
and dark with His definite “No.”
Let us inquire of the Lord. The answer
will surely come, if we wait for it. If we are not sure of, it, let us still
wait, for it will come— not so early as to save us from using our faith, not
so late as to permit us to be overwhelmed. Direction will come in the
growing conviction of duty, in the drift of circumstances, in the advice of
friends, in the perceptions of a sanctified judgment. None that wait on God
can be ashamed. Whether our duty be to arise and pursue, to sit still, or to
escape— “the meek He will guide in judgment; the meek He will teach His
way.” He gives, us a white stone in which a name is written, which only they
know who receive.
1 Samuel 24:5
And David’s heart smote him.
It is well to have a tender
conscience, and to obey its least monitions, even when men and things
militate against it. Here was an opportunity for David and his band to end
their wanderings and hardships by one thrust of the spear but though it was
a very small thing that he had done, David was struck with remorse for
having taken advantage of Saul’s retirement in the precincts of the cave,
where his men and he were hiding, and cut off a piece of his robe.
It was a trifling matter, and yet it
seemed dishonoring to God’s anointed king; and as such it hurt David to have
done it. We sometimes in conversation and criticism cut off a piece of a
man’s character, or influence for good, or standing in the esteem of others.
Ought not our heart to smite us for such thoughtless conduct? Ought we not
to make confession or reparation?
Circumstances seemed to favor it.— Of
all the scores of caves in the neighborhood, the king had happened to choose
the very one, in the dark recesses of which David and his men were
sheltering. What more natural than to obtain some token to convince the king
how absolutely he had been in his young rival’s power? But favoring
circumstances do not justify an act which is not perfectly healthy and
right. Opportunity does not make a wrong thing right.
His men unanimously approved the act, nay, they wanted him to go further.
Their standard was a very low one, not only in this case, but in others. How
wonderful that David kept such a high ideal amid such comrades! We shall not
be judged hereafter by the standard which obtained among our. comrades.
1 Samuel 25:31
This shall be no grief unto thee.
There was an inimitable blending of
woman’s wit with worldly prudence in the words of the beautiful Abigail.
Poor woman, she had had a sorry life of it, mated to such a man as Nabal
was! An ill-assorted pair certainly, though probably she had had no hand in
bringing about the alliance. Like so many Eastern women, she was the
creature of another’s act and choice. But she succeeded in averting the blow
which David was hasting to inflict, by asserting her belief that the time
was not far distant when he would no longer be a fugitive from his foes, and
by suggesting that when that happy time came it would be a relief to feel
that he had not allowed himself to be carried to all lengths by his hot
passion.
It was very salutary advice. Let us
always look at things from the view-point of the future, when our passion
shall have subsided, when time shall have cooled us, and especially when we
review the present from the verge of the other world— how then?
We can well afford to do this since
God is with us, and our life is bound up with Him in the bundle of life.
Abigail reminded David that God would do to him all the good of which He had
spoken, and would sling out his enemies as from a sling. So God will do for
us; not one good thing will fail of all that He hath promised; no weapon
that is formed against us shall prosper. Within a little, Nabal was dead,
and David’s wrong righted. So shall the evil that now molests us pass away.
God will deal with it. Let us leave it to Him: before Him mountains shall
melt like wax; and we shall have nothing to regret.
1 Samuel 26:21
Then said Saul, I have sinned.
The Apostle makes a great distinction,
and rightly, between the sorrow of the world and the sorrow of a godly
repentance which needeth not to be repented of. Certainly Saul’s confession
of sin belonged to the former; whilst the cry of the latter comes out in
Psalm 51, extorted from David by the crimes of after years.
The difference between the two may be
briefly summarized in this, that the one counts sin a folly and regrets its
consequences; whilst the other regards sin as a crime done against the most
Holy God, and regrets the pain given to Him. “Against Thee, Thee only, have
I sinned, and done this evil in Thy sight.”
Obviously Saul’s confession was of the
former description, “I have played the fool.” He recognized the unkingliness
of his behavior, and the futility of his efforts against David. But he
stayed there, stopping short of a faithful recognition of his position in
the sight of God, as weighed in the balances of eternal justice.
Many a time in Scripture do we meet
with this confession. The Prodigal, Judas, Pharaoh, David, and Saul, uttered
it; but in what differing tones, and with what differing motives! We need to
winnow our words before God; not content with using the expressions of
penitence, unless we are very sure that they bear the mint-mark of heaven,
and deserve the Master’s Beatitude, “Blessed are they that morn, for they
shall be comforted.”
When sin is humbly confessed, the
Savior assures us: “Thy sins, which are many, are forgiven thee; go in
peace.” “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our
sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
1 Samuel 27:1
And David said, I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul.
What a fit of despondency and unbelief
was here! We can hardly believe that this is he who in so many Psalms had
boasted of the shepherd care of God, who had so often insisted on the safety
of God’s pavilion. It was a fainting fit, brought on by the bad air he had
breathed amid the evil associations of Adullam’s cave. Had not God promised
to take care of him? Was not his future already guaranteed by the promises
that he should succeed to the kingdom? But nothing availed to check his
precipitate flight into the land of the Philistines.
Bitterly he rued this mistake. The prevarication and deceit to which he was
driven; the anguish of having to march with Achish against his own people;
the sack and burning of Ziklag these were the price he had to pay for his
mistrust. Unbelief always brings many other bitter sorrows in its train, and
leads the soul to cry,
“How long, O Lord? Wilt Thou forget me
forever? How long wilt Thou hide thy face from me?”
Let us beware of losing heart, as
David did. Look not at Saul, but at God, who is omnipotent; not at the winds
and waves, but at Him who walks across the water; not at what may come, but
at that which is— for the glorious Lord is roundabout thee to deliver thee.
He shall deliver thy soul from death, thine eyes from tears, and thy feet
from falling. He that has helped will help. What He has done, He will do.
God always works from less to more, never from more to less. Dost thou not
hear— hast thou not heard— his voice saying, I will never leave thee, nor
forsake thee? What, then, can man do unto thee? Every weapon used against
thee shall go blunt on an invisible shield!
1 Samuel 28:18
Because thou obeyedst not the voice of the Lord, therefore...
Thus unforgiven sin comes back to a
man. We cannot explain the mysteries that lie around this incident; but it
is clear that in that supreme hour of Saul’s fate, that early sin, which had
never been confessed and put away, came surging back on the mind and heart
of the terror-stricken monarch. “Because thou obeyedst not the voice of the
Lord, and didst not execute His fierce wrath upon Amalek, therefore hath the
Lord done this thing unto thee this day. Moreover the Lord will deliver
Israel also with thee into the hands of the Philistines” (r. v.). But Saul
did not realize that even then the gates of God’s love stood open to him, if
only he would pass through them by humble penitence and faith. If instead of
applying to the witch, he had sought God’s mercy, light would have burst on
his darkened path, and he had never perished by his own hand on Mount
Gilboa.
In strong contrast with this, let us
put the assurance of the new covenant: “Their sins and iniquities will I
remember no more.” When God forgives, He blots out from the book of His
remembrance. The sin is gone as a pebble in the ocean; as a cloud in the
blue of a summer’s sky.
Saul’s was a sin of omission. The
question was not what evil he had done, but the good he had failed to do.
Let us remember that we need pardon for the sad lapses and failures of our
lives, equally as for the positive transgressions. And if such things are
not forgiven, they will lie heavy on our consciences when the shadows of
death begin to gather around us. The New Testament especially judges those
who knew and did not do— the slothful servant, the virgin without the oil,
the priest that passed by on the other side.
1 Samuel 29:3
What do these Hebrews here?
It was a very natural remark. The
Philistines were going into battle with the Hebrew king and his troops, and
it was very anomalous that a strong body of Hebrews should be forming part
of the Philistine array. They had no business to be there. The annoyance of
the chief captains and lords that surrounded Achish was natural enough. For
long, probably, it had been smoldering; now it broke out into flame.
It is very terrible when the children
of the world have a higher sense of Christian propriety and fitness than
Christians themselves, and say to one another, “What do these Hebrews here?
The word “Hebrew “means one that has passed over—a separatist. The death of
our Lord Jesus was intended to make all His followers separatists. Through
Him they have passed from death unto life; they have been delivered out of
the power of darkness and translated into the kingdom of God’s dear Son. The
appeal of His cross to us all is, “Come out from among them, and be ye
separate.” Too often, however, that call is unheeded; and, for fear of man,
we mingle with the ranks of the enemies of our Lord.
If Christians attend the theater; if
Sunday-school teachers, elders or deacons of a church, are found
participating in the pleasures of the ungodly; if the young Christian man is
found loosely consorting with the card-players of the smoking-room of an
ocean steamer— may not the sneer go round, “What do these Hebrews here?
“What doest thou here, Elijah!” is the remonstrance of God. “What do these
Hebrews here?” that of the world, which not unfrequently has a truer sense
of propriety than God’s professing followers.
1 Samuel 30:6
David encouraged himself in the Lord his God.
His God! Doubtless the chronicler
heard him say repeatedly, as he was so fond of saying, “My God, my God.” “I
will say unto God, my rock, why hast Thou forsaken me?” Though he had
seriously compromised God’s cause, by the failure of his faith, by
consorting with Achish and the Philistines, by a tortuous and treacherous
policy, yet God was still his God; and, in the supreme crisis which had
overtaken him, he naturally betook himself to the covert of those loving
wings.
He encouraged himself.— He would go
back on promises of forgiveness and succor, which had so often cheered him
in similar straits. He would recall his songs in former nights as black as
this, and therefore would have hope. He would remember that he had been
brought through worse trials; and surely He who had helped him against
Goliath and Saul would not fail him against the Amalekites. Besides, he had
probably left his dear ones in the protection of the encamping angel; and
though his faith might be tried, it could not be entirely disappointed. In
this way he encouraged himself. All around was tumult and fear; but in God
peace and rest brooded, as swans on a tranquil lake. His men might speak of
stoning him; his heart be greatly distressed for wives and children; his
life be in jeopardy: but God was a very present help. “Why art thou cast
down, and disquieted, O my soul? Hope thou in God.”
In similar circumstances, let us have
resort to similar sources of comfort; hide in God, and encourage ourselves
in Him. It was in this spirit that John Knox, when about to face death, said
to his wife, “Read to me where I first cast anchor.”
1 Samuel 31:11-12
All the valiant men…
This was a noble and generous act. At
the beginning of his reign, in the early dawn of youthful promise and
prowess, when he was the darling of the nation, Saul had interposed to
deliver their beleaguered city. And now, as the awful tidings of his defeat
and suicide spread like fire through the country, the men whom he had
succored remembered his first kingly act, and showed their appreciation for
his kindness by doing a strong and chivalrous deed in rescuing his remains
from dishonor. They could not help him, but they could save his honor. When
David heard of this act, he sent messengers to the men of Jabesh-Gilead,
thanking them for their chivalrous devotion to the memory of the fallen
king, and promising to requite the kindness as one done to the entire
nation, and to himself.
Are we careful enough of the honor and
name of our dear Lord? He has done for us spiritually all that Saul did for
Jabesh-Gilead, and more. He has delivered our soul from death, our eyes from
tears, and our feet from falling. Let us be swift to maintain the honor of
His name among those who are so apt at making it their scorn.
It was well that these men did not
wait for others to act. Had they done so, the body of Saul might have rotted
piecemeal on the walls of the temple at Bethshan. If they had left this act
of reparation for Abner, or Ish-bosheth, it would never have been done.
There is no order of precedence, when a wrong has to be righted, or a friend
vindicated. The man who is next must act. Let us strike into the fray, and
count that our opportunity is warrant enough. He who can, may.
