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 NO. 23233 
 
 Cornell University Library 
 BS580.S2 M61 
 
 Samuel, the prophet. 
 
 olin 
 
 3 1924 029 310 251 
 

The original of tliis book is in 
 tine Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924029310251 
 
Samuel the Prophet 
 
By Rev. F. B. Meyer 
 
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Samuel the Prophet 
 
 BY 
 
 F. B. MEYER, B, A. 
 
 AUTHOR OF 
 
 "John the Baptist," " Shepherd Psalm," " Our Daily 
 Homily," etc., etc. 
 
 New York Chicago Toronto 
 
 Fleming H. Revell Company 
 
 London and Edinburgh 
 
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 1)UUU 
 
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 'J>T> 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER 
 
 I. An Age of Transition, 
 
 II. A Woman's Anguish of Heart, 
 
 III. The Young Levite, 
 
 IV. The Vision of God, . 
 V. Misfortune on Misfortune, 
 
 VI. The Work of Reconstruction, 
 
 VII. The Victory of Faith, 
 
 VIII. The Stone of Help, . 
 
 IX. A Great Disappointment, 
 
 X. The Voice of Circumstances, . 
 
 XI. As Occasion Serves, 
 
 XII. The Inner and Outer Conflicts, 
 
 XIII. Forsaken? Never! 
 
 XIV. Not Ceasing in Prayer, . 
 XV. The Causes of Saul's Downball, 
 
 XVI. " Two Putting Ten Thousand to Fligh 
 
 XVII. Failure under the Supreme Test, 
 
 XVIII. A Remarkable Colloquy, 
 
 XIX. " An Evil Spirit from the Lord," 
 
 XX. "Sin Bringing forth Death," 
 
 XXI. The Sin of Jealousy, 
 
 XXII. "Cruel as the Grave," 
 
 XXIII. A Great Sunset, 
 
 XXIV. Endor and Gilboa, 
 XXV. An Epilogue, 
 
 page 
 9 
 
 i8 
 28 
 
 37 
 46 
 62 
 67 
 77 
 85 
 
 lOI 
 
 109 
 119 
 132 
 144 
 155 
 165 
 175 
 185 
 196 
 208 
 219 
 228 
 241 
 252 
 265 
 
SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 Bn Bqc of transition. 
 
 (i Samuel i.) 
 
 The old order changeth, yielding place to new, 
 
 And God fulfils himself in many ways. 
 
 Lest one good custom should corrupt the world. 
 
 — Tennyson. 
 
 " ^ \ N whom the ends of the ages are come " — 
 »^ t i. €., the end of one age and the beginning 
 of another. Such is our position to-day. 
 In every direction the old order is giving place to the 
 new. It was thus in the days of the Primitive 
 Church, when the typical institutions of the Levitical 
 system were being replaced by " the heavenly things 
 themselves." And it was also thus at the time when 
 our narrative begins. The story of Samuel is a divine 
 interlude between the diays of the Judges and those of 
 David the King. 
 
 Hitherto the High Priesthood had been the su- 
 preme authority recognised in the Hebrew Common- 
 wealth. To Moses, its founder, there could be of 
 
lo SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 course no successor ; but Aaron was the first of an un- 
 broken line of priests. No other office stood for the 
 whole of Israel. The Mosaic era, however, was not 
 destined to culminate in the rule of the Priest, who has 
 seldom combined the sacerdotal functions with the 
 special qualifications that constitute a great leader 
 and ruler. Too often the reign of the Churchman has 
 been warped by bigotry, tyranny, and the repression 
 of the nobler aspirations of mankind. The Priest was 
 to make way for the King. 
 
 A suggestion that a fresh development of the He- 
 brew polity was near occurs in the closing verses of 
 the Book of Ruth, with which this book is conhected 
 by the conjunction now. The genealogy which is the 
 evident climax of that sweet pastoral story closes, has 
 no connection with Aaron or his line. It expressly 
 deals with the tribe of Judah, of which itothing was 
 spoken concerning the priesthood. Evidently the Di- 
 vine purpose was moving forward — but whither? 
 At the time its goal was not apparent; but as we look 
 back on all the circumstances from the vantage- 
 ground of accomplished fact, we can see that it was 
 slowly moving towards the establishment of the king- 
 dom under David; and veiled from all eyes there was 
 the yet profoundier movement towards the revelation 
 of " that Proper Man," as Luther calls Him, in whose 
 nature, fitly known as Wonderful, the priestly, the 
 prophetic, and the royal blend in perfect symmetry 
 and beauty. 
 
AN AGE OF TRANSITION. u 
 
 T. The Urgent Need for a Strong Man. — 
 Every age takes up and urges the cry— Give us men ; 
 but if ever a strong man was needed, it was in the days 
 of which the Book of Judges affords some startling 
 glimpses. 
 
 Canaan had been conquered, but the ancient in- 
 habitants were far from being subdued; they remained 
 much as the Saxons under the early Norman kings. 
 In the South, the Philistines held their five cities. 
 The mountain fortress, which was afterwards known 
 as Mount Zion, garrisoned by Jebusites, was proudly 
 defiant so far forward as the days of David. Nearly 
 all the seacoast, and all the strongholds in the rich 
 plain of Esdraelon, were in the hands of the Canaan- 
 ites. The little kingdom of Gezer remained inde- 
 pendent till it was conquered by the King of Egypt, 
 and given as a dowry to Solomon's Queen. On the 
 northern frontier were the remains of those mighty 
 nations which Joshua had overthrown in the great 
 battle of the Waters of Merom, but which probably 
 only gave a nominal allegiance to the Israelite suzer- 
 ainty. " So the Lord left those nations, without driv- 
 ing them out hastily, ... to prove Israel by them, 
 even as many as had not known the wars of Canaan, 
 ... to teach them war, at the least such as before- 
 time knew nothing thereof." Had it not been for the 
 presence of these warlike tribes, we should never have 
 heard of Gideon, of Barak, of Jephthah, of Samson, or 
 of David. . Without this discipline, Israel might have 
 
12 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 become an effeminate and molluscous race, lacking 
 backbone and muscle. They would have dwelt in 
 security, after the manner of the Zidonians, quiet and 
 secure in a large land, a place where there was no 
 want of anything that is in the earth (Judges iii. 1-3; 
 xviii. 7, 10). 
 
 How often in our earthly discipline we come into 
 experiences which are the counterpart of these. 
 There are wars where we looked for peace; fret and 
 chafe where we expected freedom from annoyance; 
 pouring from vessel to vessel where we hoped to be 
 allowed to settle 00 our lees. Are not these clearly 
 permitted to try us, that we may I'earn war; that we 
 may know ourselves and know God; that we and our 
 children may grow up into a nobler and healthier 
 style of character than had otherwise been pos- 
 sible? 
 
 In Israel this incessant exposure to attack was ag- 
 gravated by the absence of a strong central govern- 
 ment. The priesthood had evidently fallen into the 
 bands of weaklings from the days of Phinebas. Of 
 this there is striking confirmation in the fact that Eli 
 sprang, not from the house of Eleazar, the eldest son 
 of Aaron, in which the succession ought to have been 
 continued, but frotn the family of the younger son, 
 Ithamar. There is a strong probability that the repre- 
 sentatives of the elder branch had proved themselves 
 so unable to cope with the disorders of the time; that 
 they had been set aside in favour of anyone who 
 
AN. AGE OF TRANSITION. 13 
 
 evinced faculty enough to take the field and marshal 
 the forces of Israel. Perhaps Eli, in his young life, 
 had done some stirring deed of prowess which raised 
 him to the supreme position his fellow-countrymen 
 could give; though, when we are introduced to him, 
 he is pitiful in his senile decrepitude and weakness 
 (i Chron. vi. 4-15; xxiv. 4). 
 
 From time to time prophets had been rciised up as 
 a temporary expedient. " He gave them judges until 
 Samuel the prophet." " And when the Lord raised 
 up judges, then the Lord was with the judge, and 
 saved them out of the hand of their enemies all the 
 days of the judge ; for it repented the Lord because of 
 their groaning by reason of them that oppressed them 
 and vexed them " (Acts xiii. 20; Judges ii. 18). The 
 reign of a judge was, however, a very 'transient gleam 
 of light in that dark and stormy age. At the furthest, 
 his power was only recognised within his own and the 
 adjacent tribes. Samson, for instance, was little else 
 than the hero of the south country, whilst Jephthah 
 was pre-eminently the captain of the trans- Jordanic 
 tribes. In many cases the office ceased with the 
 special crisis that called it into being. Only in 
 the case of two or three, such as Deborah and 
 Gideon, did conspicuous service lead to a lifelong 
 primacy. 
 
 Thus the nation was in danger of des'olaitioti by in- 
 termal anarchy and external attack. With no prin- 
 ciple of cohesion, no rallying-point, no acknowledged 
 
14 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 leader, what was there to resist the pressure of the Ca- 
 naanites from within, and of the hostile nations from 
 without, its borders? " In those days there was no 
 king in Israel, but every man did that which was right 
 in his own eyes " ; " The children of Israel did evil in 
 the sight of the Lord "; " The children of Israel cried 
 unto the Lord." These three sentences, repeated fre- 
 quently and emphatically, are the keynotes of the 
 whole book. The religious ties, moreover, were very 
 weak. We find, for instance, the name of Baal, a 
 Phoenician deity, occurring three times in the names 
 of members of the family of Saul (i Cliron. viii. 30, 33, 
 34). The stories of Micah, of Ruth, and of the exter- 
 mination of the Danites, supply graphic pictures of 
 the disunion, independence, and wildness of the time; 
 of wild licence, and of exposure to attack. 
 
 It was necessary, therefore, to introduce a new order 
 of things. To assert and achieve the national unity; 
 to make the best aspects of the rule of the judges per- 
 manent in the office of kingship; to resuscitate and 
 maintain the allegiance of Israel to the God of their 
 fathers; to carrj' over the whole nation from the time 
 of the last judge to that of the first king — was a task 
 that demanded a pre-eminently strong man.; and the 
 want was superbly supplied, as we shall see, by the 
 prophet Samuel, who conducted his people from one 
 age to another, without a revolution, and almost with- 
 out the excitement which naturally accompanies so 
 great a change. 
 
AN AGE OF TRANSITION. ,5 
 
 II. How THE Need was Met. — God's greatest 
 gifts to man come through travail. Whether we look 
 into the spiritual or the temporal sphere, can we dis- 
 cover anything, any great reform, any beneficent dis- 
 covery, any soul-awakening revival, which did not 
 come through the toils and tears, the vigils and blood- 
 shedding of men and women, whose sufiferings were 
 the pangs of its birth? iTliat which costs nothing is 
 of small avail to the salvation and help of mankind. 
 The souls that are set on saving themselves will never 
 be the saviours of the race. If the temple is raised, 
 David must bear sore afflictions; if the Gospel of the 
 grace of God is to be disentangled from Jewish tradi- 
 tion, Paul's life must be one long agony; if the Refor- 
 mation is to be rendered possible for Europe, men like 
 John Huss and Jerome must be burnt at the stake; if 
 great scientific discoveries are to be established, men 
 like Galileo, Galvani, Faraday, and' Edison must spend 
 sleepless nights and laborious days through long 
 years; if great religious truths are to be enunciated, as 
 the priceless heirloom of pilgrim souls, men like Bax- 
 ter, Bunyan, or Charles Simeon must be willing to 
 undergo ostracism, misrepresentation, and contempt. 
 Before Samuel could be given to his people, Hannah 
 must be a woman of a sorrowful spirit. 
 
 Some few miles to the north of Jerusalem, on the 
 confines of the territories of Ephraim and Benjamin, 
 was situated the town of Ramath'aim-Zophim. It was 
 also known as Ramah, and has passed inlto New Tes- 
 
1 6 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 tament history as Arimathiea, the town from which he 
 oame who begged of Pilate the body of the Lord. 
 Ramathaim means the two Ramahs, as there were 
 probably an upper and a lower city, to which reference 
 is made in the after-story (i Sam. ix. 13). Zophim 
 recalls the name of an ancestor of Elkanah, named 
 Zuph, who appears to have been a m^an of considerable 
 importance, and to have given his name to the whole 
 district (i Chron. vi. 35; i Sam. ix. 5). In this moun- 
 tain city a child was to be bom who was to give it 
 interest and importance, not only during his lifetime, 
 when it became the focus of the national life, but for 
 centuries of years. 
 
 Towards the close of Samson's career in Southern 
 Judah, a family resided at Ramah consisting of Elka- 
 nah, a Levite, and his two wives, Hannah (Grace) and 
 Peninnah (Pearl or Margaret). He had formerly lived 
 in Ephraim, and was therefore considered to belong 
 to that tribe (Joshua xxi. 20). That he had two wives 
 was not a violation of the Levitical law, which did not 
 forbid polygamy, but carefully regulated the marriage- 
 law, penetrating the home-life with such ideals as 
 would gradually bring men and women back to the 
 original institution of Paradise (Mark x. 4-9). 
 
 It is supposed that Elkanah brought a second wife 
 into his home because of Hannah's childlessness; but, 
 whatever had been the cause, the step had been 
 fraught with misery. The house at Ramah was filled 
 with bickering and strife, which was augmented as 
 
AN, AGE OF TRANSITION. 
 
 17 
 
 child after child fell to the lot of Peninnah, whilst 
 Hannah Was still childless. Apart from all else, her 
 desolate condition was an almost intolerable condition 
 (Gen. XXX. i); but that it should be made the subject 
 of biting sarcasm and bitter taunts was the occasion of 
 the most poignant grief. The pain was not confined 
 to Ramah, but seems to have reached its climax when, 
 according to the Hebrew custom, the household went 
 up to offer unto the Lord the yearly sacrifice, and 
 Hannah was compelled to witness the many portions 
 which fell to the lot of her rival, for all her sons and 
 daughters, at the sacrificial feast, when, after offering 
 to Jehovah the victims they h'ad brought, they retired 
 to feast on the remainder. Then it was that the needy 
 sat upon the dunghill, and the poor in the dust; then 
 it was thiat her soul was pierced as by the sword of 
 the Lord, and drew near unto the grave; then it was 
 that the hunger of her soul could not be appeased even 
 by the consciousness of Elkanah's fond affection 
 (i. 5, 8; ii. 5-8). But out of this soul-travail the joy of 
 hier life and the saviour of her country were to be bom. 
 
ir. 
 a Moman's Hnguisb of Ibeart. 
 
 (i Samuel i. 15.) 
 
 Unanswered yet? Faith cannot be unanswered, 
 Her feet were firmly planted on the Rock; 
 
 Amid the wildest storms she stands undaunted, 
 Nor quails before the loudest thundershock. 
 
 She knows Omnipotence has heard her prayer, 
 
 And cries " It shall be done " sometime, somewhere. 
 
 — Browning. 
 
 WE may infer that Hannah's barrenness, and 
 the provocation of her rival, were not the 
 only reasons for Hannah's sorrow. As her 
 noble song proves, she was saturated with the most 
 splendid traditions and hopes of her people; her soul 
 was thrilling with the conceptions that inspired the 
 songs of Moses. Stricken with an agony of grief for 
 the anarchy and confusion around her, she longed 
 with passionate desire to enshrine her noblest self in 
 a child, who should resuscitate the ebbing prosperity 
 of the nation, and set it on an enduring foundation. 
 Frail woman that she was, she might not even hope to 
 emulate a Jael or a Deborah, but she might save her 
 people if she could only breathe her ardent nature into 
 a child. What if she were to be deprived of his pres- 
 
A WOMAN'S ANGUISH OF HEART. 19 
 
 ence and support from his eiarliest years, would she 
 not be compensated a thousandfold if only the Lord 
 would accept him as his own, and use him to be the 
 channel through which his redemptive schemes might 
 be achieved? Levites ordinarily were consecrated to 
 the Lord's service between the ages of thirty and fifty, 
 but her son, if only she might have a man-child, 
 should be given to the Lord all the days of his life, and 
 no razor should ever come upon his flowing locks. 
 
 On one occasion, whilst the feast was proceeding 
 at Shiloh, it seemed as though Hannah could restrain 
 herself no longer, and after her people had eaten and 
 drunk — she fasting, save from tears — she rose up and 
 returned to the outer court of the Tabernacle. Most 
 of its ancient glory had departed. Probably only a 
 few curtains were draped around the Ark and the 
 other sacred furniture, which bad escaped the wreck 
 of the previous two or three hundred years; and this 
 simple structure was, if we may credit Rabbinical tra- 
 dition, surrounded by a low stone wall, at the gate of 
 which was a seat or throne for the High Priest. 
 " And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed unto 
 the Lord, and wept sore." Others went with burnt- 
 offerings, but she with the broken heart which God 
 will not despise. She didn't chide God, but she held 
 out her cup of trial, that it might become a cup of 
 salvation. 
 
 We are told that " she prayed," and it becomes us 
 to study her prayer and its issue. 
 
20 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 It was heart-prayer. It is the custom of Orientals 
 to pray audibly, but as she stood beside Eli's seat 
 (ver. 26) she spake in her heart; her lips moved, but 
 her voice was not heard. This indicates that she had 
 made many advances in th'e Divine life, and had come 
 to know the secreit of heart-fellowship with God. 
 Hers were not vain repetitions, but such an inter- 
 change of spirit with spirit, of need with supply, of 
 hunger with satisfaction, of the human with the Di- 
 vine, as requires no speech, for speech could not con- 
 vey those " groanings which cannot be uttered." 
 
 It was based on a new name far God. She appealed 
 to Jehovah under a new title, " Jehovah of Hiosts," as 
 though it were nothing to Him to summon into ex- 
 istence an infant spirit, whom she might call child. 
 She asked Him to look down from the myriads of holy 
 spirits who circled round his throne, and did his be- 
 hests, to her dire affliction and anguish. She vO'Wed 
 in words which Elkanah by his silence or consent 
 afterwards ratified (Num. xxx. 6-15), that she did not 
 want this inestimable boon for herself merely, but for 
 the kingdom and glory of God, and that her son 
 should be a Nazarite from his birth, abstaining from 
 intoxicating drink, his locks unshorn, his body unde- 
 filed by contact with the dead (Num. xxx. 6-15). 
 
 It was definite prayer. " Give unto thine handmaid 
 a man-child." " For this child I prayed." So many 
 of our prayers miscarry because they are aimed at no 
 special goal. We launch them aimlessly in the air, 
 
A WOMAN'S ANGUISH OF HEART. 21 
 
 and wonder that they achieve nothing. How many 
 of God's professing children would be nonplussed if, 
 on leaving God's audience chamber on any morning, 
 they were questioned as to what precious gift they had 
 gone thither to obtain? We are too often contented 
 with asking generally that God would bless those 
 with whom we are connected, without entering specifi- 
 cally into the case of any. Experienced saints who 
 are versed in the art of intercessory prayer tell us of 
 the marvellous results which have accrued, when they 
 have set themselves to pray definitely for the salvation 
 of individuals, or for some good and perfect gift on 
 their behalf. 
 
 There is a notable instance of this in the life of 
 Bishop Hannington of Uganda. It is recorded in the 
 diary of a fellow-clergyman, who had known him at 
 the University, that on a certain day he wais led to 
 pray definitely for his friend; and almost simultane- 
 ously Hannington notes in his diary that he was con- 
 scious of unusual drawings towards God. 
 
 It was prayer without reserve. " I have poured out 
 my soul before the Lord." Ah! how good it would 
 be if we could more often follow Hannah's example. 
 We pour out our secrets to confidential friends, and 
 in many instances have reason bitterly to repent; or, 
 if we commit our cause to God, we tell Him one sidte 
 of the case — our side — and hide from Him the other. 
 Often the matter would be ended, if we dared to pour 
 out all our soul; not defending ourselves, not apolo- 
 
22 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 gising, not glossing over what demanded clear and 
 unequivocal confession. When the heart is breaking, 
 when its frail machinery seems unable to sustain the 
 weight of its anxiety, when its cords are strained 
 to the point of snapping, then, as you remember 
 these things, pour out your soul in you (Psa. 
 xlii. 4). 
 
 It was persevering prayer. " It oame to pass, as she 
 continued praying before the Lord." Not that either 
 she or we can claim to be heard for our much speak- 
 ing, but when the Lord lays some burden on us we 
 cannot do other than wait before Him. 
 
 It was prayer that received its coveted boon. Eli was 
 seated in his place at the entrance to the sanctuary. 
 His notice was attracted by Hannah, though she was 
 indifferent to all around. At first his attention was 
 probably arrested by the signs of her excessive sorrow, 
 and he expected that she would pour out her prayers 
 in an audible voice, as so many other burdened souls 
 were wont to do. But since her lips moved, while her 
 voice was not heard, the high priest thought she had 
 been drunken, and rather rudely and coarsely broke 
 in on her with the rebuke, " How long wilt thou be 
 drunken? Put away thy wine from thee." Therein 
 another proof was given of the inability of the priest- 
 hood to understand and sympathise with the best spirit 
 and temper of the time. Eli judged after the sight 
 of his eyes, and clearly the mind of God had not been 
 revealed to him. He had degenerated into the mere 
 
A WOMAN'S ANGUISH OF HEART. 
 
 23 
 
 official, from whom the Divine purposes were con- 
 cealed. 
 
 Hannah answered the unjust reproach with greiat 
 meekness. " No," she said, " it isn't as you think. I 
 have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but have 
 poured out my spirit unto the Lord." She had al- 
 ready suffered so much that this last misapprehension 
 could not seriously add to her burden. She was con- 
 tent to cast it, with all the rest, on God; and she real- 
 ised, even before Eli replied, that the merciful Burden- 
 bearer had heard and answered her prayer. She had 
 entered into the spirit of the prayer, which not only 
 asks, but takes. She anticipated those wonderful 
 words, which, more than any others, disclose the 
 secret of prevailing supplication, " All things what- 
 soever ye pray and ask for, believe that ye Wave re- 
 ceived them, and ye shall have them " (Mark xi. 24)., 
 Before ever the words of Eli, " Go in peace, and the 
 God of Israel grant thy petition that thou hast asked 
 of Him," had fallen like a summer shower on a 
 parched land, she knew that she had prevailed, and 
 the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, 
 filled and kept her mind and heart. And she said, 
 " Let thy servant find grace in thy sight. So the 
 woman went her way, and did eat, and her counte- 
 nance was no more sad." Well may Anstice sing: 
 
 "Could we but kneel, and cast our load, 
 E'en while we pray, upon our God, 
 Then rise with lightened cheer." 
 
24 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 Too often we return from prayer with sad faces and 
 burdened hearts. We have not cast our burden on 
 the Lord, or if we have done so, we have taken it back 
 again. There has been no interchange, and no ex- 
 change. We have failed to abandon our weights, 
 anxieties, and sins, leaving them in the hands of our 
 Almighty Friend, receiving instead beauty for ashes, 
 the oil of joy for mourning, and the garment of praise 
 for the spirit of heaviness. 
 
 The next day was fixed for their return hiome. 
 " And they rose up in the morning early, and wor- 
 shipped before the Lord, and returned, and came to 
 their house in Ramah." But what an altfered woman 
 she was! How differently she has borne herself in 
 that last brief visit to the holy shrine! And with what 
 a glad face she entered the home which'had been asso- 
 ciated with such sorrow. Peninnah must have won- 
 dered what had happened to make so great a change; 
 but Elkanah was the confidant of her secret, and his 
 faith was made stronger by her unquestioning trust 
 (ver. 23). 
 
 The Workings of Sorrow. — In this prayer we can 
 trace the harvest sown in years of suffering. Only 
 one who had greatly suffered could have poured out 
 such a prayer. The notes of resignation, of chiastened 
 submission to the will of God, of appeal as from the 
 dust, of the abandonment of all hope save in God, of 
 the simple desire for his kingdbm and righteousness, 
 are touched with infinite delicacy and tenderness by 
 
A WOMAN'S ANGUISH OR HEART. 25 
 
 this sorrowful woman's hand. Sorrow gives an in- 
 definable beauty to the soul. The blue of heaven 
 does not seem so beautiful in rainless Egypt as in 
 countries where the atmosphere is saturated with 
 moisture. "What do you think of her singing?" 
 asked the trainer of a soprano vocalist. " She sings 
 superbly," was his friend's reply, " but if I had to do 
 with her, I would break her heart." It may be that 
 the long sharp pain, which has been your I'Ot for these 
 many years, the heart-hunger, the disappointed hopes, 
 the silent waiting, the holding your peace, even from 
 good, have been necessary, to teach you how to pray, 
 to lead you into the secret of a childlike faith, and to 
 fit you to be the parent of some priceless gift to the 
 world. 
 
 It fell out to Hannah according to her faith. 
 Blessed was she that had believed, for there was a per- 
 fortnance unto her of the promises which God had 
 made to her secret soul. " The Lord remembered 
 her, and it came to pass, when the time had come 
 about, that she bare a son, and she called his name 
 Samuel, saying. Because I have asked him of the 
 Lord." 
 
 The good Elkanah had a new joy in his heart as he 
 went up to ofifer unto the Lord his yearly sacrifice; 
 and it would seem that he added to it some special ex- 
 pression of a vow that he had made — " the yearly sac- 
 rifice, and his vow." But Hannah abode at Ramah 
 until the child w'as weaned, which would probably be 
 
26 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 on his completion of his third year, for at that age 
 Levite children were permitted to be enrolled and to 
 enter the house of the Lord (2 Chron. xxx. 16), 
 
 At last the time arrived when the child should be 
 openly presented to the Lord. The parents set out 
 on their solemn journey with their child. The 
 mother's heart was now as full of praise las it had for- 
 merly been of sorrow. Her heart rejoiced in the 
 Lord ; her spirit was exalted in h'er God. The beggar 
 was lifted from the dunghill to inherit the throne of 
 glory. She had learned that there was no Rock like 
 her God, and she rejoiced in his salvation. Her song, 
 on which the Mother of our Lord modelled the Mag- 
 nificat, is the outburst of a soul whose cup was simply 
 overflowing with the loving-kindness of the Lord. 
 
 Presently the memorable journey from Ramah was 
 finished. The sanctuary was again in sight, where 
 she had suffered so poignantly and prayed so fer- 
 vently. How it all rushed on her memory. " I am 
 the woman that stood by thee here," she said to Eli; 
 " for this child I prayed, and the Lord hath given me 
 my petition." 
 
 Notice thos'e words, " I stood by thee here." How 
 closely we associate certain experiences with certain 
 spots. Here we suffered; here we resolved to live a 
 new life; here we heard God speak. It was thus with 
 Hannah. And was it not befitting that she should 
 rejoice where she had sorrowed; that the harvest of 
 joy should wave over the furrows where her tears had 
 
A WOMAN'S ANGUISH OF HEART. 27 
 
 fallen so lavishly; that the blue skies should overarch 
 the very spot where the dark cloud's had lowered? 
 
 Take heart, thou man or woman of a sorrowful 
 spirit! Only suffer according to the will of God, and 
 for no wrong or sinful cause! Suffer for his Church, 
 for a lost world, for dying men! Travail in birth for 
 souls! Exercise thyself as thou wilt for the coming 
 of his kingdom! Bear the weight of some other soul, 
 dear to thee as life ! And if thou dost abide thy Lord's 
 time. He will bring thee again to tread in garments 
 of joy, where th'ou hast stood in the drapery of woe. 
 Thou shalt come again from the land of the enemy. 
 They that go forth an'd weep, bearing precious seed, 
 shall doubtless, doubtless, doubtless come again, with 
 rejoicing, bringing their sheaves with them. 
 
III. 
 Ubc J^oung Xevfte. 
 
 (i Samuel ii. and iii.) 
 
 Be still ! sad soul ! lift thou no passionate cry, 
 But spread the desert of thy being bare 
 To the full searching of the All-seeing eye; 
 Wait ! — and through dark misgiving, blank despair, 
 God will come down in pity, and fill the dry 
 Dead place with light, and life, and vernal air. 
 
 — J. C. Shairp. 
 
 DEAN STANLEY tells us that, in his gentler 
 moments, Luther used to dwell on these early 
 chapters of the Books of Samuel with the ten- 
 derness which formed the occasional counterpoise to 
 the ruder passions and enterprises of his stormy life. 
 Indeed, students of the Scriptures in every age have 
 been arrested by the figure of this little child girded 
 with his linen ephod, or in the little robe which his 
 mother brought him from year to year, when she 
 came up with her husband to ofifer the yearly sacri- 
 fice. 
 
 With what passionate and almost irrepressible de- 
 sire the mother must have anticipated that annual 
 visit, all too transient to satisfy her natural longings. 
 It must have been hard enough to leave him at all at 
 so tender an age as three; and specially with the 
 
THE YOUNG LEVITE. 29 
 
 women who seem to have been regularly occupied in 
 the service of the Tabernacle, and to whose care he 
 was probably entrusted. Probably mot all of them 
 were infected with the shameful sin into which sev- 
 eral seem to have been seduced (i Sam. ii. 22, r. v.). 
 There may have been amongst them some like Anna, 
 the prophetess, who departed not from the sacred 
 shrine, worshipping, with fastings and supplications, 
 night and day (Luke ii. 37). These would attend to 
 the physical needs of the child; whilst his training in 
 the law, and the elements of such education as was 
 possible, would be under the direct supervision of the 
 high priest. 
 
 But Hannah was solaced for her deprivation. 
 There was the precious memory of those early years, 
 when he had filled the house with his childish prattle, 
 and she had been able to sow in the receptive soil of 
 his tender heart the seeds of manhood's harvest. 
 Other children, also, were born to her; and, as three 
 sons and two daughters grew up at her knees, surely 
 the thought of their little brother, in his sacred office 
 a continual inspiration, must have been a subject of 
 lively and perennial interest? We need not accept 
 the Jewish legend, which narrates that, as one of Han- 
 noli's children was born, one of Peninnah's died. 
 Such an infliction would have given no satisfaction to 
 Hannah, and have been unkind to Elkan'oh. It was 
 enough that Jehovah had vindicated the woman's 
 wrongs, as He will assuredly vindicate all those who, 
 
30 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 when they are reviled revile not again, when they suf- 
 fer threaten not, but commit themselves and their 
 complaint to Him who judgeth righteously. Peace- 
 ful, reverent, and loving thoughts filled the mother's 
 heart as she wrought at the little robe, which in shape 
 was of the pattern which, probably, Mary made for 
 her Son, " woven from the top without and without 
 seam," which the soldiers would not tear. 
 
 The Influence of a Mother. — Mothers still make gar- 
 ments for their children — not on the loom or with 
 their busy needles merely, but by their holy and en- 
 nlobling characters displayed from day to day before 
 young and quickly observant eyes, by their words and 
 conversation, and by the habits of their daily devo- 
 tion. What the children see they imitate, and uncon- 
 sciously array themselves in the gentleness or rade- 
 ness, the reverence for religion or indifference, the re- 
 finement or coarseness of manner, which are daily 
 presented to their gaze. As fish take on the mottled 
 colour of the ground on which they lie, and as the 
 plovers change their plumage to match the winter or 
 the spring, so children wear the robes which their 
 mother's character and behaviour, temper and tones, 
 weave for them. 
 
 " And so the child did minister unto the Lord be- 
 fore Eli the priest"; slept his innocent slee'p uncon- 
 scious of the sins around him, attracted the growing 
 attachment of the old man by his reverent affection 
 and endearing ways, and gave many evidences tliat 
 
THE YOUNG LEVITE. 31 
 
 he was being prepared to become a link between God 
 and his people, a mediator between the old and the 
 new — between the turbulent days of Samson and the 
 splendid peace of the reign of Solomon. 
 
 Notice THE SACRILEGE AND SINS OF Eli's SONS. 
 
 " Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial (imrthless- 
 ness); they knew not the Lord, nor the due of the 
 priests from the people " (ii. 12, r. v.). The law of 
 Moses authorised the priest to take as his portion, 
 and instead of fees in coin, the whole of the sin-ofifer- 
 ings, and the breast and right shoulder of the peace- 
 ofiferings; the fat only of the latter being burne'd on 
 the altar, whilst the remainder of the animal was 
 handed back to the offerer, to be consumed by himself, 
 his sons, and his daughters, his men-servants and his 
 maid-servants, and the Levite that was within his 
 gates (Deut. xii. 12). It was befitting, as the apostle 
 states it, that they which ministered about sacred 
 things should eat of the things of the Temple, and that 
 they which waited upon the altar should have their 
 portion with the altar (i Cor. ix. 13). 
 
 The first act of every peace-ofifering was the sprin- 
 kling of blood upon the altar round about ; the second 
 was the burning of the internal fat. It was never 
 eaten, but always consumed by fire. The flame fed 
 on it, as the food of God, who, so to speak, ate with 
 the accepted worshipper (Lev. iii. 16, 17). After this 
 solemn rite was performed, the priest's portion was 
 
32 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 waved and presented to God, and the grtmp of wor- 
 shippers made way for others, carrying away with 
 them their portion for the joyful sacrificial feast. 
 
 Here Eli's sons stepped in with their rapacious 
 greed. Not satisfied with their legally allotted por- 
 tion, they sent their servant after the retiring group, 
 with a flesh-hook of three teeth in his hand, and while 
 the meat was boiling for the siacred meal, he thrust his 
 trident into the cauldron, and claimed as the priest's 
 perquisite whatever was brought up. " So they did 
 in Shiloh unto all the Israelites that came thither.'' 
 
 But even this did not long satisfy them. They went 
 on to insist that after the breast and shoulder had been 
 handed them, but before the remainder had been put 
 to boil, they should be supplied with raw meat from 
 the offerer's portion; nor would they burn the fat, 
 which was the essential part of the whole sacrifice, 
 and one for which the worshippers must needs wait, 
 until their demands were satisfied. This final touch 
 seems to have aroused the long-suffering people to 
 exasperation. " At least," they said, " wait till the 
 Lord's portion has been presented before you proceed 
 to your lawless depredations. Bum the fat, and then 
 take as much as you will." " Nay," was the ruthless 
 answer of the priest, " but you shall give it me now, 
 or I will take what I choose by force." " And the 
 sin of the young men was very great before the Lord, 
 for men abhorred the offering of the Lord." 
 
 It becomes us to inquire with much anxiety and 
 
THE YOUNG LEVITE. 33 
 
 heart-searching whether we, as the servants of Christ, 
 'are doing or abetting things which cause men to ab- 
 hor that holy Name by which we are called. We may 
 begin with our own characters and hiabits, an'd thence 
 proceed to our doctrinal statements and ecclesiastical 
 arrangements. Rightly or wrongly, I have heard of 
 men forswearing the Christian religion, to which they 
 were once attached, because professing Christians 
 were so dilatory in paying their debts, so evasive in 
 their excuses, so profuse in promises that were never 
 kept, so difficult to please, so thoughtless and care- 
 less in their demands on work-people and servants, 
 so touchy and fretful, so liable to do things in busi- 
 ness which high-minded men of the world would not 
 permit. I have heard of men, rightly or wrongly, 
 turning from misstatements of Christian doctrine 
 which revolted their moral sense and miade God our 
 Father as cruel as Chemosh or Molech. I have heard 
 of men, rightly or wrongly, refusing to enter places of 
 worship because of the class distinctions which were 
 maintained, and the strong dislike with which a stran- 
 ger's admission into the family pew was resented. 
 For these things too many excuse their refusal of the 
 Gospel and their absence from the house of prayer. 
 
 Not content with their extortionate greed, Hophni 
 and Phin'ehas perpetrated the vilest excesses of 
 heathenism amid the woods and vineyards of Shiloh. 
 Licentious rites had from time immemorial been asso^ 
 ciated with heathen festivals, but never before had 
 
34 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 they sullied the sacred vestures of the priests of 
 Aaron's line. So abandoned were these young men, 
 though they had wives of their own, that they did not 
 scruple to lead astray the women who were appointed 
 to perform the various olifices about the sanctuary 
 that demanded female labour. 
 
 Remonstrances were addressed to the aged priest; 
 he heard of their evil doings from all the people 
 (ii. 23), but instead of strong disapproval and strin- 
 gent threats, he contented himself with a mild rebuke, 
 "He said unto them. Why do ye these things? Nay, 
 my sons, for it is no good rqjort that I hear; ye make 
 the Lord's people to transgress." On this the Di- 
 vine Judge makes the terrible comment that his sons 
 made themselves vile, and he restrained them not. 
 He had reproved, but not restrained them. Even 
 supposing they had disregarded the reproof of their 
 father, they could hai'dly have defied their deposition 
 insisted on by him as High Priest, embodying as he 
 d^d the highest authority in the realm. And for 
 this w'eak laxity he was condemned and deposed. 
 " Therefore the Lord, the God of Israel, saith, I said 
 indeed that thy house and the house of thy father 
 should walk before Me for ever; but now the Lord 
 saith. Be it far from Me, for them th'at honour Me I 
 will honour, and they that despise Me shiall be lightly 
 esteemed." 
 
 The Need of Family Training. — ^This suggests a very 
 serious inquiry for those who take a prominent posi- 
 
THE YOUNG LEVITE. 35 
 
 tion in the Church and before the World, but who neg- 
 lect their own families. We are held responsible for 
 our children. Our weakness in restraining them is 
 sin, which will be inevitably followed, not only by 
 their punishment, but by our own. Better do less in 
 the Church and the world than allow your children to 
 grow up a misery to themselves and a reproach to 
 you. Remember that one essential qualifioation for 
 office in the Primitive Church was the wise and whole- 
 some rule of house and children. If a man could not 
 keep his children in subjection, with all gravity, and 
 rule his house well, he surely could not know how to 
 take care of the house of God (i Tim. iii. 4, 12). 
 Probably Eli had not begun early enough. The wise 
 parent will begin training children from their earliest 
 months, to say nothing of years; and the early strain 
 of careful observation and chastisement may well be 
 lightened and eased by remembering that the child 
 who from the earliest is trained in God's way will not 
 depart from it when he is old. 
 
 Above all, let us seek the conversion of our young 
 children to God. The apostle distinctly affirms that 
 God will give us life for those who sin not unto death; 
 and this description is, above all, applicable to little 
 children. Surely He will not be unrighteous to forget 
 the tears and prayers, or to overlook the faith, of those 
 who travail a second time till Christ is formed in the 
 hearts of their ofiEspring. As the child of godly 
 parents, who cannot date the hour of my conversion. 
 
36 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 because the love of God stole over my hieart in early 
 boyhood like the dawn of a summer sky, I put my 
 seal to that word of God as true : " My Spirit that is 
 upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy 
 mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of 
 the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy 
 seed's seed, from henceforth and for ever" (Isa. lix. 
 21, and I John v. i6). 
 
IV. 
 Ube IDiston of (Bo5. 
 
 (i Samuel iii.) 
 
 Oh ! give me Samuel's mind, 
 
 A sweet, unmurmuring faith, 
 Obedient and resigned 
 
 To Thee in life and death ; 
 That I may read with child-like eyes 
 Truths that are hidden from the wise. 
 
 — J. D. Burns. 
 
 IT is very touching to notice the various references 
 to the child Samuel as they recur during the 
 progress of the narrative, especially those in 
 which an evident contrast is intended between his 
 gentle innocence and the wild licence of Eli's sons — 
 it is like a peal of sweet bells ringing on amid the 
 crash of a storm. 
 
 Hannah said, "... I will bring him, that he may 
 appear before the Lord, and there abide for ever." 
 " And she . . . brought him unto the house of thte 
 Lord in Shiloh ; and the child was young." " As long 
 as he liveth he is lent to the Lord. And he worshipped 
 the Lord there." " And the child did minister unto the 
 Lord before Eli the Priest." " Now the sons of Eli 
 were wicked men ; they knew not th'e Lord : . . . and 
 the sin of the young men was very great before the 
 
38 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 Lord, for men abhorred the offering of the Lord; 
 but Samuel miniskred before the Lord, being a child." 
 " Now Eli was very old, and he heard all that his sons 
 did unto all Israel. . . Notwithstanding they heark- 
 ened not unto the voice of their father, because the 
 Lord would slay them. And the child Samuel grew 
 on, and was in favour with the Lord, and also with 
 men.'' " And there came a man of God unto Eli, and 
 said unto him, . . . Wherefore kick ye at my sacri- 
 fice and at mine offering? . . . And the child Samuel 
 ministered unto the Lord before Eli." " And the Lord 
 said. Behold, I will do a thing in Israel, at which both 
 the ears of every one that heareth it shall tingle. . . 
 And Samuel grew, and the Lord was iitfith him, and did 
 let none of his words fall to the ground; and all Israel 
 from Dan even to Bccr-sheba knew that Samuel was 
 established to be a propltet of the Lord." " The Lord 
 revealed Himself to Samuel in Shiloh, by the word 
 of the Lord, and the word of Samuel came to all Israel." 
 
 His life seems to have been one unbroken record of 
 blameless purity, integrity, and righteousness. One 
 purpose ran through all his years, threading them to- 
 gether in an unbroken series. There were no gaps 
 nor breaks; no lapses into sensuality or selfishness; no 
 lawless deeds in that wild, lawless age. Towards the 
 end of a long life he was able to appeal to the verdict 
 of the people in memorable wwds, which attested his 
 consciousness of unsullied rectitude: " I am old and 
 
THE VISION OF GOD. 39 
 
 gray-headed, . . . and / have walked before you from 
 my youth unto this day. Here I am; witness against 
 me before the Lord and before his anointed: whose 
 ox have I taken? or whose ass have I taken? or whom 
 have I defrauded? whom have I oppressed? or of 
 whose hand have I received any bribe? " And they 
 said, " Thou hast not defrauded us, nor oppressed us, 
 neither hast thou taken aught of any man's hand." 
 
 It was a beautiful Hfe — strong in its facuUy of ad- 
 ministration, wise in steering the nation from the rule 
 of the judges into the royal state of the kings, un- 
 impeachably just, but blamelessly pure, towering 
 above his contemporaries like a peak of glistening 
 chrysolite, on which the sunlight plays, while all the 
 valleys beneath are wrapped in scudding clouds and 
 sweeping rain. 
 
 Samuel was not a prophet in the sense of foretelling 
 the long future, and was not possessed of Isaiah's 
 genius and eloquence; his only contribution to his 
 age was a saintly character, which reminds us of that 
 of James, the brother of our Lord, whose pure white 
 robe was emblematic of his spotless character. 
 Samuel was the James of the Old Testament; and it 
 was by the saintliness, the moral grandeur of his char- 
 acter, that he arrested the ruin of his people. 
 
 We too may be called to face an era of change ; our 
 eyes may have to witness the passing of the old and 
 the coming of the new ; it may be that in our time also 
 the Lord will shake once more, not earth only, but 
 
40 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 h'eaven, that the things which cannot be shaken may 
 remain; in our time also ancient landmarks may be 
 removed, as familiar and sacred as the tabernacle of 
 Shiloh, and the Ark of the Covenant to Israel; but 
 there is one property within our reach which need 
 never pass away, which shall remain unimpaired and 
 radiant through the years — and that is an lunblemished 
 character, a soul stainlessly arrayed, and the holy life 
 in which these shall be embodied. " Let thy work ap- 
 pear unto thy servants, and thy glory unto their chil- 
 dren, and let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon 
 us, and establish Thou the work of our hands upon 
 us ; yea, the work of our hands, establish Thou it." 
 
 The noblest gift that any of us can make to our 
 fatherland or age is an undefiled character and a stain- 
 less life. Let us live our best in the power of the 
 Spirit of God, and prove that the God of Pentecost is 
 living still. 
 
 I. The Transition of a Young Soul. — For 
 Samuel, however, a great change was necessary and 
 imminent. Up to this moment he had lived largely 
 in the energy and motive-power of his mother's in- 
 tense, religious life. It was needful that he should 
 
 EXCHANGE THE TRADITIONAL FOR THE EXPERI- 
 MENTAL. His faith must rest, not on the assertions 
 of another's testimony, but because for himself he 
 had seen, and tasted, and handled the Word of Life. 
 Not ^t s?cond-hand, but at first, the Word of th^ 
 
THE riSION OF GOD. 41 
 
 Lord must come to him, and be passed on to all Israel. 
 Probably this change comes to everyone who de- 
 sires and seeks after the best and richest life. You 
 may be the child of a pious home, where from boy- 
 hood or girlhood you were trained in the traditions of 
 Evangelical religion, you were expected to pray and 
 to serve God, you have been borne along by a blessed 
 momentum; but suppose for a minute that that mo- 
 mentum should fail 3'ou, have you come to apprehend 
 Christ as a living Reality for yourself? It may be that 
 God, out of mercy to you, will break up and destroy 
 the traditions and forms on which you have been rely- 
 ing; that the eternal and divine may stand forth ap- 
 parent to your spiritual apprehension, and be appre- 
 hended by yourself for yourself, as though they were 
 meant for you alone. It is a great hour in the history 
 of the soul when the traditional, to whicli it has be- 
 come habituated b\' long wont and use, is suddenly 
 exchanged for the open vision of God; when we say 
 with Job, " I have heard of Thee with the hearing of 
 the ear, but now mine eye seeth Thee "; when we say 
 with the apostle, " Leaving the things that are behind, 
 and reaching forth to those that are before, I press 
 toward the mark." 
 
 Will you believe then that God may be coming very 
 near you, and is about to reveal Himself to you in the 
 Lord Jesus, as not unto the world? He is about to 
 transform your life, and lift it to an altogether new 
 kvel, so that though you may have to face th? old 
 
42 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 circumstances, it shall be from a higher standpoint, 
 as the spiral staircase is always returning to the same 
 view-point, though always at the elevaition of some 
 few additional feet. 
 
 II. The Vision of the Young Eyes. — (i) When 
 God came near his young servant, it seemed as though 
 He placed his seal upon his faithfulness. Hitherto but 
 small services had been required of him. To close 
 and open the doors of the Tabernacle; to light the 
 seven-branched candlestick in the late afternoon, and 
 supply it with pure olive oil every morning; to render 
 little services to the aged priest, whether by dlay or 
 night — such were the duties assigned to him and per- 
 formed with punttilious care. It was meet that he 
 who had shown himself faithful in a very little should 
 have a larger and wider sphere assigned to him. 
 
 (2) The vision came as night was beginning to yield 
 to dawn; but " the lamp had not yet gone out in the 
 temple of the Lord, where the ai-k of God was." 
 Thrice the boy was startled from his innocent slum- 
 bers on his little bed in the chamber he occupied ad- 
 jacent to the sacred building. He heard his name 
 called softly, tenderly, lovingly, and made sure that 
 Eli needed him, and thrice sped across the intervening 
 space to report himself. Once, and again, and yet 
 again, he ran unto Eli, and said, " Here am I, for thou 
 calledst me." 
 
 When God approaches us to reveal his Son in us. 
 
THE VISION OF GOD. 43 
 
 the tendency is always to speed with all haste to some 
 place, or some spiritual adviser, where we suppose 
 that the interpretation of the vision Avill be given. 
 Young converts, for instance, are apt to say, " If only 
 I could have my questions answered by such a man 
 of God, I am sure I should get blessing." And thus 
 they are kept in constant perturbation, nmning back- 
 wards and forwards, repeating Samuel's vain experi- 
 ence — running to Eli and saying, " Surely you called 
 me, and can interpret for me the vision and the voice." 
 
 (3) Eli was very tvise in his treatment of the lad. He 
 might have posed as the sole depository of the Divine 
 secrets, might have warned the lad against listening to 
 vain delusions, might have given way to ungoverned 
 jealousy and suspicion, might have stood on the dig- 
 nity and pride of office. But instead of any of these, 
 without the slightest trace of hurt pride, he took the 
 boy's hand in his, and, so to speak, led him into the 
 Divine Presence, knowing full well that the seals of 
 sacred office, which had been taken from himself, were 
 about to be laid on those youthful palms. 
 
 If Eli had inherited the traditions of the priesthood 
 merely, he would stand between that young soul and 
 God, hearing its confession, wielding over it a terror- 
 ising influence, and directing it, as in the place of 
 God. Instead of this, however, the old man said 
 sweetly, " Go and lie down again, and it shall be when 
 He shall call thee, that thou shalt say, ' Speak, Lord, 
 for thy servant heareth.' " 
 
44 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 It is not the business of the Christian minister to 
 lord it over the eager and aroused disciple, to demanid 
 confession, or offer absolution, but to say in efifect: 
 " Thou needest more than we can give. God, and 
 God only, can sufifice thee. Go, and lie down again. 
 Be quiet. Let thy soul be still before God. 'Wait, 
 for He will assuredly come again. 'And it shall be, if 
 He call thee, that thou shall say, ' Speak, Lord, for 
 thy servant heareth.' " 
 
 As Thomas a Kempis puts it, " ' Speak, Lx>rd, for 
 Thy servant heareth.' 
 
 " Let not Moses speak unto me, nor any of the 
 prophets, but rather do Thou speak, O Lord God, the 
 Inspirer and Enlightener of all the prophets ; for Thou 
 alone without them canst perfectly instruct me, but 
 they without Thee can profit nothing. 
 
 " Speak Thou unto me, to the comfort, however im- 
 perfect, of my soul, and to the amendment of my 
 whole life, and to Thy praise, and glory, and honour 
 everlasting." 
 
 (4) The message entrusted to the lad was a very ter- 
 rible one. We cannot wonder that he feared to show 
 Eli the vision. With a beautiful modesty and reticence 
 he set about the duties of the day, and opened, as 
 usual, the doors of the house of the Lord. It was not 
 for him to blurt out the full thunder which had burst 
 on him. This was another lovely trait in the boy's 
 character. But he had misread Eli's character; he 
 did not realise that men like him will die, but not mur- 
 
THE VISION OF GOD. 45 
 
 niur — will resign themselves without a word of ex- 
 postulation or defence, determined to know the worst, 
 and when they know it, meekly answering, " It is the 
 Lord; let Him do what seemeth Him good." 
 
 (5) // is znvU to notice that the Lord revealed Himself 
 to Samuel hi Shiloh by the Word of tlie Lord. Let us 
 not seek for revelations through dreams or visions, but 
 by the Word of God. Nothing is more harmful than 
 to contract the habit of listening for voices, and sleep- 
 ing to dream. All manner of vagaries come in by 
 that door. It is best to take in hand and read the 
 Scriptures reverently, carefully, thoughtfully, crying, 
 " Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth." And in re- 
 sponse there will come one clear, defined, and repeated 
 message, asseverated and accentuated with growing 
 distinctness from every part of the inspired volume. 
 " Tliis is the way — walk in it; this is my will — 'do it; 
 this is my word — speak it." Let us heax what God' 
 the Lord shall speak. 
 
V. 
 
 /IlJisfortune on /IDistortune. 
 
 (i Samuel iv., v., vi.) 
 
 Oh, the outward hath gone! but in glory and powec 
 The Spirit surviveth the tilings of an hour; 
 Unchanged, undecaying, its Pentecost flame 
 On the heart's secret altar is burning the same. 
 
 — Whittiee. 
 
 THE scanty records of these chapters (iv. i-vii. 
 7) bridge over a considerable tract of Scrip- 
 ture, covering, perhaps, forty years. The de- 
 tails of Samuel's life and growing influence given by 
 the sacred historian during that period are very frag- 
 mentary. But the narrative of events is interesting, 
 and must be understood by those who would have a 
 right conception of the great service that Samuel ren- 
 dered to his people. It will appear, also, that there is 
 a remarkable parallel, not only between those days of 
 anarchy and our own, but between the work he did 
 and the w^ork that is needed as urgently in the present 
 day. 
 
 It was an age of disunion and anarchy. After the 
 deaths of Joshua, Caleb, and of all thait generation, 
 " there arose another generation after them, which 
 knew not the Lord, nor yet the work which Fie had 
 wrought for Israel "... (Judges ii. 10), There was 
 
 46 
 
MISFORTUNE ON MISFORTUNE. 
 
 47 
 
 no man, and no tribe, able to unite the people under 
 one leadership, or recall them to the lofty monotheism 
 — the worship of the one Jehovah — which character- 
 ised the founder of their commonwealth. Tlie bonds 
 of their national unity were loosened, each tribe and 
 each great city asserted its independence of all the 
 rest, the heart of the national life beat feebly, and, to 
 quote again the expressive phrase which so completely 
 represents the age of the judges, " Every man did that 
 was right in his own eyes." 
 
 The only common centre was afiforded by the Taber- 
 nacle, the Ark, and the High Priesthood ; but even the 
 influence of these had becoime greatly reduceid, as 
 " the children of Israel forsook Jehovah, the God of 
 their fathers, which brought them up out of the land 
 of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the 
 peoples that were round about them, and bowed them- 
 selves down unto them." 
 
 There was, therefore, nothing to hinder the steady 
 encroachments of the neighbouring nations. Now it 
 was the children of Ammon on the east, then the 
 Amalekites and Midianites from the desert, and again 
 the Philistines on the southwest, that broke in on the 
 land of Promise. From time to time judges were 
 raised up, but their authority was only temporary and 
 limited. For the most part it ceased with fheir death, 
 and was the means of delivering only a settion of the 
 land. " When the Lord raised them up judges, then 
 the Lord was with the judge, and saved them out of 
 
48 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge . . . 
 but it came to pass, when the judge was d'eald, that 
 they turned back, and dealt more corruptly than their 
 fathers " (Judges ii. i8, 19). 
 
 Our story is specially connected with the southern 
 and midland districts of Canaan, which, notwithstand- 
 ing Samson's herioc exploits — for he was contempo- 
 rary with Samuel's early years — lay under the tyran- 
 nous yoke of the Philistines, who seem about this time 
 to have been largely reinforced from the original seat 
 of their empire in the neighbouring islanid of Crete, 
 and to have made the position of the Hebrews almost 
 intolerable. 
 
 In these Philistines stealing up from their own ter- 
 ritories and cities to dominate the Hebrews, in the 
 land which God gave them for an heritage, a land to 
 which the Philisitines could have no possible claim, but 
 which was certainly the allcrtted jxjssession of the 
 chosen people — I see the type of much which is al- 
 ways taking place in our own experience. For in- 
 stance, they stand for unholy desires and evil habits, 
 from which we were once set free by the risen Son of 
 God, but which, in subsequent years, may have come 
 back to assert their former sway and tyranny. And 
 again, they represent the inroads of worldliness into 
 the Church, and of wickedness into the State. The 
 forces of evil are never at rest. Just as the spirit of 
 destruction and waste is perpetually at work in until- 
 ing our roofs, stripping off our wall papers, pulling 
 
MISFORTUNE ON MISFORTUNE. 49 
 
 down our walls, and sowing our gard'cns with weeds 
 whilst we sleep; so the evil tendencies in the heart, 
 tlie Church, and the nation are ever warring against 
 the law of the mind, and bringing men into captivity 
 to the la/w of sin. 
 
 In the insidious attempts to rob us of our Rest Day, 
 and to turn it into one of public amusement; in the 
 unblushing eflfrontery of vice in various forms; in the 
 threatened domination of all other interests by the 
 mad greed for money; in the spirit of amusement 
 which infects society; in the worldliness and luxury 
 which divide with the spiritual and heavenly the hearts 
 and lives of professing Christians — we are brought 
 face to face with the bands of the Philistines as they 
 steal up from their lowlands to the uplands of religious 
 constancy and strength. They have no rights, but 
 they never fail to assert their pretensions; and some- 
 times we almost lose heart, and begin to question 
 whether there is any use in opposing them. 
 
 Why this constant strife? Were it not better to 
 yield the point in controversy, and to acquiesce? 
 
 At other times, like the children of Israel, we are 
 goaded to make one desperate eflfort for freedom. 
 
 I. An Ill-fated Attempt. — " Now Israel went 
 out against the Philistines to battle, and pitched be- 
 side Ebenezer, and the Philistines pitched in Aphek " 
 (" the Fortress," perhaps in the neighbourhood of 
 Bethlehem). From these words we infer that the 
 
50 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 war was comm'enced by Israel throwing down the 
 gage of battle, because the yoke of Philistia was too 
 galling to be endured; but it is almost certain that 
 from the first it was an ill-starred and badly managed 
 campaign. 
 
 Very distinct directions were issued by Moses as to 
 the way in which a campaign should be commenced 
 and conducted (Deut. xx.), but none of them seems 
 to have been put in force on this occasion. No priest 
 was called in to ask counsel of God, or bless the going 
 forth of the Israelite hosts. Not even Samuel, in 
 whom the people were beginning to recognise the 
 servant and prophet of Jehovah, seems to have been 
 consulted. It was the sudden flaming out of a spirit 
 of hatred and revenge from a race of slaves who were 
 stung to the quick by the taunts, the insults, and the 
 scorpion-whips of their masters. 
 
 Such has been the spirit in which we have some- 
 times turned on the powerful sins which have asserted 
 their mastery over us. We have seen the ruin to 
 which they were bringing us, we have winced at the 
 shame and indignation which they were causing to 
 others, we have felt insulted and outraged in any lin- 
 gering sense of honour and nobility that may have 
 escaped the general wreck, and we have turned on 
 our tormentors. We have signed the pledge against 
 the use of intoxicants, we have taken a solemn oath 
 never more to yield to our besetting sin, we have 
 vowed that we will be free. But within a month we 
 
MISFORTUNE ON MISFORTUNE. 51 
 
 Have been back in the old state. It has not gone bet- 
 ter with us than with Israel, for this battle is not to the 
 strong, nor this race to the swift. 
 
 It went hai-d with the Israelites. Their hosts, 
 hastily summoned and insufficiently armed, suffered a 
 heavy defeat. Four thousand men lay dead on the 
 battlefield, and a spirit of intimidation and dismay 
 spread through the entire host. Such will ever be the 
 result when God's people leave Him out of account. 
 Their education is so costly and necessary that He 
 can afford to let them suffer, again and again, thiat an 
 arrest may be put on courses that are not good. 
 
 II. The Ark, but not God, to the Rescue. — On 
 the evening of that disastrous day the elders of Israel 
 held a council of war (v. 3). It was evident that their 
 defeat must be attributed to some failure in their rela- 
 tions with Jehovah. They said, " Wherefore hath the 
 Lord smitten us to-day before the Philistines? " They 
 were conscious that they had left Him out of their 
 reckoning, and suddenly bethought themselves of a 
 happy expedient by which they might almost compel 
 Him to enter into the fray, and to take sides with 
 them against their foes. " Let us fetch," they cried, 
 " the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord out of Shiloh, 
 that it may come among us, and save us out of the 
 hand of our enemies." 
 
 They remembered the wonderful scenes in which 
 that Ark had played a part; how the waters of the 
 
52 
 
 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 Jordan had fled before it, and the walls of Jericho had 
 fallen down. Its going forth, in the words of their 
 great lawgiver, had always meant the scattering and 
 flight of Jehovah's foes. Surely it would do the same 
 again. They did not realise that God's very present 
 help depended not on the presence of a material 
 symbol, but on moral and spiritual conditions which 
 they should have set themselves to understand and 
 fulfil. It was much as though a high Sacramentarian 
 should depend for deliverance from trial by wearing 
 some amulet or charm, or even carrying a piece of the 
 consecrated wafer in a golden casket upon his person, 
 instead of exercising himself in mianly faith and 
 prayer. 
 
 The arrival of the Ark, in due course, borne by the 
 Levites, and accompanied by the sons of Eli, as its 
 custodians, was received with the exultant shouts of 
 the entire host. Eli had evidently been most unwill- 
 ing to allow it to leave the sacred enclosure — " his 
 heart trembled for the Ark of God " — but he had 
 yielded too often and too long to be able to sustain a 
 successful protest; and probably no one else had any 
 misgivings, for " when the Ark of the Covenant of the 
 Lord came into the camp, all Israel shouted with a 
 great shout, so that the earth rang again.' 
 
 As soon as the Philistines, by mean's of their scouts, 
 were acquainted with the cause of this exuberant out- 
 burst, they were correspondingly depressed, for they, 
 too, identified the presence of the God of Israel with 
 
MISFORTUNE ON MISFORTUNE. 
 
 53 
 
 the advent of tlie Ark, which had always been asso- 
 ciated in their minds with the hand of "these mighty 
 gods that smote the Egyptians with plagues in the 
 wilderness." Neither had they any idea of those 
 moral considerations on which alone tlie co-operation 
 of God could be given. " Woe unto us! " they cried, 
 " for there hath not been such a thing heretofore. 
 Woe unto us! Who shall deliver us?" 
 
 It was necessary that a decisive answer shbuld be 
 given to these materialistic conceptions of the He- 
 brews and their foes. It must be demonstrated that 
 the mere possession of the sj'mbol of the Covenant 
 was valueless, so long as the strange gods and the 
 Ashtaroth were tenaciously cherished, and the abomi- 
 nations of the heathen were constantly and shame- 
 lessly pursued (vii. 3, 4). Tlie asseveration of holy 
 words, the quoting of venerable precedents, the re- 
 liance on sacred emblems, are alike in vain, unless 
 the heart is pure and the hands clean. " If I re- 
 gard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear 
 me." 
 
 Tlie Philistines seem to have stirred themselves to 
 deeds of desperate valour because they believed that 
 they were to fight, not only against flesh and blood', 
 but against the deities who had led Israel in one 
 long succession of victories. They advanced to the 
 conflict witli the words of their leaders ringing in their 
 ears: "Be strong, and quit yourselves like men, O 
 ye Philistines, thiat ye be not servants to the Hebrews, 
 
54 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 as they have been to you. Quit yourselves like men 
 and fight " (see i Cor. xvi. 13). 
 
 The issue of that terrible day was disastrous in the 
 extreme. " Israel was smitten, and they fled every 
 man to his tent, and there was a very great slaughter, 
 for there fell of Israel thirty thousand footmen." 
 Around the Ark the ground must have been heaped 
 with corpses, as the Hebrews fought desperately in 
 defence of the symbol of their faith; but in vain, for 
 the Ark of God was taken, and the two sons of EH 
 were slain. Thus had Samuel foretold, and thus it 
 befell. 
 
 That afternoon a Benjamite, with his clothes rent, 
 and dust upon his head, bore the tidings to the ham- 
 lets and villages that lay all along the ascending an'd 
 open road to Shiloh, and, as he passed through eager 
 and expectant groups, a wail arose that grew in 
 volume as he sped onwards until it reached its climax 
 in the City of the High Priest, the capital, so far as 
 there was any, of the entire land. " When the man 
 came into the city, and told it, all the city cried out." 
 On the still evening air arose a piercing outburst of 
 lamentation, for what was there to hinder the imme- 
 diate march of the victorious army on the defenceless 
 city, deprived in one day of its warriors, and appar- 
 ently of its God! 
 
 The old man, Eli, blind and anxious, had caused 
 himself to be seated on his throne, facing on the main 
 thoroughfare. He had a foreboding that bad news 
 
MISFORTUNE ON MISFORTUNE. 55 
 
 was in the air, and when the noise of the tumult 'arose, 
 he anxiously inquired of the attendant priests and Le- 
 vites, and, perhaps, of Samuel, waiting as usual to re- 
 spond to his least appeal for help, " What meaneth 
 the noise of this tumult? " At the same moment the 
 messenger appears to have burst into the presence of 
 the little group, telling Eli who he was, and in answer 
 to the eager inquiry of the High Priest, " How went 
 the matter, my son? " without warning or preface, and 
 with no care to soften the asperity of the harsh words, 
 he blurted out, with an ever-rising climax of dread 
 awfulness : " Israel is fled before the Philistines, and 
 there hath been also a great slaughter among the 
 people, and thy two sons also, Hophni and Phinehas, 
 are dead, and the Ark of God is taken." 
 
 The old man received the tidings in silence. The 
 three first shots hit him severely, but not mortally; 
 but " when he made mention of the Ark of God, he 
 fell from off his seat backward by the side of the gate, 
 and his neck brake and he died." With her last gasp 
 the wife of Phinehas gathered up the horror of the 
 situation with the single word which she uttered as the 
 name of her child, prematurely bom. It was sorrow 
 indeed that she was a widow; sorrow that her father- 
 in-law had died at the moment when he was needed 
 so sorely; but sorrow most of all that the Ark was 
 taken, for with it the glory had departed. True soul 
 that she was, and worthy to be classed with Hannah 
 in her loyal devotion to the name and house of God. 
 
56 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 But worse troubles still befell. In frantic haste the 
 Israelites bore away the remnants of the sacred tent 
 and its furniture, and concealed them. In subsequent 
 years they were at Nob (i Sam. xxi. i). The removal 
 of these precious relics was hardly effected before the 
 Philistine invasion burst on the deserted city as an 
 overflowing flood. " Go ye now," says Jeremiah, 
 " in the Divine Name, into my place which was in 
 Shiloh, where I caused my name to dwell at the first, 
 and see what I did to it for the wickedhess of my 
 people Israel " (Jer. vii. 12). And the further fate of 
 the city, which for 300 years had been the centre of the 
 national life and worship, may be guessed from the 
 pathetic words of the Psalmist : 
 
 He forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh, 
 
 The tent which He pitched among men; 
 
 And delivered his strength into captivity 
 
 And his glory into the adversary's hand. 
 
 He gave his people over also unto the sword, 
 
 And was wroth with his inheritance. 
 
 Fire devoured their young men, 
 
 And their maidens were not praised in the marriage song; 
 
 Their priests fell by the sword. 
 
 And their widows made no lamentation. 
 
 (Psa. Ixxviii. 60, etc.). 
 
 III. The Awful Name of God. — We need not 
 concern ourselves, to any great length, with the most 
 interesting adventures of the Ark, the sacred symbol 
 of the worship of Jehovah. This part of the history 
 more closely concerns the growing illumination of the 
 
MISFORTUNE ON MISFORTUNE. 57 
 
 surrounding nations as to the true nature of the Go'd 
 of Israel. 
 
 There was no other way in which the Spirit of God 
 could inform the people of Philistia, as to his holi- 
 ness and power, than that which He adopted in the 
 present instance. They bore the Ark from the battle- 
 field to the Temple of Dagon in exuberant triumph. 
 It seemed as though they had not only triumphed over 
 Israel, but over its tutelary deity, and that Dagon was 
 superior to Jehovah. But it would have been a great 
 disaster had they been allowed to cherish this idea in 
 perpetuity. As in Egypt, centuries before, so now in 
 Philistia, God must reveal his lonely and unapproach- 
 able supremacy. He cannot give his glory to another, 
 nor his praise to graven images, and therefore He 
 suits Himself to the crude and materialistic concep- 
 tions of these blinded idolaters, and meets them in 
 their own sphere. They would not have been im- 
 pressed by the message of a prophet. They would 
 have scouted and stoned any who opposed the uni- 
 versal, national adoration of Dagon; but they could 
 not resist the conclusions forced on them when, on 
 two following mornings, they found his image pros- 
 trate before the emblem of Jehovah, and on the 
 second otcasion the head and arms severed from the 
 body, so that the only part which was left intact was 
 the fish's tail with which the figure ended. That it 
 might be made still clearer that this was no coinci- 
 dence, but the act of God, and that He had a con- 
 
58 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 troversy with them, a terrible plague of " tumours " 
 broke out on each successive city to which the ark 
 was removed, and a visitation of destructive vermin 
 on the country districts where it may have been de- 
 posited. 
 
 We must not suppose, of course, that God had no 
 love towards these untutored souls ; but that there was 
 no other way of convincing them of his real nature 
 and prerogatives. The plagues of Egypt were or- 
 dained, not only to punish the sins of pride and ob- 
 stinacy, with which Pharaoh made himself strong 
 against the Almighty, but that the Egyptians might 
 be forced to recognise that He was the great God of 
 Heaven, of whom now and again they caught a 
 glimpse. Similarly, in this instance, the prostrated 
 form of Dagon, the painful disease by which they 
 were smitten, and the devastation of their crops, 
 caused them to cry unto heaven (v. 12), as though 
 they realised that they were being dealt with by a 
 greater than Dagon, by the great Being who was su- 
 perior to all local gods. In after-years the Hebrew 
 psalmists and prophets heaped scorn on the gods of 
 the heathen that were no gods, and magnified Je- 
 hovah, who made the heavens; but the lesson took 
 years to learn, and cost an infinite amount of pains 
 and patience, before monotheism became the gener- 
 ally admitted creed. 
 
 The reverence with which the Philistines refer to 
 the God of Israel indicates that new and lofty con- 
 
MISFORTUNE ON MISFORTUNE. 59 
 
 captions were beginning to take the place of the low 
 and materialistic ones that had degraded Jehovah to 
 the level of their own local deities. " Tlie cry of the 
 city went up to heaven." " Ye shall give glory unto 
 the God of Israel." " Take the ark of Jehovah." 
 
 What a sublime revelation this is of the Divine 
 methods with man! With an infinite longing He de- 
 sires to win the allegiance and devotion of all men. 
 The consummate and unapproachable revelation 
 which He has made for this purpose is in the Son of 
 his Love. " The only begotten of the Father, He 
 hath declared Him." But of what use had it been to 
 have spoken of his Son in those early days, when the 
 hearts of men were darkened by the grossest concep- 
 tions and basest morals? No! line must be on line, 
 precept upon precept. The times of ignorance must 
 be " winked at." The light must be tempered to the 
 weak and diseased eyes. God must aidopt the lan- 
 guage that could be understood by the children of 
 men, whom He loved, just as in after days our Lord 
 exposed his hands and side to the incredulous 
 Thomas, condescending to a method of demonstra- 
 tion which he could appreciate, and had himself sug- 
 gested. If the Philistines could have understood 
 Epistles like those of St. John, they would, without 
 doubt, have been written for their learning and cor- 
 rection, and communicated to them by some man of 
 God ; but since they could not understand such means 
 of instruction, they were reached by the overthrow 
 
6o SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 and shattering of their idol, the plagnes which ac- 
 companied the progress of the Ark, and the direction 
 taken by the milch kine, who, whilst lowing for their 
 little ones, bore their sacred burden along the straight 
 road which led them from their home towards Beth- 
 shemesh. 
 
 Similarly, the inhabitants of that frontier town had 
 to learn by a stern lesson that God was a holy God, 
 and that He could not permit them to manifest a 
 wanton curiosity and irreverence in handling the 
 sacred emblem of his presence. To pry into the Ark 
 as they did, lifting its lid, and peering on its contents, 
 was forbidden to the priests, and even the High Priest 
 himself; how much more to them? It hW been dis- 
 tinctly asserted, when the two sons of Aaron perished 
 on the day of their inauguration to the priesthood, 
 that God would be sanctified in all that came nigh 
 Him, and before all the people He would be glorified 
 (Lev. X. 3). 
 
 The reverence d^ue to Him must be shown to the 
 vessels of the sanctuary, which were carefully veiled 
 by the priests before they were taken up for transpor- 
 tation by the Levites (Num. i. 50, 51 ; iv. 5, 16-30). 
 The swift retribution which followed on this act of 
 irreverence extorted the reverent acknowledgment of 
 the awful holiness of God, as the men of Beth- 
 shemesh said, " Who is able to stand before this holy 
 Lord God?" When, on the other hand, the Ark 
 had been reverently borne to Kirjath-jearim, the city 
 
MISFORTUNE ON MISFORTUNE. 6i 
 
 of the woods, some three miles' distance from the 
 great valley of Beth-shemesh, on which the crops 
 were goldening in the sun, and had been carefully 
 entrusted to the custody of Abinadab and his son 
 Eleazar, the blessing that befell his house was an in- 
 dication of the tender love and pity of the Divine 
 nature, who is willing to dwell with him that is of a 
 humble and lowly heart, and that trembleth at his 
 word. 
 
 Oh, do not fear Jehovah with the dread of a craven 
 heart, but with the loyal love and devotion of sons, 
 and open your heart to receive not the Ark of the 
 Covenant only, but Him whom God had set forth for 
 a propitiation, and who is the propitiation for our 
 sins, i. e., the mercy-seat which covers the Ark of the 
 Covenant, sprinkled with blood, and exactly fitting 
 and hiding the Tables of the Law beneath. 
 
VI. 
 Ube Morft of IReconstruction. 
 
 (i Samuel vii. 2.) 
 
 Be still and strong, 
 O Man, my Brother! hold thy sobbing breath, 
 And keep thy soul's large window pure from wrong! 
 That so, as life's appointment issueth. 
 Thy vision may be clear to watch along 
 The sunset consummation — lights of death! 
 
 — E. B. Browning. 
 
 WHILST the events described in the last 
 chapter were in progress^ Samuel was giv- 
 ing himself to the great and noble work of 
 reconstruction. As soon as our flesh is lacerated, or 
 our bones broken, Nature begins to pour out her 
 reparative forces to renew the broken tissues, and so 
 rebuild the ruined temple. As it is in physical life, so 
 in spiritual there are always holy and gentle natures 
 that are charged with the Divine work of bridging 
 over the roaring torrent of revolution, and of rearing 
 new continents of order from the weltering ocean 
 waste by which the previous land had been engulfed. 
 Blessed work, indeed, is this, like the work of the Al- 
 mighty, who, when the earth was without form and 
 void, began to build in the midst of her the habitable 
 places for man's existence. 
 
THE WORK OF RECONSTRUCTION. 63 
 
 To this Samuel devoted the twenty years that fol- 
 lowed directly on the fatal field of Aphek. The Phil- 
 istine invasion seems to have somewhat subsided from 
 its first triumphant outburst, and to have retired from 
 the occupancy of the interior portions of Israel. He 
 was thus able to pursue his quiet and unobtrusive 
 toils for his fatherland, free from the zealous super- 
 vision and opposition to which, otherwise, he must 
 have been subjected. 
 
 He seems to have taken up his abode in Raniah, so 
 intimately associated with his earliest days. Here 
 were his headquarters, where young men gathered 
 to him,, and were formed into the earliest of the 
 schools of the prophets, and where also he married, 
 and became the father of two sons. Their names are 
 suggestive of their father's piety and walk with God, 
 the name of the one being Joel — " Jehovah is God," 
 and of the other Abiah — " Jehovah is my Father." 
 Amid the general disturbance of the religious life in 
 which he had been nurtured, with the Ark in one 
 place and the remnants of the Tabernacle in another, 
 with the discontinuance of the sacred rites and feasts, 
 which had been so great an assistance to piety in for- 
 mer years, Samuel nevertheless was able to walk with 
 God, and to preserve a devout religious life. Prob- 
 ably this is why God permits from time to time so 
 great a shaking of tlie things that are made, that the 
 things which cannot be shaken, the unseen and eter- 
 nal, may be more clearly defined and more eagerly 
 
64 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 sought unto. In this present age, we have heard 
 Him saying, " I will overturn, overturn, overturn " ; 
 we have seen theories of inspiration rudely assailed, 
 churches menaced with destruction, ancient creeds 
 ruthlessly questioned ; but out of it all true religion is 
 destined to emerge in undiminished lustre, as gold 
 from the purifying furnace. In the meanwhile let us 
 say with Samuel, Jehovah is God and Jehovah is my 
 Father. Let us hold fast, above all, to the unchang- 
 ing love of our Father, who loves us with a love with 
 which there is nothing to compare in heaven or earth. 
 
 Samuel knew that there were two objects which 
 must be realised before Israel's sad condition could 
 be remedied or the Divine ideal realised. First: The 
 national unity must be recovered from the anarchy in 
 which it had been overwhelmed. It was useless to think 
 of holding the land against the inroads of the neigh- 
 bouring people so long as each tribe was content with 
 an isolated existence, repelling its own enemies for a 
 time, but indifferent to the condition of its neighbours 
 and of the country at large. Israel must be one, ani- 
 mated by a common enthusiasm for its future inde- 
 pendence and integrity. Let each tribe be proud of 
 its idiosyncrasy, and fulfil its own distinctive mission; 
 but let all be one in asserting the independence and 
 glory of the chosen people. 
 
 This is no less desirable in our own age. The divi- 
 sions of the Church are her bane, and render her im- 
 potent before her foes. Ephraim envies Judah, and' 
 
THE WORK OF RECONSTRUCTION. 65 
 
 Judah vexes Ephraim; and their common enemies 
 make profit out of their mutual recriminations and 
 rivalries. It is a sad spectacle to witness the divi- 
 sions between Christians in the face of a mocking 
 world, and we shall never be able to make men be- 
 lieve, till we have learned to magnify the points of 
 agreement, and to bear with all those who love the 
 Lord Jesus, and are united with Him as their living 
 Head, though their method of stating the truth may 
 differ widely from our own. 
 
 Secoyidly: The evils that had eaten into the nation's 
 heart must be put azvay. The people had forsaken the 
 God of their fathers for the Phoenician and Philistine 
 deities, whose images were worshipped in his stead. 
 Shrines to Baal and Ashtaroth covered the land. 
 Foul orgies of shameless impurity were everywhere 
 rife. And it was evident that only a widespread re- 
 vival of religion could save the people from rotting 
 away before the very evils for which the ancient 
 Canaanites had been destroyed. 
 
 Samuel was pre-eminently a man of prayer. He is 
 known on the subsequent page of Scripture as he that 
 called on the Divine Name (i Sam. ix. 6, 7, 8, 9; Psa. 
 xcix. 6; Jer. xv. i). In addition, he was a man of 
 blameless reputation and life^in themselves eminent 
 qualifications. It has been truly said that the special 
 work of guiding, moderating, and softening the jar- 
 ring counsels of men is the particular privilege of 
 those who have grown up into natural strength from 
 
66 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 the early beginnings of purity and goodness ; of those 
 who can humbly and thankfully look back through 
 middle age, and youth, and childhood, with no sudden 
 rent or breach to their pure and peaceful recollections 
 — and such was certainly Samuel's happy lot. He 
 was also a man of practical sagacity, and by his ap- 
 peals wrought upon the national conscience; so that, 
 as the result of his efforts, " it came to pass, while the 
 Ark abode in Kirjath-jearim, that the time was long; 
 for it was twenty years: and all the house of Israel 
 lamented before the Lord." 
 
 Notice those two phrases ; all the house of Israel — 
 there is the restoration of the lost unity ; lamented be- 
 fore the Lord — there is the national repentance, which 
 was followed by a widespread reformation: "Then 
 the children of Israel did put away Baalim and Ash- 
 taroth, and served the Lord only." Would that there 
 might be a similar turning unto God in our own time 
 and land! " Revive, O Lord, thy work in the midst 
 of the years. In the midst of the years make known." 
 
VII. 
 
 XLlic IDictors of jfaitb. 
 
 (i Samuel vii. 1-14.) 
 
 Oh bring us back once more 
 
 The vanished days of yore, 
 When the world with faith was filled! 
 
 Bring back the fervid zeal, 
 
 The hearts of fire and steel, 
 The hands that believe and build. 
 
 — Longfellow. 
 
 AFTER twenty years of quiet and unobtrusive 
 , toil, Samuel had led his people to desire both 
 to feel and manifest the old unity, which had 
 made them one before their enemies, and there was a 
 distinct yearning after Jehovah. The sacred writer 
 tells us that all the house of Israel " was drawn to- 
 gether " after Jehovah (ver. 2, r. v. margin). In 
 being drawn to God they were drawn towards each 
 other, as the spokes of a wheel centre in the hub. If 
 the Lord Jesus is the centre of our heart-life, we must 
 inevitably be drawn into fellowship with all those to 
 whom He is also first and best. 
 
 In verses 3 and 4 we probably have the substance 
 of innumerable exhortations which Samuel delivered 
 to all the house of Israel. From end to end he trav- 
 ersed the country, urging the people to return to 
 
 67 
 
68 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 Jehovah; to put away the false gods and Ashtaroth, 
 and to direct their hearts to the God of their fathers 
 and serve Him only. Wherever he could find a 
 group of willing listeners, he poured forth his prayers 
 and tears, his rugged denunciations of sin, and his 
 fervent exhortations to a true repentance. Now he 
 would stand upon the historic site of Jericho; then he 
 might be found on the ancient heights of Carmel, 
 Shiloh, Nob, or Hebron, witnessing to vast gaither- 
 ings of deeply moved and repentant people; and 
 finally, as the result of all that he had said, there was 
 a great turning to God. On every hand idols were 
 cast from their pedestals, and the vicious orgies were 
 brought to an end in the groves and valleys. It was 
 as though the spirit of spring were breathing over 
 some wintry waste, and through the thawing snow the 
 grass and flowers began to appear. Oh, that Samuels 
 by the score might be raised up to induce the Church 
 of God to put away what grieves Him, with the assur- 
 ance that when she has arrayed herself in the beauti- 
 ful garments of humility and purity, God will deliver 
 her out of the hands of the Philistines. 
 
 I. The Convocation at Mizpeh. — ^Tlie move- 
 ment to which we have referred at last demanded a 
 public demonstration, and Samuel sutnmoned all 
 Israel to Mizpeh — ^which means zvatchtowcr, and is 
 evidently a commanding summit that can still be 
 identified in Central Palestine, rising some five hun- 
 
THE VICTORY OF FAITH. 69 
 
 dred feet above the surrounding country, and nearly 
 three thousand above the sea level. It is remarkable 
 that on the summit of this hill, as at Shiloh and 
 Kirjath-jearim, there is a level platform some five or 
 six feet high, cut out of the rock, where doubtless 
 some kind of building was erected to receive the 
 sacred tent. 
 
 The day was devoted to fasting, as the law en- 
 joined on the great Day of Atonement. The people 
 confessed their sins, afflicted their souls, and humbled 
 themselves before Jehovah. In addition, a some- 
 what novel rite was introduced. Water was brought 
 from a neighbouring well, and solemnly poured out 
 before the Lord, as afterwards at the Feast of Taber- 
 nacles. Whenever that great festival had nearly run 
 its course, as it was being celebrated in the Temple, 
 it was the custom for the priests to go forth to the 
 Spring of Siloam, accompanied by the Levite choir, 
 and bring thence water in a golden vessel; this was 
 poured out at the foot of the altar at the hour of the 
 morning sacrifice, while all around the white-vestured 
 choir chanted Isaiah's words, " With joy shall ye draw 
 water out of the wells of salvation." Whether this 
 scene in the life of Samuel was the origin of that 
 solemn procession, it is impossible to say. Such 
 may have been the case, though it is generally as- 
 sumed that, as used in the Temple service, the pouring 
 out of water was a memorial of the flowing of water 
 from the smitten rock in the wilderness, and the type 
 
70 
 
 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 of the pouring out of the Holy Spirit (John vii. 37- 
 
 39)- 
 
 The pouring forth of water may have implied that 
 they poured forth from their full hearts floods of peni- 
 tence and tears ; that they desired by the heaviness of 
 their grief to wash their land free from the accumu- 
 lated evil of the past years ; or that the people realised 
 their utter helplessness, so that they were as water 
 spilt on the ground, which could not be gathered up. 
 But whatever it may have signified, it must have been 
 a very striking spectacle, when Samuel, as the repre- 
 sentative of his countrymen, brought the whole nation 
 back to true loyal allegiance to the God of their 
 fathers. It was a worthy act for his manhood's 
 prime, and we are not surprised to learn that, as by a 
 sudden outburst of acclamation, he was appointed 
 judge (ver. 6). 
 
 Oh, who shall induce the professing Church of God 
 to put away the evil things by which her testimony is 
 now impaired! Sometimes in buildings connected 
 with the Church we hear of fancy-fairs, raffles, full- 
 dress soirees, dances, theatricals, comic concerts, and 
 many other such like things, which indicate the cor- 
 ruption of the spiritual life as certainly as an army of 
 fungi indicate the damp and unwholesome atmos- 
 phere in which they thrive. What would not be the 
 blessed result if the children of God would come to 
 another Mizpeh and confess, as Israel did, " We have 
 sinned against the Lord ! " 
 
THE VICTORY OF FAITH. 71 
 
 TI. The Victory of Faith. — The tidings of this 
 great convocation reached the Philistines, who looked 
 upon it as an unmistakable sign of the returning spirit 
 of national life, and " the lords of the Philistines went 
 up against Israel " (ver. 7). From every part the 
 contingents of a great army were assembled, and there 
 was every reason to fear that the terrible experiences 
 of Aphek would be renewed. A panic of fear spread 
 through the multitudes of Israel. There appeiared 
 but one hope: God must arise to his people's help, or 
 they would be trampled as the leaves of autumn be- 
 neath the heel of the conqueror. What could timid 
 sheep do against wolves? What could unarmed 
 peasants do against such soldiers? How could the 
 national life, which was just reviving, after the dis- 
 couragement and anarchy of years, withstand the on- 
 set of these bitter foes ? " Cease not to cry unto the 
 Lord our God for us," the people said to Samuel, 
 " that He will save us out of the hand of the Philis- 
 tines." 
 
 Ah, soul! this is the only hope for thee. Thou hast 
 been ground down beneath tyrant sins, which have 
 held thee in subjection as the Philistines did Israel; 
 thou hast groaned in the prison-house like another 
 Samson shorn of his locks. There seems no help or 
 hope of deliverance, because thy moral life is impaired 
 by the commission of evils analogous to those which 
 infected the Hebrew nation in the days of the Judges. 
 Only put these away, and stand clear of them; in the 
 
72 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 name of God pour out all your self-confidence before 
 the Cross where Jesus died, receive the forgiveness 
 which is never withheld from the penitent and believ- 
 ing soul; and then, however many be the obstacles, 
 temptations, and sins that beset thee, know that the 
 Lord will save thee out of the hand of thine enemies. 
 
 If only the tempted and overwhelmed would bathe 
 their souls in the purifying waters of the Word of 
 God, and cultivate the spirit of unwavering prayer 
 and faith, the Lord would fight for them, and they 
 might hold their peace. 
 
 When so far as we know them we have put away 
 our sins, or at least are steadfastly resolved to be rid 
 of them, we may count on an ungrieved Holy Spirit; 
 and this always means the consciousness of our 
 Saviour's presence, as our Deliverer from the power 
 of the enemy. 
 
 The power of Samuel's prayers was already known 
 throughout the land, like those of John Knox in the 
 days of Queen Mary. The people had come to be- 
 lieve in them; they felt them to be the palladium of 
 their liberties. If only Samuel would pray, they 
 might count on deliverance. They knew that he had 
 prayed; they now entreated that he would not cease. 
 
 But Samuel did more than pray. He took a suck- 
 ing lamb and offered it as a whole burnt-offering to 
 the Lord, symbolising thus the desire of Israel to be 
 wholly yielded to the Divine will. There must be 
 
THE VICTORY OF FAITH. 73 
 
 consecration before there can be faith and deliverance. 
 It is not enough simply to put away sin ; we must also 
 give ourselves absolutely and entirely to God. There 
 must be a wholeness in the offering, the yielding our- 
 selves — spirit, soul, and body — ^to be whatever God 
 would have us be. Failure in the walk always de- 
 notes failure in the heart-life. If you are perpetually 
 overcome by the Philistines, be sure that there is a 
 flaw in your inner consecration. 
 
 While the smoke of this offering was rising in the 
 calm air, and the eyes of tens of thousands were fixed 
 upon the figure of Samuel, who, as a prophet of the 
 Lord, was within his rights in superseding the Leviti- 
 cal priests in this solemn function, and while his pierc- 
 ing cries for Divine help were rising to heaven, the 
 Philistines drew near to battle against Israel. Can 
 you not see them creeping up the mountain slopes, 
 and encircling the defenceless crowd which had no 
 might nor power to resist? But suddenly the voice 
 of God answered the voice of the Prophet. " The 
 Lord thundered with a great thunder (Hebrew, voice) 
 on that day upon the Philistines, and discomfited 
 them." The sky was suddenly black with tempest, 
 peal after peal rolled through the mountains, the 
 heart of the foe was stricken with terror, and though 
 Israel drew never a sword, the heathen turned in dis- 
 may to flee. Then at a signal from Samuel, the men 
 of Israel flung themselves upon the flying foe. Down 
 the steep they sped, catching up the arms which were 
 
74 
 
 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 cast away in flight, and stripping the dead of their 
 weapons. Josephus tells of another circumstance 
 that added to the horrors of that irresistible onslaught. 
 " God destroyed their ranks with an earthquake; the 
 ground trembled under their feet, so that there was 
 no place whereon to stand in safety. They either fell 
 helpless to the earth, or into some of the chasms that 
 opened beneath them." 
 
 The pursuit only stayed when the Philistines came 
 beneath the shadow of their own fortress of Bethcar, 
 the Well of the Vineyards as it is now called. 
 
 This is the great message of the whole story for us. 
 If only the Church of God would put away the evils 
 that grieve his Holy Spirit, if only we would ourselves 
 come out and be separate, not touching the unclean 
 thing, and cleansing ourselves from all filthiness of 
 the flesh, the Spirit would interpose for us too. The 
 Lord would deliver us, fighting on our behalf against 
 our foes, so that we should be more than conquerors 
 through Him that loveth us and have to do nothing 
 more than take the spoil. 
 
 HI. The Stone of Help. — " Then Samuel took 
 a stone, and set it between Mizpeh and Shen, and 
 called it Ebenezer (the stone of help) saying, 
 Hitherto hath the Lord helped us." This was the 
 same spot upon which Israel had suffered the great 
 defeat which led to the capture of the Ark (iv. i). 
 How wonderful this was, that the story of the victory 
 
THE VICTORY OF FAITH. 75 
 
 should be told upon the plain which had been the 
 scene of defeat! Does not this carry sweet encour- 
 agement? 'Is it not true that when we turn to God, 
 the disgrace of our failure is blotted out in the glory 
 of our deliverance, so that we talk no more of our 
 sins and their fatal consequences, but only of God and 
 his almighty succour? Yes, child of God, be sure 
 that the place of defeat may become that of victory, 
 sublime and glorious so as to iill thine heart with 
 adoring rapture, and heaven with consenting praise. 
 Think how, in the generations that succeeded, fathers 
 brought their childi'en to look at that great stone, and 
 read the inscription, " Hitherto hath the Lord helped 
 us," arguing from it that what He had done He would 
 do; that the forgiveness and grace which He had 
 shown upon that site would be renewed and repeated 
 in all after years. 
 
 From that moment Samuel's supremacy in the 
 country was established. The Philistines came no 
 more during his judgeship within the border of Israel. 
 The hand of the Lord was against the Philistines all 
 his days. The alienated cities which the Philistines 
 had taken from Israel were restored to Israel, from 
 Ekron even unto Gath. The very A'morites, who had 
 taken part with the Canaanites, found it to their ad- 
 vantage to side with Samuel, and abstain from hostili- 
 ties (ver. 14). As Dean Spence, in " Ellicott's Com- 
 mentary," says: "Tliis success at Ebenezer was no 
 miere solitary victory, but was the sign of a new spirit 
 
76 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 in Israel, which animated the nation during the life- 
 time of Samuel, and the reigns of David and Solomon 
 and of the great Hebrew kings. The petty jealousies 
 had disappeared, and had given place to a great 
 national desire for unity. The old idol worship of 
 Canaan, which degraded every nationality which 
 practised it, was in a great measure swept away from 
 among the chosen people, while the pure religion of 
 the Lord of Hosts was established, not only through 
 the care and guardianship of the tribe of Levi, but by 
 the new order of the Prophets." 
 
 What cannot prayer do? It can not only open and 
 close heaven, but will give the soul that prays an un- 
 disputed supremacy over his times, so that men will 
 acknowledge that the saviour of the city is not so 
 much the politician, the man of intellect, or the man 
 of affairs, but he who has learned how to walk with 
 God, and by his character and intercession to be the 
 palladium of the national liberties and existence. 
 
VIII. 
 
 xrbe Stone of ibelp. 
 
 (i Samuel vii. 12.) 
 
 And in the strength of this I rode, 
 Shattering all evil customs everywhere. 
 And past thro' Pagan realms, and made them mine, 
 And clash'd with Pagan hordes, and bore them down, 
 And broke thro' all, and in the strength of this 
 Came Victor. 
 
 — Tennyson. 
 
 THERE are many such monoliths as the " Stone 
 of Help " to be found strewn through these 
 northern lands, from such venerable circles as 
 those of Stonehenge to the single ones v*rhich are 
 pointed out to the traveller in Northern Wales — the 
 last home of the Druids and cmcient Britons. 
 
 Throughout the world man has endeavoured to 
 associate himself, and the history of his life, with the 
 permanent monuments of nature. In this he has ap- 
 proved alike his littleness and his greatness — his 
 littleness, because every such endeavour is a confes- 
 sion on his part of the transience of his days, and his 
 consciousness that he has so slight a hold on the 
 earth, on which he is but a sojourner and a pilgrim; 
 his greatness, because he is capable of investing with a 
 halo of undying interest wild glens and barren rocks, 
 
78 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 darksome caves and deep, rushing rivers. It is for 
 this reason that every spot in the older countries of 
 the world teems with interest. It is with difficulty 
 that the tourist can make his way through England or 
 Scotland, Germany or Italy; whereas he will haste, 
 without hesitation or halting, through thousands of 
 miles of Canada or the Western States. H'ow differ- 
 ent, for instance, is the interest of travelling through 
 the New England States, or through Dakota and 
 Wisconsin. Each square mile of the one is fragrant 
 with some interesting reminiscence of the past, whilst 
 the other only recalls a vanished race. 
 
 At the foot of this stone let us linger for a little, to 
 learn one or two lessons more. For stones have ears 
 and voices. Joshua said that the stone which he 
 reared, at the end of his life-work, had heard; and our 
 Lord said that the stones around Him might be ex- 
 pected to cry out (Josh. xxiv. 26; Luke xix. 40). 
 
 I. Its Site. — It stood on ground which had wit- 
 nessed a terrible defeat and disaster. We are told in 
 the fourth chapter that the great battle of Aphek was 
 fought on this spot. " Israel went out against the 
 Philistines to battle, and pitched beside Ebenezer, 
 and the Philistines pitched in Aphek." " Now the 
 Philistines had taken the ark of God, and they 
 brought it from Ebenezer unto Ashdod " (iv. i ; 
 
 V.I). 
 
 Many who gathered around Samuel when he raised 
 
THE STONE OP HELP. 
 
 79 
 
 and named this stone must have been present twenty 
 years before on that fatal field, the Flodden of Israel's 
 glory. Here the fight had been fiercest, the slain 
 thickest; there the corpses of Hebrews and Philistines 
 had fallen like leaves in Vallombrosa, trampled be- 
 neath the feet of the combatants; yonder the fight 
 had raged around the Ark of God, as it was taken, 
 and retaken, and taken again. At this point, des- 
 perate deeds of valour had been done to turn back 
 Israel from a shameful flight, but in vain. There 
 Hophni fell, and there Phinehas. In this place a brief 
 stand was made, but again the ill-formed line was 
 broken, and the children of a chosen race, whose fore- 
 fathers turned not back in the day of Gideon and 
 Jephthah, fled like sheep before the wolf. 
 
 But, notwithstanding all this, and though the spot 
 was associated with the memories of disgrace and 
 shame, which in turn were the result of deep trans- 
 gression on the part of people and priesthood, yet 
 there was the stone erected which spoke so eloquently 
 of the Divine help. 
 
 What living encouragement is contained in this for 
 us all! We, too, may be traversing at this very hour 
 battlefields which have been sadly marked by defeat. 
 Again and again we have met the foes of our peace 
 in mortal conflict, only to be repulsed. Our hopes 
 have been dashed to the ground and our banners 
 rolled in dust and blood. We meant never to yield 
 again, but we did yield. We meant that that solemn 
 
8o SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 vow should be kept, that holy resolution carried into 
 effect; but they were shivered in pieces. We have 
 been overthrown by our adversary, and overpowered 
 in spite of all our efforts by our besetting sin. Yet 
 take heart. At the very place where you have fallen 
 you shall stand, for " God is able to make you stand " ; 
 where you have been overthrown you shall be more 
 than a conqueror. You shall tread these very fields 
 with songs of joy. The rocks which saw the with- 
 ered leaves of autumn swirl in eddies around you shall 
 behold the young green of spring and the mature ful- 
 ness of summer. Be of good cheer! The stone of 
 Ebenezer shall be raised on the very field of the fatal 
 battle of Aphek. 
 
 II. Its Retrospect. — What a story this stone had 
 to tell, if all were unfolded, of the wonderful dealings 
 of God with his people. It looked back on the twenty 
 years of patient work, by which the Prophet Samuel 
 had been leading the people homeward to the God of 
 their fathers — quiet, unobtrusive, and unseen work, 
 like that of the coral insects from the bottom of the 
 mighty ocean, till presently the islet emerges, with its 
 crown of fronded palms. 
 
 It looked back on many a scene of iconoclasm as, 
 from Dan to Beer-sheba, there had been a general put- 
 ting away of the Baalim and Ashtaroth, the cutting 
 down of groves, and overthrow of altars. It looked 
 back on that memorable convocation of all Israel at 
 
THE STONE OF HELP. 8i 
 
 Mizpeh, when water was poured out before the Lord, 
 in confession of sin and humble penitence. 
 
 It looked back, specially, to the ofifering of the 
 burnt-offering, which declared Israel's resolve to be 
 henceforth wholly devoted to God, and to Samuel's 
 piercing cry of intercession. Above all, it looked 
 back on that memorable moment, when, as the Phil- 
 istines drew near to battle against Israel, " the Lord 
 thundered with a great thunder upon the Philistines, 
 and discomfited them, and they were smitten down 
 before Israel." If that stone had engraved slabs of 
 memory within its old heart, as well as eyes and ears, 
 it surely never would forget the miad onslaught of the 
 men of Israel on their fleeing and panic-stricken foes, 
 to avenge in one brief hour the wrongs and oppres- 
 sions of twenty long years. 
 
 Has anything like this taken place in your life? 
 On your answer much will depend. If since your last 
 failure and defeat there have been no acts of the soul, 
 like those which took place at Mizpeh, believe me, 
 there is no probability of there being any break in the 
 long mcmotony of your reverses. As you have been 
 defeated, so you will be defeated; as you have failed, 
 so you will fail, unless there is the pouring out of your 
 heart before God, the putting away of idols, and the 
 resolve to follow Him fully. 
 
 If I may be permitted to quote my own experience, 
 I must bear witness to the incessant failiu-e of my life, 
 so long as I cherished things in my heart which were 
 
82 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 alien to God's holy will. Rules for holy living, 
 solemn and heart-stirring conventions, helpful books 
 and addresses produced but very small result. There 
 was temporary amendment, but little else. But when 
 the scene at Mizpeh had been reflected in the inner 
 mirror of the soul, then victory took place on the 
 very spot marked by defeat. Let my reader ponder 
 this. You cannot keep the nioth out of your house, 
 so long as one old blanket, stored in some neglected 
 cupboard or box, is full of it. You cannot keep diph- 
 theria from your home, so long as one crack in the 
 drains is emitting the poison of sewer-gas. You will 
 never raise your stone of Ebenezer until you have 
 stood on the watchtower of Mizpeh and put away all 
 known sin, all complicity with what is grievous in the 
 eyes of Christ. Only so will even his keeping power 
 avail. 
 
 You say that you cannot. The evil thing clings to 
 you as the serpent folds around Laocoon and his sons. 
 The deadly creeper has wound itself around the tree 
 of your life, and threatens to crush it to death in its 
 deadly embrace. How can you rid yourself of that 
 which has so strong a fascination that you feel you 
 cannot live apart from it? Ah, that is the point where 
 the Great Physician is willing to interpose for your 
 rescue and deliverance! What you cannot do for 
 yourself. He will do. The only question is, Are you 
 willing? or Are you willing to be made willing? Often 
 enough in the history of the soul it happens that the 
 
THE STONE OF HELP. 83 
 
 will, like a tough piece of iron, resists and resents. 
 Then there is one glad resource — take it to Christ, 
 tell Him that you cannot be as you would, or that you 
 will not be as you should, and pray Him to undertake 
 your difficult and almost desperate case. 
 
 Do not doubt the result. He takes what we give 
 at the moment of our giving it; and when once He 
 has taken it, we may press to our heart the consola- 
 tion which the good Naomi gave to Ruth in a mem- 
 orable moment of her life: " Sit still, my daughter . . . 
 for the man will not rest until he have finished the 
 thing this day." 
 
 HI. Its Inscription. — " Hitherto hath the Lord 
 helped us." Surely if the stone had a retrospect, as 
 we have seen, it had also a prospect. It looked for- 
 ward as well as backward. It seemed to say, As God 
 has helped, so He will help. It would have been im- 
 possible to secure such results as those twenty years 
 had witnessed, culminating in this glorious victory, 
 unless He had been a very present help ; and could He 
 have done so much without being prepared to finish 
 what He had commenced? Would He have begun 
 to build without calculating on his ability to finish? 
 Would He have entered on a campaign without 
 counting the cost of carrying it to a conclusion? 
 
 As we go through life, let us be careful to erect our 
 Ebenezer stones, so that when new responsibilities be- 
 gin to crowd on us, or fresh and unforeseen difficul- 
 
84 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 ties threaten, we may be emboldened to sing with 
 
 Newton : 
 
 " His love in time past forbids me to think 
 He'll leave me at last in trouble to sink, 
 Each sweet Ebeuexer I have in review 
 Confirms his good pleasure to help me quite through." 
 
 All through life, if you will only trust God, if only 
 by faith you will derive from Him grace for grace, if 
 only you will claim a continuance and a crowning of 
 all that He has begun, you will have occasions to 
 raise these stones of help and to say with the Aix)stle, 
 " Having, therefore, obtained the help that is from 
 God, I stand unto this day testifying both to small 
 and great." 'The last stone that we shall erect will 
 be on the margin of the river. As we turn our back 
 for ever on the land of our pilgrimage, and enter on 
 the work and worship of eternity, we shall set up a 
 great stone to the glory of our God, saying once 
 more, with a deep sigh of perfected satisfaction, 
 " Hitherto hath the Lord helped." 
 
IX. 
 a ©reat Disappointment. 
 
 (i Samuel vii.-viii.) 
 
 They who have steeped their souls in Prayer 
 Can every anguish calmly bear — 
 They who have learnt to pray aright 
 From pain's dark well draw up delight. 
 
 — Houghton. 
 
 THE supreme test of character is disappoint- 
 ment and apparent failure. When the flow- 
 ing stream is with us, and our plans are 
 ripening into fruition, it is easy enough to be at our 
 best. But what we really are does not appear under 
 such conditions. Let the tide turn against us, let 
 men avert their faces and refuse our counsels, let us 
 be driven to stand on the defence against a world in 
 arms — then our true metal is approved. We are now 
 to see how Samuel bore himself in the face of a keen 
 disappointment. This at least may be said of him, as 
 of old it was said of Job, that he still held fast his 
 integrity. 
 
 I. How THE Disappointment Befell. — During 
 the twenty years that followed the glorious victory of 
 Aphek, Samuel set himself to build up in the hearts of 
 his fellow-countrymen something of that profound 
 
 8s 
 
S6 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 belief in the Reign of the Divine King which we 
 know as the Theocracy, and which was so dear to all 
 devout Hebrews. 
 
 His headquarters and home were at Ramah, the 
 scene of his happy childhood's years. Thence he 
 went on itinerating journeys, and wherever he came, 
 Samuel strove to act only as the representative and agent 
 of the Divine King. Who was he but the messenger 
 and minister of the Lord of hosts? With all the force 
 of his character and eloquence of his speech he in- 
 sisted that the people were the subjects of Jehovah, 
 owing allegiance to Him alone, and receiving from 
 Him direction in times of perplexity, and deliverance 
 in days of battle. They needed no king — ^Jehovah 
 was King; no officials, but those who uttered his 
 messages; no code of laws, but those that emanated 
 from Him. It was a beautiful and inspiring concep- 
 tion; and as he went to and fro throughout the land 
 of Israel, still upon his lips, like a musical refrain, the 
 words were constantly being breathed, " Speak, Lord, 
 for thy servant heareth.'' 
 
 The same object was in his mind as he instituted the 
 schools of the prophets. To Samuel's wise interpreta- 
 tion of his times we must attribute the institution of 
 these seats of learning. The priesthood had forfeited 
 its right to stand between Jehovah and his people. 
 Eli and his sons had failed too abjectly and entirely 
 to realise the purpose for which their office was insti- 
 tuted, to encourage the hope of the resuscitation of the 
 
A GREAT DISAPPOINTMENT. 87 
 
 priestly order. It was clear that some other religious 
 body must be called into existence. The times de- 
 manded an order of men who should be trained in the 
 law of God, who should be fitted to interpret the holy 
 oracles to the people, and from the midst of whom 
 men should arise from time to time to tell in the light 
 what they had heard in the darkness, to proclaim on 
 the housetops what God had whispered to their ears 
 in secret. We find these schools flourishing in the 
 days of Elijah and Elisha — some apparently on the 
 same sites, where they had been instituted by Samuel 
 (x. 3> 4. 5; xix. 23, 24; 2 Kings ii.). 
 
 As Samuel laboriously built up these institutions, 
 he had but one purpose in his heart. It was his 
 eager desire to imbue the minds of his countrymen 
 with his own sublime conceptions of the Divine King- 
 ship; and how would he do it better than by these 
 young and ardent disciples? And it must have been 
 a constant inspiration to them to live in contact with 
 this great and illustrious man, who was statesman and 
 saint in one, whom they revered for the loftiness of 
 his character, whilst they felt the inspiration of his 
 high ideals. They saw how respected he was in his 
 own city, by young and old (ix. 12, 13); how accessi- 
 ble he was to all who needed his assistance (v. 9); 
 how mightily he wrestled and prevailed in prayer 
 (vii. 17; viii. 10, 21, 27); and they counted it their 
 highest honour to be associated with him in the re- 
 generation of their national life. 
 
88 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 But the failure to realise his high purpose seems to 
 have befallen through the failure of his sons. As 
 Samuel became old, he was less able to administer 
 justice, and continue to act as the adviser of his people 
 in their national and domestic affairs. The burden 
 of administering the government, in the name of the 
 unseen King, became too heavy for him, and he ap- 
 pointed his sons to assist him on the extreme fron- 
 tiers of the South country. The experiment of dele- 
 gating to them a part of his authority proved, how- 
 ever, to be a disastrous failure. " Tliey walked not 
 in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took 
 bribes, and perverted judgment." 
 
 This precipitated the catastrophe; and "all the 
 elders of Israel," who evidently formed a kind of 
 representative and popular assembly, came to Samuel 
 at Ramah, to urge that he should make more satis- 
 factory and permanent arrangements for the peq^etu- 
 ation of his authority. " They said unto him. Behold 
 thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways; 
 now make us a king to judge us like all the 
 nations." 
 
 Looked at from the human standpoint, there was 
 much to warrant the request. Tlie Philistines were 
 pushing their outposts into the heart of the country 
 (xiii. 3, 5); Nahash, the Ammonite, wjis a dangerous 
 neighbour on the Eastern frontier (xi. i); there was 
 fear that disintegration might again separate the 
 people on Samuel's death. But, on the other hand, 
 
A GREAT DISAPPOINTMENT. 89 
 
 the request shattered the prophet's hopes, ilt showed 
 him that his ideal was too lofty and spiritual for the 
 people to appreciate and maintain. They could not 
 believe only in the invisible; they must have the out- 
 ward symbols and splendour of royalty. 
 
 This is the universal failure of the heart of man. 
 It is always craving for the sensuous and visible. 
 Like the children of Israel, with their cry, " Make us 
 gods, which may go before us," men demand some- 
 thing which they may see and handle, and before 
 which they may prostrate themselves. Hence all 
 spiritual worship shows a tendency to become ma- 
 terialistic. It is hard to believe that God is a Spirit, 
 and that He must be worshipped in spirit and in truth ; 
 it is easier to enter into the debate, whether " in 
 this mountain or in Jerusalem men ought to 
 worship." 
 
 These paragraphs are being written in a land where 
 this fact is strikingly illustrated. The national 
 Church was the earliest product of apostolic days — 
 the Church of Athanasius, Cyril, and Chrysostom. 
 From the first it recited the prayers and read the 
 Scriptures in the tongue of the people, eschewed 
 images, and insisted on spiritual worship. Yet now 
 its churches are full of the pictures of the saints, be- 
 fore which women burn candles and men cross them- 
 selves; the Holy of Holies is shut off from the com- 
 mon foot by golden gates; the deep bass of the reader 
 mingles with the exquisite voices of boys in render- 
 
go SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 ing the service in an almost unknown tongue — every- 
 thing that can appeal to the sense is called into requi- 
 sition. Apparently the people love to have it so, for 
 they stand in dense crowds on the spacious pave- 
 ments, following each invocation of the Divine Name 
 with profuse genuflections and obeisance. As I turn 
 from these ornate and splendid symbols to other 
 gatherings of God's people, in which the eye has noth- 
 ing to allure, or the ear to attract, where the thought 
 is centred on God, and the only splendour is in those 
 great conceptions that elevate and ennoble, I do not 
 wonder that the nature of the ordinary man rebels 
 and cries out for something more suited to the com- 
 mon levels of daily experience. 
 
 To combat desires like these the Epistle to the He- 
 brews was written, that our minds and hearts might 
 thither ascend, and there continually dwell, where the 
 Lord has gone before us. For us, not a mount that 
 can be touched, but a mount not less certainly — 
 Mount Zion; not a city, whose minarets and monu- 
 ments catch the rays of the rising and setting sun, but 
 a city as surely, whose streets we may walk each day 
 — the heavenly Jerusalem; not the festal crowds of 
 worshippers that jostled each other in their climb to 
 the Temple of Solomon, but fellow-worshippers 
 equally real and numerous — the innumerable hosts 
 of angels, the spirits of just men made perfect, the 
 general assembly and church of the first-bom, with 
 whom we come into contact at each hour of prayer. 
 
A GREAT DISAPPOINTMENT. 
 
 9» 
 
 II. How Samuel Bore his DisAPPOiNXMEisrT. — 
 " The thing displeased Samuel when they said, Give 
 us a king to judge us." It was not so much that they 
 had rejected himself, but that they had rejected God' — 
 that He should not be King over them. They had 
 failed to grasp the great conception, and had fallen 
 to the level of the nations around. The one hope that 
 had arisen in his soul, and been nurtured by the dew 
 and sun of every summer, was frustrated; and it was 
 clear that there could never be the realisation of his 
 cherished dream, since it was impossible to imagine 
 circumstances more favourable for giving it effect. 
 If it failed in Israel, it would fail entirely — unless, in- 
 deed, the Divine Kingdom could be set up, which 
 would never pass away. 
 
 Under these bitter circumstances he made for the 
 one Harbour of Refuge, the one assured safeguard 
 for all broken hearts and wrecked lives, for all that 
 labour and are heavy laden — " Samuel prayed unto 
 the Lord." 
 
 By how many disappointed ones these words may 
 be read! Women whose young hearts were filled on 
 their marriage day with high and buoyant hope, as 
 they dreamed of an ideal life of love and blessedness, 
 but who are mourning over the withered vows, the 
 broken promises, the irrecoverable sense of trust and 
 peace! 'Men that meant to effect such great things 
 by their lives, to succeed in business, to lead society, 
 to mold and fashion the State! Ministers who, as 
 
98 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 they knelt on the threshold of their sacred calling, 
 saw visions and dreamed dreams of consecration, ten- 
 derness, shepherd-care, and parental solicitude, which 
 have vanished, as the pictures of foliage reflected in 
 deep lakes when a breath of wind stirs the surface of 
 the water! What are such to do? Whither can they 
 go? What resort is there for broken hearts? 
 
 There is no answer to these questions but that sug; 
 gested by Samuel's action, when he prayed unto the 
 Lord. Go to Him, and tell everything — what you 
 hoped, how you endeavoured, how you failed. Weep 
 your tears out at his feet. He can understand, can 
 sympathise, can bind and heal. There is Balm in 
 Gilead, there is a Physician there. There is help for 
 the helpless, and comfort for the comfortless. To tell 
 God everything is to be far along the road to peace ; 
 and where you cannot tell, where the sobs choke the 
 utterance, there the Father seeth, knoweth, and com- 
 forteth. Through His love you may be as one whom 
 his mother comforteth. 
 
 Then the Lord answered his servant. He always 
 does, and will, answer. Tlie voice may be so soft 
 and low as to be almost inaudible; but it will be there. 
 The words may not quite chime in with our notions 
 at first. Unlike the prophet's roll, they may be bitter 
 in the mouth, but they will be sweet to the heart. 
 " Be careful for nothing, but in everything by prayer 
 and supplication, with thanksgiving let your requests 
 be made known unto God, and the peace of God that 
 
A GREAT DISAPPOINTMENT. 
 
 93 
 
 passeth all understanding shall guard your hearts and 
 your thoughts in Christ Jesus." 
 
 III. The Divine Answer and Encouragement. 
 — When Samuel cried to the Lord about his sore 
 trouble, in the Divine answer it was made clear that 
 the cherished ideal of a lifetime would have to be 
 abandoned. The distinct impression, was borne in 
 on the prophet's mind that he must renounce his high 
 purpose, abdicate his position, and step down to be- 
 come subordinate to a king. " Now, therefore," said 
 his Almighty Friend and Confidant, " hearken unto 
 their voice." 
 
 At the same time his sorrow was greatly mitigated 
 by discovering that God was his Fellow-Sufferer, and 
 that the sorrow of the Divine heart was infinitely 
 greater than his own. " They have not rejected thee, 
 but they have rejected Me." It is a great honour when 
 a man is summoned to enter into fellowship with God 
 in the awful pain and grief which men bring on his 
 tender and Holy Spirit. 
 
 Surely none will count the phrase extravagant 
 which attributes suffering to God on account of his 
 rejection by human hearts which refuse his reign and 
 do despite to the Spirit of his Grace. Did not Jesus 
 suffer when his own received Him not, when his 
 brethren believed not, when the city, which He loved 
 with patriot devotion, refused to shelter under his 
 shadowing wings, and when his chosen apostles for- 
 
94 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 sook Him and fled? The very abandonment of his 
 self-sacrifice proved the tenderness of his yearning 
 love, and this could not have been present to so large 
 an extent within Him, without exposing Him to ex- 
 cessive suffering on account of human sin. 'It has 
 been beautifully said by a modern writer: " There is 
 a common saying that cruelty and cowardice go to- 
 gether; so also do self-sacrifice and tenderness. They 
 are different sides of the same idea, and all the deli- 
 cacy of Christian tenderness is perceptibly an out- 
 growth of the Cross. It seems as though, till Christ 
 had lived and died, that fulness of human sympathy 
 was impossible." Now, if that be true — if the Cross 
 of Christ has exhaled through the world the aroma of 
 tender sympathy — how strong this element must have 
 been in his Holy Nature, and how acutely He must 
 have suffered when the keepers of the vineyards cast 
 Him out and slew Him. But He did not suffer alone ; 
 they that saw Him saw the Father. He taught us 
 that God was not impassive; but that He yearned, 
 sorrowed, loved, as human fathers do, only with 
 heights and depths of intensity which are indeed 
 Divine. 
 
 " Thou who hast borne all burdens, bear our load, 
 Bear Thou our load, whatever load it be; 
 Our guilt, our shame, our helpless misery. 
 Bear thou who only canst, O God, my God, 
 Seek us and find us, for we cannot Thee." 
 
 The prophet says that God was pressed beneath 
 
A GREAT DISAPPOINTMENT. 95 
 
 the sin and rebellion of men, as the groaning wagon 
 is pressed beneath its sheaves. 
 
 IV. Samuel's noble behaviour towards the 
 PEOPLE demands our notice. 
 
 The request of the people for a king was, no doubt, 
 in part based on Deut. xvii. 14, which seemed to an- , 
 ticipate just such a crisis as had now arisen. In 
 Hannah's song, also, there had been an unmistakable 
 prophecy of the day when Jehovah should give 
 strength to his king and exalt the horn of his anointed 
 (i Sam. ii. 10). But the present request had been 
 sprung on Samuel prematurely, and with undue 
 passion and haste. Instead of seeking to ascertain 
 the mind of God, the people had m^de up their own 
 mind ; instead of consulting with the aged prophet on 
 the best policy for coming days, they dictated the 
 policy on which they had set their hearts. 
 
 Under these circumstances, and with the express 
 direction of God, he protested solemnly to the deputa- 
 tion of elders, and through them to the people, show- 
 ing the manner of the king that would reign. It was 
 impossible that a king demanded in such a spirit as 
 characterised the people could be a man after God's 
 own heart. They wanted one who, in his stature and 
 bearing, in his martial prowess and deeds, should be 
 worthy to compare with neighbouring monarchs. 
 This was much more to them than character, obedi- 
 ence to God, or loyalty to the Mosaic code. And as 
 
96 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 they desired, so it was done unto them. lAJi! how 
 often it happens that God grants us according to the 
 insistence of our strong and vehement self-will. He 
 gives us according to our request, but sends leanness 
 into our souls (Psa. cvi. 15). 
 
 All the Oriental extravagance and prodigality of 
 human life, which were the familiar accompaniment 
 of royalty in neighbouring countries, were destined 
 to reappear in the court of the Kings of Israel. They 
 would enforce the service of the young men to fabri- 
 cate their weapons, fight their battles, and minister to 
 their royal state. They would exact unremunerated 
 labour in the tillage of their lands. From the daugh- 
 ters and wives of the people they would demand con- 
 fectioneries and bake-meats, and other elaborate 
 luxuries for the royal appetite. Vineyards and olive- 
 yards, farms and lands, would be confiscated at their 
 caprice. A system of heavy taxation would be im- 
 posed on the produce of the land, and on the flocks 
 and herds which covered the pasture lands; while the 
 people would have to stand still and see their hard- 
 earned money squandered on the pleasures and self- 
 indulgence of the palace. A brief experience of this 
 kind would lead to a universal outcry, as the nation 
 awoke to its grievous mistake; but the step so rashly 
 taken would be found to be irreparable. " Ye shall 
 cry out in that day, because of your king which ye 
 shall have chosen you; and the Lord will not answer 
 you in that day." 
 
A GREAT DISAPPOINTMENT. 97 
 
 •Samuel's protest and remonstrance were, however, 
 alike in vain. " The people refused to hearken unto 
 the voice of Samuel; and they said, Nay, but we will 
 have a king over us, that we also may be like all the 
 nations, and that our king may judge us, and go out 
 before us and fight our battles." Tliey trusted in 
 man and in the arm of flesh, their heart departed from 
 the Lord, and in the sequel they were destined to see 
 their king slain on the fatal field of Gilboa, their land 
 overrun by the enemy, and the national fortunes re- 
 duced to the lowest possible ebb. 
 
 Does thy heart cry out for a king, for one who shall 
 reduce the conflicting passions of thy nature to unity 
 and order; beware lest thou choose after the sight of 
 thine eyes, or the hearing of thine ears; let not sense 
 or appetite make the selection; take heed of the lust 
 of thy flesh, the lust of thy eyes, and the pride of thy 
 life ! 
 
 I was told, when in Russia, that in one of the 
 villages in the Baltic provinces a man is imprisoned 
 in the strong bars of an iron cage, who approaches 
 each person on entering the chamber where it is fixed, 
 and, presenting a silver rouble, says, "This is God." 
 Very few state the truth so boldly; but of how many 
 such a statement would express the very fact? Let 
 thy King be the man whom God hath chosen, the 
 Man of Calvary, whom He hath exalted to be a Prince 
 and a Saviour. He will not exact from, but bring to 
 thee. He does not impoverish, but enrich. His 
 
98 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 sceptre is the broken reed ; his steed, a foal ; his crown, 
 of thorns! 
 
 When Samuel saw that the people had made up 
 their mind he dismissed the assembly, and set him- 
 self with remarkable magnanimity to do the best he 
 could for them. He did this in obedience to the Di- 
 vine summons, which lay along the line of his own 
 thoughts. 
 
 This is very remarkable, and justifies the remark 
 of Ewald : " Samuel is one of the few great men in 
 history who, in critical times, by sheer force of char- 
 acter and inimitable energy, terminate the previous 
 form of a great existing system — at first against their 
 own will, but afterwards, when convinced of the 
 necessity, with all the force and eagerness of their 
 nature; and who then initiate a better form with the 
 happiest results, amid much personal suffering and 
 persecution." 
 
 During the early years of his life, and well on into 
 the maturity of his power, Samuel sought to vitalise 
 the existing institutions, which were ready to his 
 hands. Only slowly, and against his wishes, he 
 awoke to realise that he must abandon further efforts 
 in this direction, and set himself to build up an en- 
 tirely new organisation. In doing this he had to 
 sacrifice his previous convictions, and do violence to 
 his better judgment; he had to pull down the very 
 structure that he had been at such pains to establish; 
 
A GREAT DISAPPOINTMENT. 99 
 
 he had to be second, where he had been an unchal- 
 lenged first. But when once he realised that there 
 was no alternative, he becam'e the most devoted and 
 efficient organiser of the new age; just as Dr. Chal- 
 mers, when he found that it was impossible to secure 
 what he sought within the borders of the Established 
 Church of Scotland, stepped out from its pale and 
 began to build the Free Church, which has become 
 one of the greatest churches of the age. 
 
 " And," continues Ewald, " if David's visible deeds 
 are greater or more dazzling than Samuel's, still there 
 can be no doubt that David's blaze of glory would 
 have been impossible without Samuel's less conspicu- 
 ous, but far more influential career; so that all the 
 greatness of which the following century boasts goes 
 back to him as its real author." 
 
 There are supreme crises in the lives of some of us 
 which search us to the quick. The people whom we 
 have loved, have suffered and sacrificed for, suddenly 
 turn from us. They want something else, and some- 
 thing more. We realise that we must abdicate, and 
 are tempted to do it with grudging courtesy and an ill 
 grace. Why should we make way for others; 
 why renounce our rights and refuse to press our 
 claims? 
 
 At such times let us remember Samuel's heroism; 
 let us acknowledge that God's will is leading us by a 
 right way; let us care for the flock over which we 
 have been placed as overseers more than we care for 
 
loo SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 ourselves; let us adapt ourselves to the new order; 
 nay, let us expedite it with all the grace and grit that 
 we can command, knowing that the blood of our self- 
 sacrifice will, by God's blessing, be the best cement of 
 our handiwork. 
 
X. 
 
 xrbe IDoice of Circumstances. 
 
 (i Samuel ix., x.) 
 
 Yes! thou dost well to build a fence about 
 Thine inward faith. Oh, mount a stalwart guard 
 Of answers, to oppose invading doubt. 
 All aids are needful, for the strife is hard. 
 
 — Coleridge. 
 
 " T T T HOSO is wise and will observe these 
 \/ \/ things, even he shall understand the lov- 
 ing-kindness of the Lord." 'In these 
 words the Psalmist sums up his five tableaux of hu- 
 man life (Psa. cvii.). The track of the pilgrim-host, 
 the experience of the prisoner languishing in his 
 chains, the recovery of the sick from long depression, 
 the deliverance of the storm-tossed crew from the 
 angry breakers, the evolution of a smiling paradise 
 from an arid and parched wilderness — all these things, 
 if carefully observed, yield their testimony and assur- 
 ance that God is in all events, permitting, directing, 
 controlling, and causing all things to work out his 
 perfect plan. 
 
 In all Scripture there is no passage more illustrative 
 of this than the chapters before us, which show how 
 clearly and mightily God is in the circumstances of 
 our lives. 
 
I02 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 It was the spring of the day. With exquisite 
 clearness and purity the dawn was breaking in the 
 Eastern sky, when three men descended the steep 
 ascent on which Ramah stood, and emerged from the 
 city gate (ver. ii, 12, 14, 27). The group was a re- 
 markable one, comprising the aged seer ; " a young 
 man and a goodly," who was the king-elect, though 
 he did not realise it; and a herdsman, Doeg, so tradi- 
 tion states, who afterwards attained such an unhappy 
 notoriety, but was at that time simply a servant in at- 
 tendance on his master's son. When the city gate 
 had been left behind, the servant was sent on in front, 
 that he might not be a witness to the solemn transac- 
 tion, which inaugurated a new epoch in the life of 
 Saul. " As they were going down at the end of the 
 city, Samuel said to Saul, Bid thy servant pass on 
 before us, but stand thou still at this time, that I may 
 cause thee to hear the Word of God." 
 
 'I. The Circumstances that Led up to this 
 Incident.^(i) The asses of Kish, Saul's father, were 
 lost. But they were too valuable to lose. " And 
 Kish said to Saul, his son, Take now one of the 
 servants with thee, and arise, go seek the asses." 
 
 But when they left home they little realised how 
 far their search would lead them. " And he passed 
 through the hill country of Ephraim, and passed 
 through the land of Shalisha, but they found them 
 not; then they passed through the land of Shalini, and 
 
THE VOICE OF CIRCUMSTANCES. 103 
 
 there they found them not ; and he passed through the 
 land of the Benjamites, but they found them not." 
 Tliree days were consumed in this fruitless search, in 
 stopping every traveller, asking many questions, 
 scrutinising every trail — but all to no purpose. 
 
 Lost she-asses! Well, what of them! Let them 
 stray! Yes, but they are worth seeking, not for their 
 worth only, but because the man who tracks them will 
 presently come on a kingdom! Be faithful in a little, 
 and God will promote thee to be faithful in much. 
 Do what thou hast to do for God, and He shall call 
 thee for the highest service! Often the finding of 
 the hid treasure depends on the care with which we 
 drive the plough of lowly labour along the common 
 furrow of daily toil. 
 
 (2) By God's providence, which some call chance, 
 the seekers found themselves in the land of Joseph, 
 and there the thought of his father's possible anxiety 
 arrested the steps of the young farmer, and he said, 
 " Come, and let us return, lest my father leave caring 
 for the asses, and take thought for us." This remark 
 indicated a good and commendaible trait in Saul's 
 character. On the whole, a man who cares for the 
 feelings of those nearest to him in the ties of natural 
 kindred is likeliest to be a good ruler of men. Would 
 that all our young men and women, especially those 
 who are away from home in our great cities, would 
 be a little more considerate of the heart-strings 
 stretched even to breaking, and the eyes that often 
 
I04 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 brim with tears because the tidings of their welfare 
 are so scanty and intermittent ! Saul feared the effect 
 of three days on his father. What would he have 
 thought of three weeks or months without tidings? 
 
 (3) Having arranged for the offering of the piece 
 of shekel (about 2s. 6d.) which was discovered in the 
 bottom of the servant's pocket, as their gift to the 
 Seer, the two men made for the gate of the little city, 
 " which was set on a hill," its white houses glistening 
 in the intense sunshine. The maidens of whom they 
 made inquiries, the fact that Samuel was in the city, 
 and on his way to a feast in the high place, the en- 
 counter with Samuel himself in the main street, and 
 the tidings that the asses were found, were like so 
 many signposts that pointed them by the way which 
 they should go, till they came to the place that awaited 
 them, the seat and portion which had been prepared 
 by the instructions of the Prophet. 
 
 How evidently a Divine hand was in all these cir- 
 cumstances! They could not have happened by 
 chance. Clearly every separate detail had been 
 wrought out in a designing mind with the express 
 purpose of driving Saul into the precise position 
 where he might stand still and hear the Word of the 
 Lord. 
 
 But if it was so with these circumstances, must we 
 not believe that as much may be said of all circum- 
 stances? If a hair cannot fall to the ground from our 
 head, or a sparrow from the tree, apart from God, can 
 
THE VOICE OF CIRCUMSTANCES. 105 
 
 we say of anything that it is too trivial to come into 
 the Divine plan? Even let it be granted that many 
 incidents happen at the instigation of evil men, yet 
 they are permitted to reach us by the will of God, and 
 therefore we may as much trace God's will in them 
 for our own discipline and ennoblement, as in those 
 others which are evidently of his direct sending. 
 God's purpose ran through the wicked deeds of the 
 betrayers and murderers of our Lord. There was 
 not a single event on all those fateful days that was 
 not marked on the chart of Divine Providence; and 
 since God is everywhere the same, and the same infi- 
 nitely, so that we cannot say that He was more 
 present there than here, or was more powerful then 
 than now, we must admit that He is still as much in 
 every circumstance of our lot, as on those memorable 
 and awful days when creation herself beheld the 
 scenes of Gethsemane and Calvary with evident 
 emotion. 
 
 Let it never be forgotten that straying asses, an 
 unexpected encounter in the street, the presence of a 
 coin in the pocket, or its absence, are all part of a 
 Divine plan. He who has opened eyes may read the 
 Father's handwriting, and take the direction of his 
 path, as though angels had flashed before his eyes to 
 direct him. And the prepared path always leads to 
 the vacant seat and the waiting portion. Tlie road 
 may be long, and the tax on patience and strength 
 considerable; but the Father never leads his trustful 
 
io6 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 and obedient child into a quagmire, or leads him out 
 on the moorland to perish of exposure to the cold. 
 There is always a destination to which the road leads, 
 and it only awaits the quick eye, the ready ear, and 
 the obedient heart, to detect the things that God hath 
 prepared for them that love him. 
 
 II. The In^cident of Saul's First Anointing. 
 — Saul slept at Samuel's house that night, and on the 
 housetop. The Prophet had prepared his couch 
 there with a special purpose, which burnt like a clear 
 flame in his heart; for when the house was quiet, he 
 stole up to the young man who was pondering the 
 strange events of the day, and " communed with Saul 
 on the housetop." 
 
 He longed to stir his soul with a profound sym- 
 pathy in his own passionate and patriotic longings. 
 He may have poured into the listening ear the story 
 of his hopes and fears, of hopes that had been frus- 
 trated, of fears that seemed on the point of being 
 realised. Probably he told the story of his own re- 
 jection, and of the failure of his sons. He may have 
 whispered into those young ears his longing that 
 someone might appear at this juncture who would 
 gather up the frayed and tangled threads and work 
 out the Divine pattern. Thus, with careful skill, 
 Samuel awoke the sleeping soul of the young son of 
 the soil, who probably had lived in a narrow, circum- 
 scribed sphere, interested in flocks and herds, in vines 
 
THE VOICE OF CIRCUMSTANCES. 107 
 
 and crops, in the talk of the country-side, but stirred 
 with few thoughts of the national welfare. 
 
 He was awoke by Samuel before the breath that an- 
 nounced the dawn had stirred the leaves of the sleep- 
 ing woods. " Samuel called to Saul on the housetop, 
 saying, Up, that I may send thee away." Then, on 
 the descent at the end of the city, the servant was sent 
 on, and as the two stood together, Samuel took from 
 out of his breast the vial of oil, and poured it upon 
 the strong young head, bent beneath his touch, giv- 
 ing him the anointing which designated the king, and 
 kissing him in token of his own fealty. " Is it not," 
 said he, " that the Lord hath anointed thee to be 
 prince over his inheritance? " 
 
 It was a great hour in Saul's life. No wonder that 
 " when he had turned his back to g'o from Samuel," 
 it was with " another heart." The chronicle does not 
 say that he received a neiu heart; there was no saving 
 regeneration or conversion, no such radical change as 
 comes over the soul at the hour of the new birth, or 
 he would never have perished, as he did, on the field 
 of Gilboa. But he had new aims, new conceptions 
 of the importance and significance of life, new deter- 
 minations and resolves. In a sense, though not the 
 deepest, old things had passed away, and everything 
 had become new. 
 
 Let us mark this distinction. It is possible to have 
 another, but not a new heart; to be arrested by some 
 stronger mind and inspired by a fresh ideal; but be- 
 
io8 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 neath the rapid sprouting of the seed there may be 
 a slab of impenetrable and unchangeable rock. iThe 
 work has been only on the surface, but the dew has 
 sped before the sun, and the cloud which seemed to 
 presage rain has dissolved again into the sky. See 
 that you make sure work for eternity. 
 
 III. The Circumstances that Followed. — 
 When we are on God's path, we may certainly count 
 on the corroboration of outward circumstances. If, 
 in travelling by the railway, one questions whether 
 one is in the right train, it is a comfort to consult the 
 time tables, to see if the names of the stations, as we 
 hurry through them, are those which are mentioned 
 in the list. So, when questions arise, as they will 
 when we are confronted by difficulties and obstacles, 
 of whether we are in the line of God's will, it is an 
 immense reassurance to meet with corroborating cir- 
 cumstances, which tell us that we are right, lis not 
 this what is meant by the words, " I will make my 
 mountains a way " ? 
 
 It was not enough that Peter should hear a voice 
 speaking to his heart, or see the sheet let down from 
 heaven — he must hear the knock of the three men, 
 sent from Cornelius, as they stand at the door of the 
 tanner's house, inquiring for him (Acts x.). In all 
 great decisions, seek the corroboration of circum- 
 stances. We will trace this in the subsequent chapter. 
 
XI. 
 
 as ©ccaston Serves. 
 
 (i Samuel x. 7.) 
 
 There lies no desert in the land of Life; 
 For e'en that tract that barrenest doth seem, 
 Laboured of thee in faith and hope, shall teem 
 With heavenly harvests, and rich gatherings ripe. 
 
 — Kemble. 
 
 CIRCUMSTANCES led up to Samuel's secret 
 designation of Saul as king; and circum- 
 stances, so special and significant as to carry 
 on their brow the Divine impression, were destined to 
 corroborate the momentous act. With unerring ac- 
 curacy the old prophet anticipated them, and with un- 
 failing precision each of them took place. " All those 
 signs came to pass that day." 
 
 (i) First, by Rachel's tomb, in the border of Ben- 
 jamin, two men met him to say that the asses had 
 been found, and that his father had left the care of the 
 asses, and was taking thought for his son, saying, 
 " What shall I do for my son? " This was a very 
 significant evidence of the Divine will and choice. It 
 indicated that he was to be henceforth relieved of the 
 care of the farm and the field, to devote himself to 
 other and higher work. Asses could be found with- 
 
no SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 out his interposition. Others could attend to them 
 and their hke, but for him the kingdom was waiting, 
 and the hearts of men were being prepared. The 
 home-ties, the love of father and family, would always 
 have a claim, but he must leave to others the care of 
 the estates at Gibeah. 
 
 This sign is still of inestimable value to those who 
 feel called to give themselves wholly to direct service 
 for God. If it be the case that they are needed at 
 home, to provide for the maintenance of aged parents 
 or sisters, of wife or child, they have no right to with- 
 draw from that sacred duty — that holy obligation — 
 until God gives them an honourable discharge. The 
 message to all such most certainly is that which the 
 apostle gave in a time of great unsettlement to the 
 Corinthian disciples. " Let each man abide in that 
 calling wherein he was called." " Brethren, let each 
 man, wherein he was called, therein abide with God " 
 (i Cor. vii. 20, 24). 
 
 When God has given a call, as clear and unmis- 
 takable as that which Saul received at the lips of 
 Samuel, let the recipient wait trustfully and patiently 
 for his hand to slacken the hold of circumstances. 
 Without long delay the shore-rope will be loosed, and 
 the message will come in one form or another : " The 
 asses are found." Any circumstance of that kind 
 will be an unmistalcable assurance that the Lord's 
 voice has been speaking to the heart, and that his 
 cloud is beckoning us to follow. 
 
AS OCCASION SERVES. m 
 
 (2) Next, as he went forward, filled with bewilder- 
 ment and awe, near the oak, or terebinth, of Tabor 
 (the situation of which is absolutely unknown), Saul 
 met three men going on a sacred pilgrimage to 
 Bethel, which, from the days of Abraham and Jacob, 
 had been hallowed by the most sacred associations. 
 
 These men were carrying, as Samuel said they 
 would, their votive-oflferings to the shrine — three kids, 
 three loaves, and a bottle (or skin, margin) of wine. 
 First they saluted him with the invariable Eastern 
 greeting, Peace be unto thee ; and presented him with 
 two of the loaves, as though obeying an inner con- 
 viction which was pressed home on them by the Di- 
 vine Spirit, that he whom they had encountered was 
 no ordinary waj'farer, but one who might share their 
 homage even with Almighty God. 
 
 What significance lay hid in this act also! Did it 
 not imply that God would compel the respect and 
 reverence of the nation to arise towards the king 
 whom He had chosen, and that there should be no 
 lack of the supplies which were required to sustain 
 his royal state? Was it not an assurance that he 
 need not be anxious about what he should eat or 
 drink or how he should be clothed, since, if he sought 
 first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, all 
 things besides would certainly be added? 
 
 This, too, will befall each servant of God who steps 
 out on the path of obedience. He may be leaving a 
 well-established business and giving up some lucra- 
 
112 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 tive source of income; he may seem to be stepping 
 from the boat on to the heaving, changeful waters; 
 he may be blamed, as Moses was no doubt blamed, 
 for casting himself and those dependent on him on to 
 the trackless, inhospitable desert; but if he will be 
 only true to Grod's call he will have no reason to re- 
 pent, his bread shall be given him, and his water shall 
 be sure, the manna will fall where the cloud broods 
 overhead; first the ravens, then the widow woman, 
 and then the angels, will be commanded to provide 
 bread that he may eat; God will care for his body in 
 life, and in death will bury it with his own hands, as 
 in the case of Moses, or by the hands of devout men, 
 as wheiT Stephen was carried to his grave amid great 
 lamentations. 
 
 On one- occasion in the Lord's life He gave a 
 memorable lesson on this matter to his apostles. 
 The tax-collector had come to Peter with a demand 
 which Peter could not meet, and he came to the Mas- 
 ter with it. Dovibtless, if the fisherman had still been 
 plying his craft, there would have been no need for 
 anxiety — out of the produce of his labour he would 
 have been well able to meet the application; but, as it 
 was, there was no money in his purse or house avail- 
 able for the purpose. " Go thou to the sea," said the 
 Master, " and cast a hook, and take up the fish that 
 first Cometh up; and when thou hast opened his 
 mouth, thou shalt find a shekel; that take and give 
 them for Me and thee." Tt was in obedience to the 
 
AS OCCASION SERVES. 113 
 
 Saviour's call that Peter had given up his own means 
 of livelihood, and the Lord recognised that the re- 
 sponsibility of providing for the needs, that would 
 otherwise have been met by his toil, was incumbent 
 on Himself. He identified Himself in the common 
 need when He said, " for Mc and thee." If you go^ 
 forth on Christ's errands. He will not be unrighteous 
 to forget; you may surely trust Him to pay the taxes, 
 and all other legitimate dues. Do not set your hope 
 on " the uncertainty of riches," or on the doles of the 
 wealthy, but on God who giveth us richly all things 
 to enjoy. 
 
 (3) Finally, Saul came to Gibeali (r. v. margin). 
 The A. V. and R. V. note that there was a garrison of 
 Philistines there, but other commentators, thinking it 
 unlikely that Samuel would announce to Saul a fact 
 which must have been so well known to him, have 
 preferred to employ the other meaning of the word 
 translated garrison, and have rendered the sentence, 
 " where the erection, column, or monument, of the 
 Philistines stands," probably reared by them to com- 
 memorate some famous victory. 
 
 Hard by this spot, and almost within sight of his 
 home, Saul encountered a band of young men con- 
 nected with the prophetic school which Samuel had 
 established. They were coming down from the high 
 place with a psaltery, and a timbrel, a pipe, and a 
 harp. The afflatus of prophetic fervour and ecstasy 
 was upon them, and as Saul beheld their holy rapture 
 
114 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 he fell under its spell. So great a change had passed 
 over him, during his brief absence from his home, that 
 he had now a sympathy with these divine raptures 
 which he had never known before. Chords within 
 his soul, which had never vibrated before, began to 
 answer in strange unison. Yearnings after God, sus- 
 ceptibility to spiritual impressions, the sense of the 
 unseen and eternal, filled his soul. "The Spirit of 
 God came mightily upon him, and he prophesied 
 among them." 
 
 This remarkable assertion need not astonish us. 
 It is by no means uncommon to find men temporarily 
 and spasmodically affected by strong religious impres- 
 sions, who are not permanently and savingly delivered 
 from their former worldly or selfish manner of life. 
 It is possible to be enlightened, to taste of the heav- 
 enly gift, to be a partaker of the Holy Ghost, to be 
 solemnised by the powers of the world to come, and 
 yet fall away. A land may have drunk of the rain 
 and been moistened with the gentle dew, and yet bear 
 thorns and thistles. Seed may spring up quickly 
 where there is no depth of earth, and yet wither away. 
 Simon was deeply wrought on by all he saw and felt 
 during Philip's visit to Samaria, but the Apostle de- 
 clared that he was still " in the gall of bitterness and 
 the bond of iniquity." 
 
 But what to Saul was only a transient and super- 
 ficial influence may become, in each of us, a perma- 
 nent possession. The Spirit of God may come on us 
 
AS OCCASION SERVES. 115 
 
 to fill us, and abide, as He did with those on whom 
 He came in the early days of the Church. In suc- 
 cessive waves of power and grace He may come on 
 us, so that we may not only be filled suddenly and 
 mightily for special work, but be constantly sensible 
 of the holy infillings as were the first converts in the 
 highlands of Asia Minor, so that we may be perma- 
 nently full, as was Stephen. (Compare Acts iv. 8; 
 xiii. 52 ; vi. 5 ; note the change of tenses, etc.) 
 
 Whenever God calls us to special service He pro- 
 vides a special anointing of the Holy Spirit. Re- 
 member how the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 
 " See, I have called by name Bezaleel the son of Uri; 
 and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, in wis- 
 dom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in 
 all manner of workmanship." This is universally 
 true. As certainly as there is the call, there will be 
 the equipment. But we must look up for it, we must 
 claim and appropriate it; without feeling it, we must 
 reckon that it is ours, and step out on the predestined 
 path. It is in the act of obedience that we become 
 suddenly and thankfully aware of the possession. 
 Oh, that the Spirit of Christ may come mightily on 
 all his servants, so that they may be equipped for the 
 demands of the present age, and that the Master may 
 say of each of them, " Behold my servant, whom I 
 uphold; my chosen, in whom my soul delighteth. I 
 have put my spirit upon him, and he shall bring forth 
 judgment to the people." 
 
ii6 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 This transformation in the young farmer amazed 
 all that knew him beforetime; and they said one to 
 another, " What is this that has come unto the son of 
 Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets? " It made 
 as great a stir as when Saul of Tarsus joined the 
 Christians, whom he had persecuted, or when Bunyan 
 and Newton became ministers of the Word. One of 
 the older people, however, divined the reason. 
 Rumours of Saul's interview with Samuel were be- 
 ginning to circulate, and he said, in effect : " Has he 
 not been with Samuel, the father of these blessed and 
 exalted movements? What wonder, then, if he par- 
 take of his gifts!" 
 
 When the first tremor of excitement had passed, 
 and Saul regained full mastery of himself, he went up 
 to the high place, probably for quiet meditation and 
 prayer, that he might comprehend the full significance 
 of the crowding events which had transpired within 
 the recent hours. To whom can we turn, mo§t Holy 
 God, in the supreme moments of life, but unto Thee? 
 Only Thou canst understand. 
 
 Ere Samuel dismissed his astonished and awe- 
 stricken guest, he bade him act in each circumstance 
 as occasion served (v. 7). There is always room for 
 the exercise of sanctified common-sense. The cir- 
 cumstances may be Divinely contrived, but we must 
 use them for good or evil, making them stepping- 
 stones or stumbling-blocks. Tlie same circum- 
 
AS OCCASION SERVES. 117 
 
 stances may come to all, but one man receives their 
 lesson and transmits his answer in a very different 
 spirit from his friend and neighbour. In one case the 
 sun and shower produce flowers and com, in another 
 weeds and poppies. The Divine guidance of our 
 lives does not obviate the necessity for the exercise 
 of prudence, that looks before and after and ttpwards, 
 in order to ascertain what the will of the Lord is. 
 
 There is always in the regimen of life an abundant 
 need for the exercise of our judgment, through which 
 the light of God may be shining as through a clear 
 pane of glass. We are not dumb, driven cattle, nor 
 the creatures of fate or chance. We are not automa- 
 tons. So long as we look for guidance it will be 
 freely given, but when it is given, we must use it, and 
 it is useless unless we do. Only they that receive the 
 abundance of grace, and the gift of righteousness, 
 shall reign in life. 
 
 On that memorable night when God's Angel 
 achieved the deliverance of Peter from his prison, we 
 are told that the celestial visitant led the dazed 
 apostle through the first and second streets, and then 
 departed from him; and when Peter had considered the 
 thing, he went to the house of Mary. So long as he 
 was bewildered, and half asleep, living in a trance, 
 walking in dreamland, it was necessary that he should 
 be carefully watched and led ; but so soon as the sharp 
 morning air had revived him, and brought him to 
 himself, so that he was able to consider the matter. 
 
Ii8 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 he was left to act on the decisions of his own sancti- 
 fied common-sense. 
 
 To him that overcometh, the Master promises to 
 give a white stone, which is surely the Urim and 
 Thummim stone — a judgment through which the 
 Shekinah light glows and shines. May it be our 
 happy privilege to receive it at his hands, that we may 
 be able to say with our Lord, " My judgment is just, 
 because I seek not my own will, but his that sent me." 
 
XII. 
 
 tTbe Inner anO ©uter Conflfcfs. 
 
 (i Samuel xi.) 
 
 What if He hath decreed that I shall first 
 Be try'd in humble state and things adverse. 
 By tribulations, injuries, insults. 
 Contempts, and scorns, and snares, and violence! 
 
 — Milton. 
 
 THE eleventh verse records a great victory. It 
 was the first pubHc act of the reign of Saul, 
 taking place a month after his inaugfuration. 
 It at once justified his selection, and silenced the voice 
 of detraction; he stood forth before the eyes of his 
 own people, and of surrounding nations, as every inch 
 a man and a king. 
 
 But in this chapter, for eyes that look beneath the 
 surface, there is the record of another fight. There 
 was the outward fight that Saul made for Israel; there 
 was the inner and previous fight that Saul made for 
 himself, against himself; and it was because he had 
 conquered in the latter, of which there was probably 
 no symptom or sign to the outward eye, that he 
 carried himself erect in the fight with Nahash. 
 
 This is always so; within the fight there is another 
 fight. Within the fight that men are waging with the 
 
120 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 sin and darkness of the world there is always the 
 inner fight, which they must wage with themselves, 
 and for themselves. If, to use the suggestion of an- 
 other, you had been familiar with Howard, the great 
 prison evangelist, or had known Clarkson, who de- 
 livered the slave; if you had been permitted to read 
 the secrets of the heart of Garrison, the great Ameri- 
 can philanthropist, you would have known that, full 
 often, each was sick and weary with the inward com- 
 bat, and closed the door of his heart upon the outward 
 fight, that he might turn his thought and attention to 
 himself; and you would have heard the soldier of 
 Chi'ist saying bitterly to himself: " It would be easy 
 for me to conquer, and to win the battle for my Lord 
 against these outward ills, if only I had not perpetu- 
 ally to wage this inward fight; if only I had solid 
 ground to stand on, instead of the shifting sand of my 
 own vacillating nature and irresolute temper." Per- 
 haps you might even have heard these gteat soldiers 
 saying: " Surely it would be better to relinquish the 
 outward conflict, so as to bend all attention to the 
 rule of the Home-land." 
 
 Yet it is good for us all that these two conflicts 
 should go on side by side, for if a man were only con- 
 flicting against the evil of the world, and knew noth- 
 ing about the inward fight, he might become arrogant 
 and suppose that he stood aloof from the common sin 
 and the common temptation; whereas if, on the other 
 hand, we were only to confine ourselves to the inward 
 
THE INNER AND OUTER CONFLICTS. 121 
 
 conflict, we might grow morbid and self-centred, dis- 
 pirited and depressed. 
 
 No, let those two go on together, and let the vic- 
 tories that we win for God in the outward field of 
 vision be weighed against the awful consciousness of 
 failure that we all carry in our inner experience. Let 
 these two go on side by side, and let every man know 
 that if he conquers within, he will conquer without, 
 and that if he fails within he will fail without. It is 
 just in proportion as we are able to overcome, as Saul 
 did, in his heart, that we shall overcome, as he did, 
 against the Ammonites. 
 
 Two thoughts lie upon this chapter which are full 
 of interest — first, Saul's inward fight and conquest; 
 secondly, Saul's outward fight and conquest. 
 
 I. Saul's Inward Fight, Conflict, and Vic- 
 tory. — (i) He fought the subtle temptation to pride. 
 Samuel, eager to constitute the new kingdom, called 
 a great national assembly at Mizpeh, where so great a 
 defeat and victory had been recorded in earlier days. 
 In their teeming multitudes the Israelites gathered 
 there, and proceeded to elect their king by an appeal 
 to God through a lot. After prayer the lot was cast, 
 and the disposing of it was left to God. First the 
 tribe of Benjamin was taken, then the clan of the 
 Matrites, then the family of Kish, and ultimately the 
 lot indicated Saul, the son of Kish, but he was not to 
 be found. He knew from his previous conversation 
 
122 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 with Samuel that he was God's designated king; that 
 the anointing oil had flowed over his head; that he 
 was possessed of a kingly presence, standing head and 
 shoulders above all ordinary men. If ever a man 
 might have stood to the front, and allowed ambition 
 to master him, that was the moment when Saul might 
 have stood forth and presented himself to his people 
 as the unrivalled candidate for their suffrages and the 
 crown. iHowever, he was not to be found. They 
 looked for him everywhere in vain. And it was only 
 when, for the second time, they appealed to the direc- 
 tion of the Urim and Thummim, that he was discov- 
 ered hiding among the baggage-waggons. 
 
 This modesty was extremely beautiful, and our 
 admiration of the natural traits of Saul's character 
 cannot but be greatly enhanced by his unobtrusive- 
 ness. It reminds one of Athanasius, who left the city 
 of Alexandria that he might not be elected bishop, 
 and of Ambrose, who more than once sought to evade 
 the responsibility which was thrust upon him at 
 Milan. It reminds us also of John Livingstone, who, 
 when he was chosen to preach that famous sermon 
 of Kirk o' Shotts, travelled as quickly as possible in 
 another direction, and only after some hours was led 
 by the Spirit of God to turn again and assume the 
 blessed burden. 'Those that assume to themselves 
 high positions, yielding before the proud spirit of self- 
 assumption, fail; but they who humble themselves, 
 who generally think others better than they are, who 
 
THE INNER AND OUTER CONFLICTS. 
 
 123 
 
 deprecate notoriety and show, are such as God 
 exalts. 
 
 (2) There zvas the strong temptation which assailed 
 him to vindictiveness. Amid the shouts, " God save 
 the King," which applauded his nomination there 
 were the voices of detractors, men of Belial, who 
 whispered, "How shall this man save us?" One 
 such voice is enough to spoil all the adulation that 
 may be strewn before us by the crowd. What public 
 man is there who has not felt that the clamour of kind 
 voices was marred by the one sentence of criticism 
 and spite, so that the drop of vinegar turned all the 
 rest acid? These voices must have stung the heart 
 of Saul. The adder's poison must have penetrated 
 to his heart; but he quenched the desire for revenge; 
 conquered, and trampled beneath his feet the smoul- 
 dering embers of vindictiveness. It was not that he 
 was pusillanimous, for we are told, in this same chap- 
 ter, that when he heard of the cry of Jabesh-gilead, 
 " his anger was greatly kindled." 'He was capable 
 of flaming forth against wrong, but in this case he 
 held himself well in hand. To use the old English 
 phrase of the A. V., He held his peace. The more one 
 examines that phrase, the more fascinating it is — to 
 hold your peace, not to let it gO', not to let it be taken 
 or snatched from you, not to let it be trampled under 
 foot in anger, but to hold to it in the midst of irrita- 
 tion and fret, to hold your ground. " He held his 
 peace." 
 
124 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 The Hebrew, as suggested by the margin, is still 
 more striking. " He was as though he had been 
 deaf " — he pretended not to hear. He did hear; 
 every word had struck deep into his soul, but he made 
 as though he were deaf. It is a great power when a 
 man can act as though he were deaf to slander, deaf 
 to detraction, deaf to unkind and uncharitable 
 speeches, and treat them as though they had not been 
 spoken, turning from man to God, leaving with God 
 his vindication, believing that God sooner or later will 
 give him a chance, as He most certainly gave Saul a 
 chance, of vindicating the true prowess and temper of 
 his soul. 
 
 If Saul had listened to these men and noticed them, 
 he might have drifted into an awkward and perplex- 
 ing position, for if, on the one hand, he had passed 
 over their slander, he might have laid himself open to 
 the imputation of cowardice ; whereas if, on the other, 
 he had noticed it, he might have been goaded to act 
 tyrannically, and so as to alienate a large number of 
 his people. He could not have done better than to 
 act as though he were deaf, and to conquer the 
 spirit of vindictive revenge by the spirit of self- 
 restraint. 
 
 (3) There was one more temptation by which he must 
 have been plied, the temptation to ostentation. When the 
 assemblage was dispersed he returned from Mizpeh 
 to Gibeah. He had been designated by Samuel, and 
 kissed by him in token of homage. Sign after sign 
 
THE INNER AND OUTER CONFLICTS. 125 
 
 had indicated him to be God's choice for Israel; he 
 had stood forth amid tlie people's clamour, the ac- 
 knowledged king of the land; a number of young 
 men, whose hearts were fired by loyal enthusiasm, 
 had thronged about his path, and with songs of re- 
 joicing had accompanied him to his home; he was 
 conscious of being able to rally about him the chiv- 
 alry and strength of his fatherland; and yet, when he 
 was back again in Gibeah, in spite of every tempta- 
 tion to ostentation and excess, he was noble enough 
 to return to his rustic life; he took again in hand his 
 plough, and for one whole month he drove the oxen 
 across the fields, meditating much on the strange 
 chance which had befallen, and wondering when God 
 would open the door for him to step forth into the 
 manifestation and enjoyment of the royalty which was 
 already his. 
 
 These were the elements of a truly great soul. We 
 do not forget Gilboa; the frenzied insanity by which 
 his career was afterwards blasted; how more than 
 once or twice he hurled his javelin at David; that he 
 became moody and morose ; that he betrayed the heart 
 of a murderer and died the death of a suicide; but at 
 this time of his life at least, in his young manhood, 
 he put his foot upon pride and remained humble; he 
 put his foot upon the spirit of revenge and left it with 
 God to vindicate him; put his foot upon that love of 
 ostentation that tempts us all, setting himself to do 
 his daily work, and waiting until God summoned him 
 
126 'SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 to take the helm of the state. We cannot but admire 
 this greatly. 
 
 You, too, may be conscious of the presence of many 
 amiable natural traits, but unless the natural virtues 
 of your soul be possessed and strengthened by the 
 power of the Holy Ghost they will not be able ulti- 
 mately to withstand the awful conflict of the world. 
 See to it that in and through the traits of your own 
 amiable nature there may come the transcendent life 
 of the ever-glorious Saviour, that your character may 
 not be the wild growth of nature, but the established 
 and permanent indwelling of the Son of God by the 
 Holy Spirit. 
 
 n. 'The Outward Conflict. — One evening as 
 Saul came back from the field he heard that low wail 
 of distress and panic by which the Eastern populace 
 makes known its anguish; and as he drew near to 
 Gibeah he asked what it meant. " What aileth the 
 people that they weep?" Then the story was told 
 bow, across the Jordan, in the land of Gilead, the city 
 of Jabesh-gilead was hard pressed by the Ammonites, 
 who, a hundred years before, had been disastrously 
 defeated by Jephthah, but who had never relinquished 
 their claim to the land. Under Nahash, the king, 
 they had gathered in overwhelming numbers around 
 the beleaguered city. Its citizens had tried their best 
 to extricate themselves, but in vain. One week of 
 respite alone had been extracted from the contempt- 
 
THB INNER AND OUTER CONFLICTS. 
 
 127 
 
 uous clemency of Nahash; and if at the end of that 
 week no deHverance came, then the right eye of every 
 man would be put out, which, of course, would make 
 him useless for purposes of war, because the left eye 
 was, of course, always covered by the shield. 
 
 In despair the messengers came to Gibeah of Ben- 
 jamin, because in the days of the judges Jabesh- 
 gilead had refused to join in the war of extermination 
 against the Benjamites, and had given forty of its 
 daughters in marriage to their sons. There was, 
 therefore, a blood-tie between the people of Jabesh- 
 gilead and those of Gibeah, and in this awful hour 
 they felt they had a claim for help — if they would not 
 help, who would? But the people of Gibeah de- 
 spaired. It seemed as if it were impossible in that 
 short space to send effectual help. Saul was living 
 in the midst of them, but they had no hope that he 
 could help them. The day threatened to close in 
 hopeless despondenc}^ and despair. 
 
 Then the man who had conquered himself became 
 suddenly aware of the uprising of an altogether new 
 power in his heart. We are told that "the Holy 
 Spirit of God came mightily upon Saul " ; a little fur- 
 ther on we learn that " the fear of God fell on the 
 people " ; and still further on, " the Lord wrought a 
 great salvation for Israel." 
 
 If you will be true in the inward battle, if by the 
 grace of God you will trample upon the sins which so 
 easily besqt you, the time will come in your life also. 
 
128 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 when the Spirit of God will come upon you with an 
 almost overwhelming power, and bear you forward 
 to do what otherwise would be absolutely impossible; 
 and as He works on you, He will work also on the 
 people and on the foe. 
 
 Instantly Saul laid hold of his bullocks, slew them, 
 cut them in pieces, and by messengers sent those 
 pieces throughout the land. In some such way, as 
 Sir Walter Scott tells us, the old Highland chieftain 
 used to summon the clans for war by the mission of 
 the fiery cross. Killing an animal, kindling a fire, 
 the cross was burnt in the flames, which were 
 quenched in blood, and it was sent throughout the 
 land, and every man who saw it was bound to hasten 
 to the field. 
 
 Similarly, the entire people throughout the whole 
 land of Israel obeyed the royal summons. Tliree 
 hundred thousand Israelites and thirty thousand of 
 Judah rallied " after Saul and after Samuel." They 
 were at first but an undisciplined mob. Probably 
 they were armed with scythes and goads, for the 
 Philistines had deprived them of all other weapons; 
 but Saul, in the power of God, numbered them — i. c, 
 disciplined, arranged, and marshalled them; directing 
 them by three different routes to fall upon the Am- 
 monites in the morning. A message was sent to 
 Jabesh-gilead to tell the people that help was coming, 
 and their hearts were glad. Then, as the morning 
 broke over the quiet hills and valleys of Gilead, and 
 
THE INNER AND OUTER CONFLICTS. 
 
 129 
 
 the little city was astir with expectation and hope, 
 from three different sides Saul launched his army 
 upon the sleeping hosts. Panic-stricken, they sprang 
 to their feet; hardly awake, and dazed with the 
 clamour of the battle-cries, they were unable to resist 
 the onset of the men of Israel; and the rout was so 
 complete that, by the noontide, two men were not 
 left together. It was a wonderful victory and an 
 auspicious beginning for the new reign. 
 
 Would you not win such a victory over the sin of 
 the world? If so, there must be self-mastery. 
 Gird yourselves to fight " the good fight of faith." 
 We are reminded that there are several circles to that 
 fight. First, there is, of course, tliie outer circle of cir- 
 cmnstances. A man must always begin with these, 
 and rightly so. It is quite wise on your part to give 
 up that business which is a constant source of temp- 
 tation; to remove from that house where bad people 
 live ; to renounce that literature, those books, and that 
 recreation, which are constantly causing you to 
 offend; to extricate yourself from that friendship or 
 fellowship which has been your curse. That is the 
 first thing to do. Get right with your circumstances ; 
 touch not, taste not, handle not; come out and be 
 separate. At any cost deliver yourself from the con- 
 ditions of life that tempt you to sin. 
 
 Secondly, there is the inner circle of habit, for if our 
 circumstances are like our clothes, our habits are like 
 our skin, and every man has got to fight his lonely 
 
I30 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 fight against habit; it may be of alcoholism; it may 
 be of narcotism; it may be of impurity and immo- 
 rality; nothing but the power of God can break the 
 bonds that bind you. Tliat is the second great fight 
 in a man's life. 
 
 Thirdly, there is the battle against heredity. It may 
 be that your father was a passionate man, and has 
 passed on, perhaps from his ancestors, strong and 
 vehement desires; that your mother was a vain, or 
 proud, or quick-tempered woman, and that she has 
 passed on to you something of her own quick, sensi- 
 tive nature; that you cannot keep calm and still, can- 
 not hold your peace, cannot seem as if you were deaf. 
 Everyone has to meet with a certain number of predis- 
 positions in his life, which he has inherited, and which 
 make the battle harder. Enumerate them, consider 
 them, know them; then in the name of God put the 
 grave of Christ between you and them, and let them 
 meet you only through Him that died. Die to them 
 all, die to the first Adam, die to yourself because you 
 have risen to the second. In acting thus you may 
 break the entail and arrest for others that awful in- 
 heritance into which you have come. 
 
 Then, after all, when all this is said and done, 
 when your outward circumstances are adjusted, when 
 by the grace of God you have broken the spell of 
 habit, when you have died to heredity, then you come 
 face to face lijith the inner citadel of yourself. There 
 are things that you must not do, temptations to which 
 
THE INNER AND OUTER CONFLICTS. 
 
 131 
 
 you must not yield, an inner self which you must 
 crucify. Ah, that lonely fight! Ah, the flowers and 
 grass that become trampled down in the wrestle whilst 
 the blood of your heart is sprinkled on the sward, and 
 you know that all the possessions of your outward 
 life are as nothing to you compared to the agony of 
 the inward conflict. What is sviccess? What is ap- 
 plause? What is the crown of victory compared with 
 your confessed failure to yourself? Thus we fight 
 our fight, and win in the power of the loving Christ. 
 And then Ammon, Ammon, Ammon! Ah, not two 
 men are left together. Fight, fight, fight the good 
 fight of faith; lay hold upon the life which is life 
 indeed. 
 
XIII. 
 
 jporsaften? iReverl 
 
 (i Samuel xii. 22.) 
 
 For the glory and the passion of this midnight 
 I praise Thy name, I give Thee thanks, O Christ! 
 Thou that hast neither failed me nor forsaken 
 Through these hard hours with victory overpriced. 
 Now that I too of Thy passion have partaken, 
 For the world's sake — called^elected — sacrificed! 
 
 — H. Hamilton King. 
 
 WHILST the whole land was ringing with 
 the news of Saul's exploit in the deliver- 
 ance of Jabesh-gilead, it appeared to 
 Samuel to be an auspicious moment for confirming 
 the kingdom in his hand: and therefore he summoned 
 a great convocation of the nation at Gilgal. 
 
 On that spot Israel had encamped for the first night 
 after crossing the Jordan, and the twelve great stones 
 commemorating that event were still visible. There 
 the act of circumcision had been performed, cleansing 
 the people of the neglect of the wilderness; and there, 
 too, the first Passover in the Land of Promise had 
 been celebrated. Amid these great memorials and 
 memories of the past, with the swiftly flowing river 
 sweeping constantly beside them to the Dead Sea, 
 surrounded by all the associations of those glorious 
 
FORSAKEN? NEVER! 
 
 •33 
 
 days, which had left an unfading splendour upon the 
 history of their fathers, the people gathered from far 
 and near to crown Saul king. He had been desig- 
 nated at Mizpeh; he was to be crowned at Gilgal; it 
 was the inauguration of his reign, its ratification and 
 confirmation by the entire people. After this great 
 ceremony had taken place, Saul and his people re- 
 joiced together with peace-ofiferings and thank- 
 offerings before God; and this was the moment that 
 Samuel chose to lay down his office as judge — ^the 
 last of the judges, and the first of the prophets. 
 
 I. Samuel's Resignation. — An end must come to 
 the longest and most successful ministry, and the au- 
 thor of the Book of Ecclesiasticus, reverting to this 
 event in Samuel's life, says: "Before his long sleep 
 Samuel made protestation of his innocence, before 
 God and the people." Yes, the long sleep will come 
 to all, and happy are they who before they lay their 
 heads down to the last sleep and their spirits enter to 
 receive their final award, are able to extend their 
 hands and bare their hearts before those who have 
 known them best, and say, " These at least are clean." 
 
 This is what Samuel by the grace of God was able 
 to do. 'Standing bare-headed before the vast audi- 
 ence of the men of Israel, and pointing to his white 
 locks, he said, " I am old and gray-headed, and I have 
 walked before you [as in Eastern lands a shepherd 
 precedes his flock] from my boyhood up." His had 
 
134 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 been an unblemished career, and for his own sake and 
 for the sake of God on whose belialf he stood, he was 
 anxious to obtain from the people a vindication of the 
 blamelessness of his career. He therefore protested: 
 " I have not defrauded you, nor oppressed you. 
 Whose ox have I taken? Whose ass? Can any man 
 confront me as having taken from his hand even a 
 sandal as a bribe that I should turn away mine eyes 
 from his misdoing? " And all the people, like the 
 leaves of the forest rustling before the wind, with one 
 unanimous consent, cried : " Thou hast not defrauded, 
 nor oppressed, nor taken anything from our hand." 
 
 But the old man was not content; he wanted to 
 bind the people by a solemn oath, as in the very sight 
 of God and the king; and, therefore, he said, lifting 
 his hand to heaven, " I call God to witness against 
 you this day and his anointed king, that what you 
 have said is true." And again, from the lips of all 
 the people, with one unanimous shout, there came the 
 response, " God is witness.'' The old man was com- 
 forted, and added: " Yes, God is witness, the very God 
 who brought our people out of Egypt, and appointed 
 Moses and Aaron." 
 
 Oh, that all our public men to-day were as clean- 
 banded and pure-hearted as Samuel was! that when 
 the records of their actions are rehearsed before the 
 judgment-seat of God it may be discovered that 
 those who have been high in office have not prosti- 
 tuted their high position for their own emolument, or 
 
FORSAKENf NEVER! 135 
 
 acted for private gain, but that they are clean-handed 
 and pure-hearted. Happy is that nation whose pubHc 
 men are free from all complicity with bribery and 
 from making profit out of the necessities or the sore 
 distress of their fatherland! 
 
 II. He Designated his People's Sin. — It was a 
 great opportunity to show them where they had done 
 wrong, and a man whose own hands are clean is per- 
 mitted to be the sincere critic of others' misdoing. 
 See to it that your own eye is single, and that the 
 beam is extracted from it before you essay to remove 
 the mote from your brother's eye. In several par- 
 ticulars he pleaded with that dense mass of people, 
 and dared to hold up the crimes of his nation, that 
 they might see them as they were. 
 
 First, he set himself to show the difference between 
 their former and their latter method of procedure. 
 He carried their thoughts back to Egypt, and, in 
 effect, said: When your fathers were in bondage to 
 the Egyptians, and under the oppression of Pharaoh, 
 you cried unto Jehovah, and in gracious answer He 
 raised up deliverance. And when in the days of the 
 Judges you were oppressed first by Sisera, then by 
 the Philistines, and then by the people of Moab, you 
 cried to God for deliverance, and it camejJtj,uLJlow, 
 when the threatened invasion of Nahash, the king of 
 the Ammonites, was filling the horizon with thunder- 
 clouds, instead of holding a great invocation for 
 
136 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 prayer, you insisted upon my appointing a king. 
 Why have you deteriorated? Why was prayer your 
 natural resort three hundred years ago, and now it is 
 neglected? Is it not because you are prayerless that 
 you have drifted from your ancient moorings? In 
 this is a great sin. 
 
 Must not we always take care that, instead of say- 
 ing impulsively and impetuously, " We will do this 
 or that," we should constantly wait before God that 
 He would appoint a deliverer? 
 
 Secondly, in his dealing with the people, he put a 
 new reading upon past history. On their side, they 
 pointed out the successive catastrophes which had 
 befallen their country; how the Ammonites, the Phil- 
 istines, the Moabites, and Sisera, and other surround- 
 ing nations, had oppressed them, and brought them 
 under their power, and therefore, as a way of deliver- 
 ance from such troubles, they had argued the neces- 
 sity of having a king. Samuel, of course, admitted 
 the successive afflictions which had befallen his people, 
 but he did not put the same reading upon them. He 
 said : " You demand a king, who shall make such 
 catastrophes no longer possible, but I tell you, on the 
 other hand, that, whether you have a king or not, if 
 you forget God, as you have forgotten Him, and if 
 you turn to Baalim and Ashtaroth as you have turned 
 to them, neither your king, nor any alternative mode 
 of government you can invent, will deliver you from 
 the consequences." In other words, he made it clear 
 
FORSAKEN? NEVERl 
 
 137 
 
 that it was not the presence or absence of a monarchy, 
 but the want of singleness of purpose, and devotion 
 to Jehovah, which had been the cause and root of all 
 their troubles. 
 
 Again, there is a lesson for ourselves. After all, it 
 is not this man or that, who is necessary to a church, 
 so long as the church itself is living before God in in- 
 corruption, and sincerity of truth, and is following the 
 lead of the beacon fire by night and the cloudy pillar 
 by day. When a church is right with God, God 
 stands for the church. 
 
 Thirdly, he indicated to the people that God had 
 never failed to send them a man when a man was 
 wanted. He said: " Look back upon your past his- 
 tory. 'Even apart from an hereditary line of kings, 
 with the prestige of royal descent, God has always 
 raised up a man to help you in an emergency. Con- 
 sider — did not He raise up Moses and Aaron? Did 
 not He raise up Jephthah and Barak (see R. v. mar- 
 gin), Gideon and myself? See how perpetually, in 
 the dark hour, in answer to prayer, God has sent you 
 the man that was needed. Could you not have 
 trusted Him; and instead of being so urgent for a 
 king, could you not have waited for Him to do for 
 you, as he had done aforetime? " 
 
 Lastly, he said: " My countrymen, you have greatly 
 deteriorated; you have failed in your faith, you have 
 demanded a visible king, but have forgotten the in- 
 visible Lord; you have magnified the arm of flesh, 
 
138 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 but have forgotten the mighty power of the Eternal. 
 You have been sheltering under the idea of a new 
 royalty, whereas God was your King, your true Head, 
 the Leader and Patron of the nation. You should 
 have rested only on Him." 
 
 Are we not all liable to the same lapse of faith? 
 We look to the visible and forget the invisible. The 
 air is filled with anxiety, clamour, and controversy, 
 whilst in the shadow, behind the thin veil of sense, 
 stands the eternal crowned Christ, waiting ever to 
 trim the lamps of the golden candlesticks and to hold 
 the stars in his right hand. It was a brave thing, a 
 noble thing, a right thing, for Samuel to show to his 
 people how they had drifted from the old true stand- 
 ing ground of faith into practical atheism and un- 
 belief. 
 
 in. Samuel's Assurance. — Having handed over 
 his office to Saul, who henceforth was to be the shep- 
 herd and leader of the chosen people, and having 
 dealt with their failure and deterioration, he went on 
 to say with inimitable sweetness, " Tlie Lord will not 
 forsake his people for his great name's sake." Oh, 
 take these words to heart, and let them sink, like a 
 refrain of music, into your soul. The Lord will not 
 forsake his people! They may have lost their ideal; 
 for a moment they may have drifted from their ancient 
 moorings of childlike confidence, but the Lord cannot 
 forsake his people, for his great name's sake. 
 
FORSAKEN? NEVER f 139 
 
 How perpetually this argument was used by the 
 holy men of the old time. For instance, in Exod. 
 xxxii. 12, where God talks of casting away his people, 
 when they had made the golden calf and worshipped 
 it with garlands and dances, Moses dares to go into 
 the Divine Presence, and say: " Lord, Thou canst not 
 do it, for if Thou dost, thy character will be impugned, 
 and the Egyptians will say, ' He was not able to bring 
 them in ; he brought them out, but his power was not 
 sufficient to accomplish that to which He had put his 
 hand.' Thou canst not do it. Tliy credit is at 
 stake!" 
 
 And in Josh. vii. 9, when Israel had fled before 
 the men of Ai, Joshua threw himself upon the ground 
 before the Ark and cried, " O my God, if thy people 
 fail like this, what will the Egyptians say? What 
 will the Philistines say? What will the nations of 
 Canaan say? And what wilt Thou do for thy great 
 Name. Before Heaven and earth Tliou wilt stand 
 discredited if Thou failest to give us this land as Thou 
 hast promised." 
 
 Then in Isa. xlviii. 9, n, later on in the history of 
 the chosen people, Isaiah, dealing with their sins, and 
 speaking to them in God's name, says : " For my 
 name's sake will I defer mine anger; and for my 
 praise will I refrain for thee that I cut thee not off." 
 " For mine own sake, for mine own sake, will I do it; 
 for how should my name be profaned? and my glory 
 will I not give to another." 
 
140 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 In Ezek. xx., these remarkable words are repeated 
 thrice : " I wrought for my name's sake, that it 
 should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, 
 among whom they were." God's name is God's char- 
 acter. He is bound by his self-respect not to forsake 
 his people. 
 
 The old prophet went on to say : " It hath pleased 
 the Lord to make you his people." God hides his 
 reasons. He loves because He will. The flame of 
 his love requires no fuel. The bush is not consumed 
 for its maintenance. We may put alongside with these, 
 those words of the great apostle : " He gave Himself 
 for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and 
 purify unto Himself a people for his own possession." 
 This assurance applies to men: 
 
 ( I ) As Individuals. — God will not forsake you. He 
 did not choose you because of your goodness or 
 beauty, and He will not forsake you because j'ou 
 have failed of your best. He has made you his child 
 by adoption and grace, not that there was anything 
 in you to specially attract Him, but because He 
 would. Some day He may explain to you his reason, 
 but just now there is no reason that any of us can 
 guess at, why we have been chosen from the rest of 
 men to be his. It has pleased Him to make us his 
 sons and daughters. We may have sinned against 
 Him and grieved his Holy Spirit, we may have mixed 
 ourselves with the seed of the people amongst whom 
 we dwell, but God will not forsake his people. If He 
 
FORSAKEN? NEVER! 141 
 
 did, there would be a charge against his love that it 
 was not infinite, that it ceased after sin had reached 
 to a certain height of outrage, that it could not 
 abound over sin. His power also would be im- 
 pugned, for the lost spirits in hell would boast that 
 He had attempted more than he was able to perform 
 — that He had not counted the cost. 
 
 There would also be an imputation upon his im- 
 mutability. It would be spread through the universe 
 that He took .up a sinful soul, cleansed and clothed 
 it, loved and blessed it, and then He changed. At the 
 news that God could be fickle, the palace of eternity 
 would rock, the throne of Heaven shake, and the 
 mighty vault of space would reel to destruction. 
 God dare not surrender the work which He has begun 
 in the heart of man. That is why we may count on 
 being saved. We have no positive claim on God; 
 there is no native beauty nor attractiveness to Him 
 who sees the inner life; there is nothing necessary in 
 our service; but He has set his love upon us, and He 
 must go through with it, and stand to his bargain be- 
 fore all worlds. O soul of man, God will not forsake 
 thee. 
 
 (2) As a Church why could not God forsake 
 Israel? Because the chosen people was the type of 
 what He desired every nation to become; and there- 
 fore He must needs go on building up Israel, that his 
 type might not be broken; and He had to work 
 through Israel to bring other nations to its level. 'If 
 
142 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 God had abandoned Israel, how could He have hoped 
 to regenerate the world? 
 
 What was true of Israel may be true of a church. 
 There may be many failures and inconsistencies in 
 her that ought to be altered. But God cannot cast 
 her away in spite of all her sinful imperfection. He 
 will refine and purify her till she realise his ideal and 
 become his perfect Bride. 
 
 (3) As a Nation. — Our country cannot go drifting 
 on into materialism and irreligion, as she is doing. 
 God cannot afford to let her become immoral and de- 
 based; cannot permit her to follow in the way of 
 Rome and Greece; cannot forsake the people whom 
 He has blessed and used since the days of Alfred, who 
 have been the pioneers of missionary and Christian 
 civilisation through the entire world. For his Name's 
 sake He cannot do it. No, it is certain that, sooner or 
 later, a great revival of religion will bring us back to 
 our first love. 
 
 (4) As a World. — God cannot forsake this world, 
 reeking though it be with blasphemy and impurity, 
 with tyranny and sin. It has been saturated with 
 the blood of his Son and of myriads of his saints. It 
 has been bedewed with the tears of the noblest souls 
 that have ever breathed, and it is yet destined to shine 
 amidst its sister stars with an untarnished beauty; it 
 is to be the specimen to all the universe of what God 
 can do with a fallen world and a degraded race. God 
 cannot forsake our earth, and some day we shall see 
 
FORSAKEN? NEVER! 
 
 U3 
 
 her glistening in the Hght that shone over paradise, 
 and enswathed with an unpolluted atmosphere. 
 Purity shall breathe again over her landscapes and 
 oceans. Yes, the children of men will come out from 
 all the sin and evil by which they have been so long 
 oppressed, and shall walk in the white robes of purity, 
 love, and truth. " The Lord will not forsake his 
 people for his great Name's sake, because it hath 
 pleased the Lord to make you a people unto Himself." 
 
XIV. 
 
 ■Rot QcaslnQ in iprager. 
 
 (i Samuel xii. 16-25.) 
 
 O, who can tell how many hearts are altars to his praise, 
 From which the silent Prayer ascends through patient 
 
 nights and days! 
 The sacrifice is offered still in secret and alone, 
 O world, ye do not know them, but He can help his own. 
 
 — A. Procter. 
 
 IN all Samuel's career there is nothing finer than 
 the closing scene of his public action as the 
 judge and leader of the Hebrew nation. Had he 
 died young, his place in the annals of his country, 
 and indeed in history, would have been much lower; 
 and our appreciation of his character much less. 
 Naturally he found it difficult to step down from his 
 premiership, and inaugurate a regime with which he 
 had no sympathy, since it seemed to be a setting 
 aside of Israel's greatest glory in having God for 
 King. But he suppressed his strong personal an- 
 tipathies, and did his very best to start the nation on 
 the new path it had chosen, selecting a king with the 
 utmost care, and, regardless of personal suffering, 
 bridging over the gulf between the old order and the 
 new. 
 
 We cannot turn from the record of the great con- 
 
NOT CEASING IN PRAYER. 
 
 145 
 
 vocation, assembled before the Lord at Gilgal, to 
 ratify Saul's election, without noticing the repeated 
 allusions to Samuel's power in prayer. He appears 
 to have been the John Knox of his age, as mighty in 
 prayer as in statesmanship. His whole career seems 
 to have been bathed in the spirit of supplication. 
 
 As a boy, with hands meekly clasped, as Sir Joshua 
 Reynolds has depicted him, he asked God to speak, 
 whilst his ear was quick and attent to catch his 
 lowest whispers. In the Book of the Psalms he is 
 mentioned as chief among those that call on Grod's 
 name, and as having been answered (xcix. 6). The 
 Prophet Jeremiah alludes to the wonderful power which 
 he exercised in intercessory prayer, when he pleaded 
 for his people (xv. i). All Israel knew the long, pierc- 
 ing cry of the prophet of the Lord. In their perils 
 his intercessions had been their deliverance, and in 
 their battles his prayers had secured them victory 
 (i Sam. vii. 8, viii. 6). There was " an open road " 
 between God and him, so that thoughts of God's 
 thinking were able to come into his heart; and he re- 
 flected them back again with intense and burning 
 desire. 
 
 I. Samuel's Prayer for Thunder and Rain. — 
 The heart of man cries out for Divine authentication. 
 In every age a crooked and perverse generation seeks 
 a sign, and in seeking it proves how far it has wan- 
 dered from the source of light, and become blinded 
 
146 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 in spiritual vision. If our nature realised its Divine 
 ideal, it would discern God in the ordinary and com- 
 mon incidents of providence, in the morning light 
 and the summer air, in dews that noiselessly alight 
 and zephyrs that gently kiss the slumbering woods, 
 in the garniture of spring and the carpeting of 
 flowers (Acts xiv. 17). But the eyes of the soul are 
 blinded, and men do not see the traces of the Divine 
 footprints across the world day by day. " Lord," 
 said the prophet, " thy hand is lifted up, but they see 
 not " (Isa. xxvi. 11). 
 
 In default of the faculty of detecting God's presence 
 in the noiseless and' ordinary providence of life, man 
 asks for some startling phenomena to prove that God 
 is speaking. " Bring," he cries to the heaven-sient 
 messenger, " credentials so startling and extraordi- 
 nary that I may know without doubt that thou art 
 properly accredited. The still, small voice is not 
 enough. We must have the hurricane, the fire, and 
 the bolt from the blue. Then we shall know that 
 God speaks by thee, and that the word from thy lips 
 is true." 
 
 Samuel knew this, and he perhaps longed for some 
 Divine corroboration of his words. God's trusted 
 servants are content to work through long years 
 amid persistent resistance and apathy, if only they are 
 assured that they are on the line of the Divine pur- 
 pose. " And it came to pass at the time of the offer- 
 ing of the evening sacrifice that Elijah the prophet 
 
NOT CEASING IN PRAYER. 147 
 
 came near, and said, Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, 
 and of Israel, let it be known this day that Thou art 
 God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I 
 have done all these things at thy word." Thus, in a su- 
 preme moment, one of the noblest of his successors 
 appealed to God, and his words expressed what was 
 in Samuel's heart at this great hour. He had sur- 
 rendered his prerogatives, and introduced his suc- 
 cesscM-; had confronted his people with their sins, and 
 announced the heavy penalties that must follow on 
 disobedience; and he yearned that they should hear 
 another voice, asseverating his words, and pressing 
 them home on conscience and on heart. 
 
 It was under the influence of these thoughts that 
 he concluded his address and appeal, with the an- 
 nouncement, " Now, therefore, stand still, and see 
 this great thing, which the Lord will do before your 
 eyes. Is it not wheat-harvest to-day ? I will call unto 
 the I^rd, and He shall send thunder and rain, that ye 
 may perceive and see that your wickedness is great 
 which ye have done in the sight of the Lord, in asking 
 you a king." 
 
 During the wheat-harvest, lasting from the middle 
 of May to the middle of June, rain is almost unknown 
 in Palestine, and the occurrence of a thunderstorm, 
 coming as it did at the call of the aged prophet, was 
 too startlingly unusual to be viewed as other than the 
 Divine authentication of his claims. 
 
 It may be supposed that this incident is altogether 
 
148 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 without parallel, belonging to the realms of Old 
 Testament story; but I cannot think it to be so. 
 Nature is much more sympathetic with man than we 
 sometimes suppose, because her beauty or terror is 
 but the veil beneath which the Almighty hides Him- 
 self. How, save on the supposition that God an- 
 swered the appeal of his servants, can we account for 
 the fact of the terrific tempest that swept over our 
 shores when the proud Armada of Spain menaced the 
 liberties of Protestant England? And how, save on 
 the supposition that Heaven itself protested against 
 the blasphemous pretensions of the Papacy, can we 
 account for the memorable fact that on the afternoon 
 when the dogma of the Papal Infallibility was an- 
 nounced the Vatican at midday was suddenly invested 
 with a pall of blackest midnight? 
 
 But there are other methods of Divine authentica- 
 tion on which every true servant of God may rely. 
 When Paul and Barnabas abode for a long time in 
 Iconium, speaking boldly in the Lord, " He gave 
 testimony unto the word of his grace " ; and the 
 writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews generalises the 
 experience of the early heralds of the Gospel when 
 he says that the message of God's great salvation was 
 confirmed by them that heard the word, " God also 
 bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, 
 and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, 
 according unto his own will " (Acts xiv. 3 ; Heb. ii. 
 3,4). 
 
NOT CEASING IN PRAYER. 149 
 
 We cannot be too thankful for the witness of the 
 Holy Spirit, whose voice is to the faithful servant of 
 God all, and more, that the thunder was to Samuel. 
 It was this that armed the primitive saints with irre- 
 sistible power. " We are his witnesses," cried the 
 apostles, " and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God 
 hath given to them that obey Him." " Our Gospel," 
 wrote the greatest apostle of all, " came not unto you 
 in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy 
 Ghost, and in much assurance " (i Thess. i. 5). 
 
 May I ask if my fellow-servants realise this— that 
 the Holy Spirit is in the Church to-day, that He is 
 prepared to bear witness to every true word which is 
 spoken in the name of Jesus, and that He will con- 
 vict of sin, righteousness, and judgment; so that the 
 faith of our hearers should not stand in the wisdom of 
 man, but in the power of God, God bearing them wit- 
 ness and giving them the Holy Spirit (i Cor. ii. 1-4; 
 Acts XV. 8). 
 
 This is the fatal lack of our preaching. We speak 
 earnestly and faithfully, but we do not sufficiently 
 look for nor rely on the divine co-witness; we do not 
 understand the communion and fellowship of the 
 Comforter, and our hearers do not hear his voice 
 thrilling their souls, as thunder in the natural world, 
 with the conviction that the things which we speak 
 are the truths of God. Only let the passionate long- 
 ing of our heart be, " Father, glorify thy name," and 
 voices will come as from heaven, saying, " I have both 
 
15© SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 glorified it, and will glorify it again." Whilst some 
 that stand by may say that " It thundered," others will 
 say " An angel spake " (John xii. 28, 29). 
 
 Oh, our God, give us such power in prayer that 
 when we pray Thou shalt answer '' in the secret place 
 of thunder," and send thunder and rain. 
 
 n. Samuel's Unceasing Intercessions. — ^Terri- 
 fied by the loud thunder-peals and the torrents of rain, 
 the people were urgent to secure Samuel's interces- 
 sion on their behalf. They feared for their lives and 
 their property, and entreated him to pray for them. 
 " Pray for thy servants unto the Lord thy God," they 
 said, " that we die not " ; and the emphasis they laid 
 on the word thy seemed to indicate that they felt no 
 longer worthy of their ancient prerogative, as the 
 chosen people. Touched with their appeal, and con- 
 fident that Jehovah only desired to corroborate his 
 word, the aged seer calmed their fears, urged them 
 never to turn aside to vain idols, which could neither 
 profit nor deliver, assured them that the Lord would 
 not forsake them, and ended with the striking words: 
 "Moreover, as for me, God forbid that I sitould ji« 
 against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you." 
 
 Samuel realised that prayer zvas action in the spiritual 
 plane. The energy which we exert in action in the 
 physical sphere becomes prayer in the spiritual. It 
 has often been said, Laborare est orare (" to labour is 
 to pray ") ; but the converse is much truer, Orare 
 
NOT CEASING IN PRAYER. 151 
 
 est laborare ("to pray is to labour"). "The fer- 
 vent prayer of a righteous man," says James, 
 " availeth much in its working." Therefore it was, 
 that when the good Epaphras could no longer help 
 his brethren at Colosse by his words and deeds, he 
 betook himself to prayer, and laboured fervently for 
 them all in prayer (Col. iv. 12). 
 
 " Work shall be prayer, if all be wrought 
 As Thou wouldst have it done: 
 And prayer, by Thee inspired and taught, 
 Itself with work be one. " 
 
 Samuel could no longer exert his energies for his 
 people, as he had done. The limitations imposed by 
 his advancing years, and by the substitution of the 
 kingdom for his judgeship, made it impossible that he 
 should make his yearly rounds as aforetime, but he 
 was able to translate all that energy into another 
 method of helpfulness. The light became heat, the 
 water became steam. The prayers of God's saints 
 were equivalent, henceforward, to battalions of 
 soldiers. 
 
 What the telescope is to the eye, the bicycle to the 
 foot, the telephone to the voice, and the steam-driven 
 machine to the hand, in enlarging and increasing 
 human power, that is prayer to the soul, because it 
 links us with the mighty power of God, it touches 
 springs that unloose spiritual forces which are eternal 
 in their duration and universal in their scope. 
 " Mighty is he who is mighty in grayer; he hcis 
 
152 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 learned how to labour with the energies of God." 
 Why, O soul of man, wilt thou not lay thy fingers on 
 the keyboard of the eternal powers, which would 
 respond instantly to the touch ! How great a mis- 
 take and loss it is for thee to be satisfied with the 
 lower keyboards of the natural and intellect, when 
 the spiritual, the highest and furthest-reaching, awaits 
 thee! 
 
 Samuel viewed prayer as a Divine instinct. For him 
 to thwart the promptings towards prayer which arose 
 within his soul would be nothing short of sin. " God 
 forbid," he said, " that I should sin against Him in 
 ceasing to pray." 
 
 Let us recognise, we may say with another, that, 
 logic or no logic, men pray, and they want to pray. 
 The instinct to do so seems to be part of ourselves. 
 Probably it is not constant, and it is only the saint who 
 remains in the spirit of prayer; but some time or 
 other, and always when the spiritual nature stirs 
 within us, we begin to pray. Prayer is therefore 
 more than petition, it is the movement of the spirit 
 Godward. We recognise our own limitations and 
 attempt to reach beyond them into the infinite. 
 Therefore, in every true prayer, there is much that 
 cannot be put in words. " The spirit maketh inter- 
 cession with groanings that cannot be uttered." 
 
 To thwart this instinct, whether it prompts us to 
 pray for ourselves or for others, is to do violence to 
 our noblest nature, to grieve the Holy Spirit of God, 
 
NOT CEASING IN PRAYER. 
 
 153 
 
 and to sin against the Divine order. Prayerlessness 
 is not only an indication of a besotted and demoralised 
 nature, but is in itself a sin, that requires confession 
 and cleansing in the blood of the Cross. And when, 
 in answer to our lowly supplications, we are again 
 brought nigh by the blood of Christ, we shall find 
 that prayer will rise as naturally and freely in our 
 hearts as a fountain from unseen depths fed from the 
 everlasting hills. Prayer is the response of the soul 
 to God, the return tide from us to Him, the sending 
 back in vapour what we receive in showers of heav- 
 enly rain. 
 
 Samuel viewed prayer as a trusteeship. He could no 
 longer act as judge, but he felt that the interests of the 
 nation had been entrusted to his hands for the highest 
 ends, and it would be treachery to fail in conserving 
 and extending them at least by his intercessions. 
 Often must he have gone aside, as Moses on the 
 Mount, and as our Lord on the hills that engirdled 
 the blue waters of Galilee, to pour out his soul in 
 strong cryings and tears for his brethren, his kinsmen 
 according to the flesh, who were Israehtes, to whom 
 pertained the adoption, and the glory, and the cove- 
 nants, and the giving of the law, and the service of 
 God, and the promises. Often, like the apostle Paul, 
 he had great heaviness and continual sorrow in his 
 heart. Often, when the Philistines overran the land, 
 and oppressed the people with their tyranny, it must 
 have seemed as though his heart would break. The 
 
iS4 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 failure of Saul to realise his ideal only elicited the 
 more strenuous appeals to God to save both king and 
 people, and the victory which we must record in our 
 next chapter must have been due to his eager en- 
 treaties. 
 
 This is a model which we may all copy. The one 
 question for the Church in the present day is whether 
 she may reckon on a new manifestation of the power 
 of the Holy Spirit, and this is entirely corttingent on 
 another question, "Is it possible to bring the whole 
 Church to her knees? " If these words are of weight 
 with any, let me ask them to join in one persevering 
 and heaven-moving appeal to God that He would 
 awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of 
 old, and do great things like those of which our 
 fathers have told us. 
 
XV. 
 
 Ube Causes of Saul's 2)owntall. 
 
 (i Samuel xiii. 13, 14.) 
 
 Bide thou thy time! 
 Watch with meek eyes the race of pride and crime, 
 Sit in the gate, and be the heathen's jest. 
 
 Smiling and self-possest, 
 O thou, to whom is pledged a victor's sway, 
 Bide thou the victor's day. 
 
 — N. H. J. 
 
 THIS chapter is the story of a great tragedy, 
 since it contains the history of the incident 
 which revealed Saul's unfitness to be the 
 founder of a line of kings. Had he stood this test, 
 there is no doubt that he would have been, not only 
 the first monarch of Israel, but the father of a royal 
 race, and the whole after-history of the chosen people 
 might have been different. But, as we shall see — 
 though, at first, his kingdom augured prosperity to 
 his fatherland — it evidently lacked the elements of 
 permanence and continuity and of becoming Israel's 
 permanent bulwark against the invasions of the 
 enemy from without and the cancer of disintegration 
 or corruption within. 
 
 Let us gather around this story, not only because 
 
iS6 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 it has so much to do with the history of God's people, 
 but because it is full of instruction for ourselves. 
 Turning from Saul to David, Samuel said, " The Lord 
 hath sought Him a man after his own heart." It is, 
 therefore, clear that, in some way, Saul had ceased to 
 be "a man after God's own heart," and it becomes 
 us carefully to inquire the reason, that we may avoid 
 the rocks on which this good ship split and foundered. 
 
 You will remark that the chapter which tells the 
 history of this tragedy, the overcasting of a bright 
 morning, the spoiling of a fair and beautiful promise, 
 also contains the story of the unutterable distress to 
 which the chosen people had been reduced by another 
 invasion of the Philistines. We are told, for instance, 
 in ver. 6, that the people of Israel were in a strait, 
 that they were distressed, that they hid themselves in 
 caves and thickets, in rocks and in pits ; indeed, some 
 of them even crossed the Jordan, and forsook their 
 fatherland in the hour of its extremity; while those 
 who were yet associated with Saul and Jonathan, as 
 the nucleus of the royal army, followed him, trembling 
 (ver. 7). A spirit of fearfulness had settled down 
 upon the whole people ; the old national spirit had de- 
 cayed; it seemed as though they could never again be 
 induced to stand against the Philistines, any more 
 than a flock of sheep against a pack of wolves. 
 
 We are also informed of the numbers of the vast 
 host of Philistines which had been gathered from all 
 parts in order to crush out the movement towards a 
 
THE CAUSES OP SAUL'S DOWNFALL. 157 
 
 national existence, of which the coronation of Saul 
 and the exploits of Jonathan were symptoms (ver. 3). 
 We can overhear the tidings brought to Saul (ver. 5) 
 by some panic-stricken messenger, who, with the ex- 
 aggeration of abject fear, described the Philistines as 
 the sand which is on the seashore in multitude. 
 
 A further proof of the hapless misery of the people 
 is adduced in verse ig: there was no smith found 
 throughout the whole land of Israel, and the Hebrews 
 had to take their implements of agriculture down to 
 the smithies of the Philistines, in order that they 
 might be sharpened for their use. Never in the his- 
 tory of the chosen people were there more dire 
 calamity, more absolute hopelessness and despair, 
 than reigned around Saul and throughout the entire 
 country at this hour. 
 
 At this juncture Saul seems to have withdrawn his 
 troops, such as they were, from Michmash, and to 
 have taken up his position on the ancient site of Gil- 
 gal, where the act of circumcision was performed after 
 Israel had crossed the Jordan under Joshua. There 
 upon the level land, and therefore exposed to the 
 assault of the Philistine hosts at any moment, Saul 
 seems to have pitched his camps, whilst his heroic son, 
 Jonathan, kept up a post of observation in the vicinity 
 of the Philistine hosts. 
 
 Whilst Saul with his soldiers remained at Gilgal, 
 every day marked the diminution of his host. This 
 man and that stole away, either across the Jordan as a 
 
158 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 fugitive, or to hide in some hole and corner of the 
 hills. 
 
 It may be asked why, at such a time, Saul did not 
 make one desperate effort against the Philistines. 
 Why did he wait there day after day, whilst his army 
 evaporated before his eyes? Ah! thereby hangs a 
 story — to understand which we must turn back a page 
 or two in the inspired record. In i Sam. x. 8, in that 
 early morning interview, when Samuel designated 
 Saul for the crown, he told him that the crisis of his 
 life would overtake him at Gilgal, a prophecy the 
 fulfilment of which had now arrived. " Thou shalt 
 go down before me to Gilgal; and, behold, I will 
 come down unto thee, to offer burnt-offerings, and to 
 sacrifice sacrifices of peace-offerings ; seven days shalt 
 thou tarry, till I come unto thee, and show thee what 
 thou shalt do." 
 
 I. Saul's Mistake. — This command, uttered three 
 years before to Saul, as he stood on the threshold of 
 his vast opportunities, involved two things, and each 
 of them constituted a supreme test. 
 
 First, whether he was prepared to act as God's vice- 
 gerent, not as absolute monarch determining his own 
 policy, and acting on his own initiative, but as God's 
 servant, receiving the marching orders of his life 
 through the prophet's lips; not acting as an autocrat, 
 but as one to whom there had been a delegation of 
 Divine authority. 
 
THE CAUSES OF SAUL'S DOWNFALL. 159 
 
 Second, whether he could control his impetuous 
 nature, put the curb upon his impulse, and hold him- 
 self well in hand. 
 
 It was this embargo which Samuel had laid upon 
 him that made him wait, day after day. Can you not 
 imagine how his chosen advisers and warriors would 
 come around him and urge him to do something? 
 Might they not have pointed to the Philistine hosts 
 encamped at Michmash, gathering like a cloud of 
 storm? Might they not have told him how, unless 
 he acted quickly, his paternal estate would be wiped 
 out before the invasion? Might they not have 
 pointed to the dwindling hosts, and said, Rise up and 
 do something; it were better to die beneath the Phil- 
 istines' hand than allow them to pounce down on you 
 as the bird of prey on the trembling dove ! 
 
 But he waited, day after day. " He tarried seven 
 days, according to the set time that Samuel had ap- 
 pointed; but Samuel came not to Gilgal, and the 
 people were scattered from him." Then it would 
 seem that within a brief space of the expiry of the 
 allotted time he could wait no more. He thought 
 that Samuel must have forgotten the appointment, or 
 had been intercepted in making his way from Ramah 
 through the Philistine lines. He had waited till 
 within half an hour (because to offer a bumt-ofifering 
 and a peace-ofifering could not take much longer), 
 and then spoiled the whole, by his inability to delay 
 further; and he said to the priest, who still lingered 
 
i6o SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 by the ancient site where God had been worshipped 
 and the Tabernacle posted, " Bring hither the ephod, 
 and let us offer the sacrifice." " And it came to pass 
 that as soon as he had made an end of offering the 
 bumt-offering, behold, Samuel came." 
 
 Ah! if only some sentry standing on a pinnacle of 
 rack could have looked over into the adjacent valley 
 and seen the form of the old man drawing nearer to 
 the camp he might have warned the King, crying, 
 " Samuel is coming." But there was no one to arrest 
 him, nothing but the monition and remonstrance of 
 his own heart. It was shown that he could not wait 
 for God, in absolute faith that He could not fail nor 
 deceive. He was careful to maintain an outward rite, 
 but the spirit of devotion and faith was altogether 
 wanting. As he was, his successors would become, 
 to the undoing of Israel; therefore his kingdom could 
 not continue. 
 
 The one lesson that comes back to us with almost 
 overwhelming force is that the man who is after 
 God's heart is the man who will obey God to the let- 
 ter, who will wait for God to the last moment, who 
 will dare to stand amid a diminishing and dwindling 
 army, and even see disaster imminent, but, because 
 he has not received the marching orders of God, will 
 stand still, until presently God sets him free. 
 
 How many religious people there are, who, as they 
 review their past life, can recall moments when they 
 did not know what to do. An inner voice, still. 
 
THE CAUSES OF SAUL'S DOWNFALL. i6i 
 
 sweet, but commanding, bade them wait and trust; 
 but many other voices, loud and strident, summoned 
 them to act; so that the still small voice of faith, of 
 resignation, of absolute obedience was silenced, the 
 one rash word spoken, the one irrevocable act per- 
 formed, betraying the weakness of the heart, the in- 
 effectiveness of the resolve. When all was over, 
 Samuel has come, and we have reproached ourselves, 
 saying, " Oh, if I had only thought that God was so 
 near, I would not have acted as I did ; woe is me, why 
 could not I wait? " Samuel always comes just at the 
 last moment, but it is so hard to wait till he does 
 come. "Master, Master, we perish; and He arose, 
 and rebuked the storm, and said, Why are ye fearful, 
 O ye of little faith?" God hath not given us the 
 spirit of fear, but the spirit of power, of love, and of 
 self-discipline and self-restraint. 
 
 Man becomes so weary of waiting, and it seems as 
 though God were so slow. God's mighty processes 
 sweep around a wide orbit. One day is as a thousand 
 years, but He is coming as the morning, as the spring, 
 as the millennium. " His going forth is sure as the 
 morning, and He shall come unto us as the rain, as 
 the latter rain that watereth the earth." 
 
 II. Saul's Disingenuous Plea. — Notice Saul's 
 explanation to Samuel. He said : " I said to myself, 
 The Philistines will come down upon me to Gilgal, 
 and I have not intreated the favour of the Lord. I 
 
i62 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 forced myself therefore, and offered the burnt-ofiEer- 
 ing." That surely was insincere. He laid the blame 
 on circumstances ; he said practically : " The circum- 
 stances of my lot forced my hand; I did not want to 
 do it, I was most reluctant, but I could not help 
 myself; the Philistines were coming; I tell you the 
 sceptre was wrested from my grasp, and I had to obey 
 the imperious voice of the misfortunes that fell thick 
 and fast upon me." His speech reminds us of 
 Aaron's, who stripped the people naked before God 
 and their enemies, and sought to excuse himself by 
 saying, " They gave me their earrings ; I cast them 
 into the fire, and there came out this calf." 
 
 We are all prone to speak in the same tone. When 
 the rash word has been uttered, and the proud act 
 done; when we have refused to obey, and have seen 
 the house of our life toppling down upon us, or con- 
 suming in the flames of our folly, then we have 
 said, " Circumstances compelled me, I had to do it, 
 and I did it; I forced myself, my hand was 
 forced." 
 
 O soul of man, thou art greater than circumstances ; 
 greater than things; greater than the mob of evil 
 counsellors. Thou art meant to be God's crowned 
 and enthroned. king; to rule and not to be ruled; to 
 obey God only, and to resist all other attempts to 
 bring thee under the yoke. Rouse thee, lest it should 
 be said of thee also, that thy kingdom shall not con- 
 tinue. 
 
THE CAUSES OF SAUL'S DOWNFALL. 163 
 
 IIL Mark the Alternative to This. — In an- 
 swer to all this, Samuel, speaking in the name of God, 
 said, " I have chosen a man after my own heart, who 
 shall perform all my will." In Jesse's home the lad 
 was being prepared who could believe and not make 
 haste. Listen to the manner in which this man after 
 God's own heart spake in after-years, " I waited pa- 
 tiently for the Lord, and He inclined unto me, and 
 heard my cry. He brought me up also out of an hor- 
 rible pit, out of the miry clay, and He set my feet 
 upon a rock and established my goings. And He 
 hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto 
 our God; many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in 
 the Lord. Blessed is the man that maketh the Lord 
 his trust, and respecteth not the proud, nor such as 
 turn aside to lies " (Psa. xl. 1-4). 
 
 Wait, wait thou thy Lord's leisure. Let thine heart 
 stop its feverish beating, and thy pulse register no 
 more its tumultuous waves of emotion ! To act now 
 would only disappoint the highest hopes, mar the Di- 
 vine purposes, and set stones rolling that shall never 
 be stopped. Wait for God, stand still and see his 
 salvation. His servant is coming up the pass; his 
 steps may not be quite so speedy as we would have 
 them, but He will arrive to the moment; not a mo- 
 ment too soon, but not a moment too late. God's 
 messenger is timed to come when the heart has al- 
 most failed, the steps almost gone, and hope almost 
 vanished. " The Lord is at hand ! " Oh, wait, my 
 
1 64 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 soul ! wait, wait upon God, for God cannot be behind, 
 as He will not be before, the allotted and appointed 
 moment; 
 
 And when He comes there will be laughter for 
 tears, harvest for sowing, blue skies for clouds, and 
 long days of rapturous bliss that shall make thee for- 
 get the shame and reproach of the past! 
 
XVI. 
 
 " XCwo putting ^en Trbousanb to jfltgbt" 
 
 (i Samuel xiv.) 
 
 Oh! I have seen the day, 
 When with a single word, — 
 God helping me to say 
 
 ' My trust is in the Lord! ' 
 My soul hath quelled a thousand foes, 
 
 Fearless of all that could oppose. 
 
 — COWPER. 
 
 JUST two young men, with the glow of patriotism 
 in their hearts^ and trust in God as their guiding- 
 star — what may they not effect? 
 Jonathan was a true knight of God, who anticipated 
 some of the noblest traits of Christian chivalry. We 
 may almost say of him that he was the Hebrew 
 Bayard, a soldier without fear and without reproach. 
 He lived pure, spoke true, righted wrong, was faithful 
 to the high claims of human love, and followed the 
 Christ, though as yet he knew Him not. His charac- 
 ter serves as a bright background on which that of his 
 father is but a sorry contrast. 
 
 From the Jordan bank a noble valley, twelve miles 
 in length, leads up into the hill country of Central 
 Palestine, and so to the seaboard of the Mediterranean. 
 Two miles from the head of this defile, and about eight 
 miles due north of Jerusalem, the cliffs on either side 
 
 165 
 
1 66 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 become very precipitous, and approach each other 
 almost to touching. 
 
 Conceive of a very narrow^ pass protected on either 
 side by steep walls of chalky formation on which only 
 the wild goats could find a footing, and almost un- 
 scalable by man. The ridge on the north, which rises 
 above an almost perpendicular crag into three knolls, 
 was called Bozez, or " shining," because it reflects 
 all day the full light of the Eastern sun, whilst that on 
 the south, a few yards distant, was known as Seneh, 
 " the acacia," being as constantly in the shade. Mich- 
 mash crowned the former, and there the Philistines 
 were encamped, whilst the little village of Geba lay 
 above the latter, and thither Saul had removed his 
 army, such as it was, withdrawing from the plains of 
 the Jordan to watch the movements of the hostile force. 
 
 How long the armies watched each other we have 
 no means of knowing, nor can we guess what the result 
 might have been had it not been for the heroic episode 
 which we are to recount; but it is certain that Israel 
 was absolutely spiritless. At the most the men of war 
 who gathered around the pomegranate tree where 
 Saul had pitched his tent numbered only 600, and 
 these had only such rude weapons as clubs and goads. 
 
 Jonathan chafed at the inaction and the disgrace 
 which the whole situation attached to his countrymen. 
 He was animated also by a profound faith in God, and 
 was prompted by the Divine Spirit to an act which 
 issued in a glorious victory and deliverance. 
 
PUTTING TEN THOUSAND TO FLIGHT. 167 
 
 I. Jonathan Entered into the Divine Pur- 
 pose. — It seemed to him impossible to suppose that 
 God had forsaken the people of his choice or with- 
 drawn from his ancient covenant. Had He promised, 
 and could He not perform? Were not the peO'ple of 
 Israel his chosen heritage? Had He not chosen them 
 out of all the world, that they might be the custodians 
 and purveyors of Divine truth to the nations? Was 
 not the land of Canaan made over to them by an 
 irrevocable deed of gift? Did not all the miraculous 
 leadings and interpositions of the past confirm such 
 an interpretation of the Divine purpose ? Surely, then, 
 the present state of things could not be according to 
 the Divine will! Surely the purpose of the Almighty 
 was in conflict with the invasion of the land by these 
 Philistine hordes, and only waited for some believing 
 soul to enter into full communion with its mighty 
 current, and deliverance would be secured ! 
 
 Saul, on the other hand, had no perception of these 
 things. The great past failed to speak to him. Dis- 
 couraged by what met his eye and ear from morning 
 to night, he had nio power to rouse himself to lay hold 
 on the Divine promise of deliverance. The sentence 
 of deposition, which Samuel had so recently pro- 
 niounced, like a stone on the mouth of a tomb, seemed 
 to shut him up to despair. 
 
 It is of the utmost importance in this mortal life, 
 when heart and flesh fail before the giant wrongs that 
 assert themselves against the well-being of mankind — 
 
i68 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 such as the drink-traffic, the mania for betting and 
 gambling, impurity, and the insensate absorption in 
 pleasure, which are the Philistines of our time — to 
 look away to the Divine purpose, as disclosed in the 
 redemption achieved on the Cross by the blood of the 
 world's Redeemer. Surely that cannot have been shed 
 in vain. The power and potency of the Divine might 
 are pledged to realise and accomplish that full deliver- 
 ance of which the Cross was prophecy. The Son of 
 Man has been manifested that He might destroy the 
 works of the devil; and He will not fail nor be dis- 
 couraged until that purpose has been realised. Happy 
 are they who, like Jonathan, raise themselves above the 
 depression of the moment in living fellowship with 
 these eternal facts, and ally their weakness and help- 
 lessness with the march of God, as He is ever going 
 forth to establish righteousness and judgment in the 
 earth, which has been redeemed by precious blood. 
 
 II. He Yielded Himself as an Instrument. — 
 God always works through human means. He calls 
 us into fellowship with Himself, so that the Divine 
 tides shall flow through human channels. He will 
 multiply the bread, but He requires human hjmds to 
 distribute it. He raises the dead, but man must roll 
 away the stone and unwrap the cerements of the grave. 
 He arrests Saul of Tarsus, but the words and patience 
 of suffering saints must be the goad, which surely 
 urge the pricks of the recreant soul to repent. God 
 
PUTTING TEN THOUSAND TO FLIGHT. 169 
 
 is ever on the outjook for believing souls, who will 
 receive his power and grace on the one hand, and 
 transmit them on the other. He chooses themi, that 
 by them He should make his mighty power known. 
 Happy are they who are not insensible to the Divine 
 impulse, nor disobedient to the heavenly vision. 
 
 Jonathan was one of those blessed souls who are 
 as sensitive to God as the retina of the eye to light, or 
 the healthy muscle to the nerve; and " it fell upon a 
 day that he said unto the young man that bore his 
 armour, Come, let us go over to the Philistines' garri- 
 son, that is on the other side." With a beautiful 
 modesty " he told not his father " ; and in all proba- 
 bility the two slipped away silently in the gray dawn, 
 whilst their comrades were still wrapped in slumber. 
 The intimation of a Divine purpose thrilled the ardent 
 spirit of the young prince, to which he gave some 
 clue in the words, " It may be that the Lord will work 
 for us, for there is no restraint to the Lord to save by 
 many or by few." 
 
 Notice where Jonathan laid the emphasis. He had 
 the smallest possible faith in himself, and the greatest 
 faith in God. His soul waited for the Lord; in Him 
 wa^ centred all his hope, and from his gracious help 
 he expected great things. All that he aspired to was 
 to be the humble vehicle through which the delivering 
 grace of God might work. This is what God wants — 
 not our strength, but our weakness, which in absolute 
 despair turns to Him; not our armies, but two or 
 
170 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 three elect semis, who expect great things and dare 
 them. It ie false to say that the Almighty is on the 
 side of great battalions. All history goes to show that 
 the movements which have transformed the face of 
 the world have been achieved by the going forth of 
 God through individuals, who have not been specially 
 distinguished by outstanding talents, but have been 
 led to surrender themselves absolutely to the Divine 
 impulse. What shall I more say? — for time would 
 fail to tell of Carey, and Wilberforce, and Livingstone, 
 and George Miiller, and hundreds more. 
 
 Yield yourselves to God — and I especially appeal to 
 the young men who may read these words. There are 
 wrongs that God wants to right, tyrannies He is about 
 to break, foes of human peace and happiness that He 
 wants to quell; but He must have agents and instru- 
 ments, clean and pure, true and faithful, delivered 
 from the domination of the flesh, and absolutely 
 resigned to his disposal. It matters not if they be 
 high-bom as Jonathan, or obscure as his armor- 
 bearer ; through them He will achieve a great deliver- 
 ance. 
 
 Saul, the chosen king, had no such vision, and no 
 such faith. He was not sensible to the Divine voice 
 speaking in his soul, but had to depend on the inter- 
 position of the priest (ver. 19 and 36) ; he spoke and 
 acted as though the victory depended wholly on the 
 efforts that he and his men might put forth, and in 
 forbidding the use of such simple refreshment as the 
 
PUTTING TEN THOUSAND TO FLIGHT. 171 
 
 wild honey of the woods might yield, he forfeited the 
 full results of God's interposition. Could it be sup- 
 posed that God's deliverance of his people would fall 
 short because they put forth the ends of the rods that 
 might be in their hands to convey the wild honey to 
 their lips? Throughout the whole day, and especially 
 in this senseless adjuration, which was meant to save 
 time, but really hindered the full result, Saul showed 
 himself oblivious of the one thought that animated 
 the heart of his noble son — that God was working 
 through human instruments to inflict his own judg- 
 ment on the invading hosts. 
 
 III. Jonathan Reckoned on God, and God did 
 NOT Fail Him. — Faith is the indomitable power by 
 which we call unto our help a whole range of laws and 
 forces which are outside the lives of ordinary men. 
 As we have said, they have two keyboards to their 
 organ, we have three. They employ the physical and 
 intellectual, whilst we, in addition, may call in the aid 
 of the spiritual and eternal. Thus we are able to 
 accomplish the same results, and better, by the assist- 
 ance of energies which are as much greater than those 
 ordinarily employed as electricity is greater than 
 horse-power, or steam than hand. This was the secret 
 of Jonathan's success. 
 
 As they ascended the steep cliff-side, the young men 
 agreed on the sign which should indicate that they 
 were indeed in the line of the Divine will, and that 
 
1J2 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 God would not fail them. The heart of man, in its 
 first venture on the way of faith, eagerly longs for 
 some sign that it is not following a will-o'-the-wisp, 
 or being misled by wreckers' lights. This was gra- 
 ciously granted in the mocking voices of the advanced 
 outposts, which ridiculed the idea that the Hebrews 
 were to be feared (xiv. ii) even though they should 
 succeed in scaling the crags. " Behold," they said, 
 " the Hebrews come forth out of the holes where they 
 have hid themselves; and the men of the garrison 
 answered Jonathan and his armour-bearer, and said. 
 Come up to us, and we will show you a thing [or, we 
 should like to make your acquaintance]." 
 
 This was the heaven-given sign, and conveyed the 
 assurance that the Lord had already delivered them 
 into the hand of Israel (lo). By faith the soul 
 appropriates the Divine answer. " Whatsoever we ask, 
 we receive of Him." But it is only as we fulfil the 
 one all-important condition of successful prayer, which 
 is so often overlooked, " All things whatsoever ye pray 
 and ask for, believe that ye have received them, and 
 ye shall have them " (Mark xi. 24). 
 
 The soul that reckons on God cannot be ashamed. 
 When they reached the top, the two young Benja- 
 mites used their slings with such precision that 
 twenty men measured their length on the ground, and 
 a trembling from God, a heaven-sent panic, spread 
 from them back on the main anny behind, and to the 
 bands of spoilers returning from their night raids. 
 
PUTTING TEN THOUSAND TO FLIGHT. 173 
 
 The Philistines could not know that the two who 
 faced them were absolutely alone. It seemed as though 
 they were precursors of a host of resolute and desper- 
 ate men, and, suddenly, in the panic^ each man sus- 
 pected his neighbour of being in league against him. 
 The foreign mercenaries and strangers, of whom there 
 was a large admixture, became the objects of special 
 terror; "and every man's sword was against his fel- 
 low, so that there was a very great discomfiture." 
 Meanwhile the Hebrews that had been allied to the 
 Philistines, or silently acquiescent in their rule, even 
 they also turned against them ; and all who had hid 
 themselves in the hill country of Ephraim, when they 
 heard that the Philistines fled, even they also followed 
 hard after them in battle. 
 
 From his outlook at Gibeah, Saul beheld the wild 
 confusion, and how the multitude swayed to and fro, 
 and melted away. Without delay, he hurled himself 
 with his soldiers on the flying foe, who fled, in head- 
 long precipitancy, down the long valley, past Bethaven, 
 past the Upper and then the Lower Beth-horon, in 
 order to gain the Philistine frontier by the valley of 
 Aijalon. Every town through which the fugitives 
 passed rose in their rear, and joined the pursuit, so that 
 the flying host was greatly reduced, and thousands of 
 warriors dyed the highways of the land which they had 
 so grievously oppressed, with their heart's blood. 
 Thus did God work on behalf of his chosen people in 
 answer to Jonathan's faith, 
 
174 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 The unwise prohibition of the king against food 
 had a terrible sequel, first, in the exhaustion of the 
 troops, and, secondly, in the famished eating of the 
 spoils of the day, without the proper separation of 
 the blood. Still worse, when the day closed in, and 
 Saul asked counsel of God, the Divine Oracle was 
 dumb. Some sin had silenced it, and the monarch, 
 already touched with the dark suspicions and fears in 
 which his soul became afterward so densely enveloped, 
 realised that some sin was crying for discovery and 
 expiation. He did not look for that sin, where he 
 would have assuredly found it, in his own heart, but 
 in the people that stood around him. Finally, he and 
 Jonathan stood before the people as the objects of the 
 Divine displeasure, and Saul was prepared even to 
 sacrifice his son in his moody wrath. 
 
 But the people saved him. They cried indignantly, 
 " Shall Jonathan die, who hath wrought this great 
 salvation in Israel ? God forbid ! As the Lord liveth, 
 there shall not one hair of his head fall to the ground, 
 for he hath wrought with God this day." Ah! the 
 cause of discomfiture most surely lay between those 
 two men; but it was not due to aught in Jonathan. 
 Saul was alone to blame. He had not only missed the 
 greatest opportunity of his life, but he was already 
 enwrapping himself in the unbelief, the jealousy, and 
 moroseness of temper in which his sun was to be en- 
 shrouded while it was yet day. 
 
XVII. 
 
 failure unber tbe Supreme tCest. 
 
 (i Samuel xv. 26.) 
 
 Mortal! if life smile on thee, and thou find 
 
 All to thy mind. 
 Think, Who did once from Heaven to Hell descend 
 
 Thee to befriend! 
 So Shalt thou dare forego at his dear call 
 
 Thy Best— thine All. 
 
 — Keble. 
 
 ON the shores of the Dead Sea, encrusted with 
 salt, lie the trunks of many noble trees which 
 have been torn from their roots, and carried 
 by the rapid Jordan in its flow from the uplands of 
 Galilee toward the depression of that remarkable gorge ; 
 and as they line those desolate shores they remind 
 us of lives which God planted to bear fruit and give 
 shade, which have not fulfilled his original purpose 
 in their creation, and which have been torn up by the 
 roots and borne down to the sea of death. Conspicu- 
 ous among such failures is that of Saul, the first king 
 of Israel. 
 
 It is impossible to turn to these pages without la- 
 menting that the bright promise of his early life was 
 so soon overcast ; and that he, who stood forth in the 
 
 17s 
 
176 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 morning of his life amid the acclaim of his people as 
 likdy to do marvellous work for his fatherland, became 
 one of those whom the sacred writers describe as 
 having failed of the high purpose of their life, been 
 rejected in their mission, and cast away as tools from 
 the hands of the great Artificer. 
 
 This chapter gives the story of the final rejection of 
 Saul, which had indeed been threatened aforetime, but 
 which now befell. 
 
 I. The Test of the Divine Summons and Com- 
 mand. — " Go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy 
 all tliat they have, and spare them not; but slay both 
 man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, 
 camel and ass " (ver. 3). 
 
 This command was given after several years had 
 intervened from the incident narrated in the previous 
 chapter; and during those years Saul had met with 
 marvellous encouragement. The handful of men who 
 had followed him, trembling, had increased to a great 
 army, properly disciplined and armed, and led by 
 Abner, his uncle. He had also waged very successful 
 wars against Moab and the children of Ammon on the 
 East, against Edom on the South, and against the 
 kings of Zobah on the North. In whatever direction 
 he had directed his arms, he had been victorious 
 beyond his highest hopes. It is also evident that he 
 had gathered around him conpiderable state, for we 
 find the royal table was reserved for himself, Abner, 
 
FAILURE UNDER THE SUPREME TEST. 177 
 
 and Jonathan; that he was surrounded by a body- 
 guard of runners; and that his will was law. The 
 kingdom that had been inaugurated amid such adverse 
 circumstances was beginning to enforce respect, and 
 Saul was able to vie, both in the magnificence of his 
 state and in the army that followed him, with the kings 
 of the lands that bordered on Canaan. 
 
 It was at this time that the supreme test entered his 
 life, as it so often comes to us in days of prosperity. In 
 the warm summer days we are most in dread of cor- 
 ruption and contagion, and it is in the days of pros- 
 perity that the soul is oftenest subjected, not realizing 
 the significance of the ordeal, to its supreme test. If 
 of late you have had immunity from special adversity, 
 if your circumstances have been easy and comfortable, 
 if paths that were once difficult have become smooth 
 and easy — be on your guard ; for, at such a time as ye 
 think not, the Son of Man comes to call you to his 
 bar. 
 
 You will notice, also, that this supreme test gave 
 him a final chance of retrieving the past. At Gilgal, 
 years before, God had told him by the lips of Samuel 
 that his kingdom should not continue; but there had 
 been no sentence of his own deposition or rejection, 
 and it seemed as though this last command was put 
 into his life to give him an opportunity of wiping out 
 his former failure and mistake, and of retrieving the 
 fortunes that had seemed to be absdiutely sacrificed. 
 
 God often comes to us, when we have made some 
 
178 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 sad and apparently irretrievable mistake. He gives us 
 yet another opportunity of reversing the past, as when 
 our Lord said to his disciples in the Garden of the 
 Olive-press : " Sleep on now, and take your rest " ; a 
 moment afterward adding, " Arise, let us be going," 
 as though a fresh opportunity would be afforded of 
 fellowship in his sufferings. 
 
 The Divine command involved the absolute exter- 
 mination of the Amalekites; for the word translated 
 " utterly destroy," would be better rendered devote. 
 It is the word so often used in the Book of Joshua for 
 placing under the ban the sin-infected cities of the 
 Canaanites. It was understood that, in the case of the 
 " devoted " city, man, woman, and child, and the very 
 beasts, must be destroyed, and only the precious metals 
 kept, after being passed through the fires of purifica- 
 tion (Num. xxxi. 21, etc.). With such absolute 
 devastation and destruction was the name of Amalek 
 to be wiped out from under heaven. 
 
 There had been feud between Amalek and Israel 
 from the earliest days. " Thus saith the Lord of hosts, 
 I have marked that which Amalek did to Israel, how 
 he set himself against him in the way, when he came 
 up out of Egypt " (ver. 2). You will remember that 
 Moses reared an altar, and called it Jehovah-nissi — 
 " the Lord my banner " ; because he said that the Lord 
 would have war with Amalekj until He had wiped out 
 the reproach of his people (Ex. xvii. 16). Centuries 
 had passed, and this ancient threat had remained un- 
 
FAILURE UNDER THE SUPREME TEST. 
 
 179 
 
 fulfilled until this hour, and now the command was 
 given, " Go and smite Amalek." 
 
 At first it seems very terrible that God demanded 
 this act of obedience from Saul ; but on the other hand 
 the Amalekites, as we are told in ver. 18, were sin- 
 ners of a very black and aggravated type, " Utterly 
 destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against 
 them until they be consumed." We learn a!lso from 
 ver. 33 that Agag with his sword had often made 
 women childless. A very cruel and rapacious tribe of 
 robbers were these Amalekites, who were constantly 
 making raids upon the southern frontier of Judah. It 
 was absolutely necessary, therefore, for the safety 
 of the chosen people, that their power to injure 
 should be permanently arrested, and their claws 
 drawn. 
 
 Even in this world God sets up his judgment seat; 
 and as our Saviour tells us in his last wonderful dis- 
 course, the Son of Man sits upon the throne of his 
 glory, while the nations are gathered before Him, and 
 He separates them as the sheep from the goats. These 
 words, without doubt, portend some imposing event, 
 which we are to witness in that great day, when the 
 King of the Ages will call to his bar every nation and 
 kindred, people and tongue, and will announce his 
 awards. But we cannot suppose, for a single moment, 
 that the judgment of the nations is to be altogether 
 relegated to that final day. Throughout the history 
 of the world the nations have been standing before 
 
i8o SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 Christ's bar. Nineveh stood there, Babylon stood 
 there, Greece and Rome stood there, Spain and France 
 stood there, and Great Britain is standing there to-day. 
 One after another has had the solemn award — depart, 
 and they have passed into a destruction which has 
 been absolute and irretrievable. 
 
 The Amalekites had stood before the bar of God, 
 had been weighed in his balances, and found wanting. 
 Their sentence had been pronounced, and Saul was 
 called upon to inflict it. But remember that Saul was 
 only doing summarily and suddenly that which other- 
 wise would follow in the natural process of decay, for 
 God has so constituted us that when we sin against 
 the laws of truth, purity, and righteousness, decay 
 immediately sets in by an inevitable law. If Amalek 
 had never been attacked by Saul and his hosts, the 
 vices that were already at work in the heart of the 
 people must have led to the utter undoing and con- 
 sumption of the nation. It is said of families in our 
 great cities, infected with the evils that are rife among 
 us, that in five generations they die out, having lost 
 the power of self-propagation ; and what is true of a 
 family is equally so of a nation. We may infer that 
 there was therefore mercy in this Divine ordinance. 
 It was infinitely better for Amalek, and for the sur- 
 rounding peoples which would have become infected 
 by her slow deterioration, that by one stroke of the 
 executioner's axe the existence of the nation should be 
 brought to an end. 
 
FAILURE UNDER THE SUPREME TEST. 181 
 
 II. Obedience with Reserve. — The story is told us 
 in ver. 9 : " But Saul and the people spared Agag." 
 When he raised his standard, 200,000 footmen from 
 Israel, and 10,000 men of Judah, Benjamin, and 
 Simeon gathered around it at Telaim, on the southern 
 frontier; and they came to the chief city of Ama- 
 lek, which lay, probably, a little to the south of 
 Hebron. 
 
 After lying in ambush in some dry water-course, or 
 wady, and having given notice to the Kenites — a peace- 
 ful, friendly people — to depart, the attacking army 
 carried the city by assault, put to the sword men, 
 women, and children ; pursued the fleeing remnants of 
 the Amalekites from Havilah even to Shur, the great 
 wall of Egypt ; and with the exception of Agag, and a 
 few that may have escaped, and the choice of the 
 flocks and herds, the whole country was rid of its 
 inhabitants, and reduced to the deathlike silence of an 
 awful solitude. 
 
 Saul returned, flushed with triumph, reared a monu- 
 ment of victory in the oasis of Carmel, near to Hebron ; 
 and then came down to the sacred site of Gilgal, that 
 he might sacrifice to the Lord, and perhaps divide the 
 vast plunder of sheep and goats, of oxen and camiels, 
 which had fallen into his hands, and which he and 
 the people had been loath to destroy. " Saul and the 
 people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep and of 
 the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all 
 that was good, and would not utterly destroy them; 
 
1 82 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 but everything that was vile and refuse, they destroyed' 
 utterly." 
 
 Whether this reserve was due, so far as Saul was 
 concerned, to greed, as appears most likely, or because, 
 as he says in ver. 24, he feared to thwart the people, 
 obeying their voice rather than the voice of God, we 
 cannot decide; but considerable light is thrown on the 
 incident by the startling expression used by Samuel in 
 ver. 19, when he says, " Why didst thou fly upon the 
 spoil ? " employing the same expression as in chapter 
 xiv. 32, where we are told that the people, in their 
 ravenous hunger, flew upon the spoil, and ate even 
 with the blood. The same passionate vehemence 
 seems to have characterised Saul and the men of 
 Israel. Surely rapacity and greed were at work, and 
 before their boiling currents all the bulwarks of prin- 
 ciple and conscience were swept away. 
 
 There is great significance in this for us all. We 
 are prepared to obey the Divine commands up to a 
 certain point, and there we stay. Just as soon as " the 
 best and choicest " begin to be touched, we draw the 
 line and refuse further compliance. We listen to soft 
 voices that bid us stay our hand, when our Isaac is on 
 the altar. We are quite prepared to give up that 
 which costs us nothing — our money, but not our 
 children — to the missionary cause; the things which 
 are clearly and disgracefully wrong, but not the self- 
 indulgences which are peculiarly fascinating to our 
 temperament. Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath. 
 
FAILURE UNDER THE SUPREME TEST. 183 
 
 will he give for his life — only spare him that, and he 
 will cheerfully renounce his claim to all else. There 
 is always a tendency with the best of us to make a 
 bargain with God, and sacrifice all to his will, if only 
 He will permit us to spare Agag and the best of the 
 spoil. 
 
 But an even deeper reading of this story is permissi- 
 ble. Throughout the Bible Amalek stands for the 
 flesh, having sprung from the stock of Esau, who, for 
 a morsel of meat, steaming fragrantly in the air, sold 
 his birthright. To spare the best of Amalek is surely 
 equivalent to sparing some root of evil, some plausible 
 indulgence, some favourite sin. For us, Agag must 
 stand for that evil propensity, which exists in all of 
 us, for self-gratification; and to spare Agag is to be 
 mierciful to ourselves, to exonerate and palliate our 
 failures, and to condone our besetting sin. 
 
 Is this your case? You are willing to give Christ 
 the key of every cupboard in your heart, save one ; but 
 that contains your most cherished sin, for which you 
 find manifold excuses, and to retain which you are 
 prepared to sacrifice everything else. Thus Ananias 
 and Sapphira kept back part of the price, and were cut 
 off from the ranks of the Church. 
 
 It is startling to learn that Saul perished, on the 
 field of Gilboa, by the hand of an Amalekite (2 Sam. 
 i. I -10). What a remarkable fact! The least in- 
 structed can decipher the lesson. He who runs may 
 read. If we spare ourselves, forbearing to cut oflf 
 
1 84 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 the right hand or foot, which may be causing us to 
 offend, we shall certainly perish by the hand of that 
 which we refused to part with. Our cherished in- 
 dulgences will bring about our undoing. The love of 
 God, foreseeing the risk we are incurring, pleads with 
 us to destroy without mercy the enemies of our own 
 peace ; but Agag comes to us delicately, we forbear to 
 inflict the Divine sentence, and presently we are 
 stricken down by the hand of the assassin, dye the 
 greensward with our life-blood, and are despoiled of 
 our crown, which is transferred to another. 
 
 Moreover, presently, Samuel arrives to speak the 
 Divine sentence of deposition : " Because thou hast 
 rejected the word of the Lord, the Lord hath rejected 
 thee from being king." 
 
XVIII. 
 
 H IRemarftable Colloquy. 
 
 (i Samuel xv. 12-35.) 
 
 Thy choice was earth! Thou didst attest 
 Twas fitter spirit should subserve 
 The flesh, than flesh refuse to nerve 
 Beneath the spirit's play! Thou art shut 
 Out of the heaven of spirit! Glut 
 Thy sense upon the world! 'tis thine 
 For ever! — take it! 
 
 — R. B. 
 
 AN intimation of Saul's lapsed obedience was 
 . made in the secret ear of Samuel in the dead 
 of night, when God came near to him and 
 said, " It repenteth Me that I have set up Saul to be 
 king, for he hath turned back from following Me, and 
 hath not performed my commandments." 
 
 God requires literal obedience, and when that fails 
 the results are as though He had changed his purpose 
 or repented, but this is in appearance only. As a 
 matter of fact, God cannot repent or change his pur- 
 pose. 'Man may frustrate the working out of his 
 plan, but the Almighty Workman will achieve it by 
 some other method. 
 
 The wind may be blowing steadily in the same di- 
 rection, and as long as we yield to it, it will waft us to 
 
 18s 
 
1 86 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 the desired haven; but it is always possible for us to 
 reverse our course and go against it, and then our life 
 is so powerfully affected that it would seem as though 
 God had changed his purpose — the change being due 
 to ourselves, because, whereas formerly we moved 
 with his purpose, now by disobedience or unbelief we 
 are steadily resisting it. 
 
 Does God ever come to you at night, or when the 
 world is quiet, and tell you his secrets? Happy are 
 they whom God can trust with his own profound sor- 
 row over the failure of his chosen servants, honouring 
 them with his confidence, and appealing to them to 
 watch with Him. " Shall I hide from Abraham that 
 which I do? " 
 
 The faithful soul of Samuel was deeply moved. 
 We are told he was " angry " — a righteous indigna- 
 tion that one who had been appointed with such 
 solemn sanctions, and had bidden fair to achieve such 
 glorious deliverances for his people, had so seriously 
 missed his mark. Those who are true to God cannot 
 but feel indignant when his purposes are frustrated, 
 and his grace outraged, and the door of usefulness 
 which He had set wide in front of a chosen servant is 
 shut and barred by some act of careless or wilful dis- 
 obedience. Samuel's soul was not only deeply 
 moved, but " he cried unto the Lord all night." Ah ! 
 how much we owe to the Divine Friend, and to hu- 
 man friends, who when they see deterioration at work 
 within us, take no rest, and give God no rest. This 
 
A REMARKABLE COLLOQUY. 187 
 
 is the most priceless service tliat one soul caii afford 
 another. Thfre is hope so long as lover and friend 
 bear up our case before God, and plead that rather 
 they should l?e accursed than that we should perish. 
 How many a son now leading a reckless and profli- 
 gate life, in his still hours, or when his evil courses 
 have cast him on a bed of sickness, and debarred him 
 from the active pursuits of life, comforts himself with 
 the thought that, in some lone cottage, his mother 
 does not cease to pray for him, and he secretly hopes 
 that her prayers may avail against the vehemence of 
 the fiery passions by which his soul is driven. 
 
 Samuel travelled some fifteen miles to find Saul, 
 following him from Carmiel, where, as we have seen, 
 he seems to have set up a monument which was either 
 shaped in the form of a hand, or on which the figure 
 of a hand was graved (r. v. margin) to Gilgal, the 
 site of the ancient shrine, where, as one of the ver- 
 sions informs us, the King was engaged in offering 
 sacrifices to Jehovah ; and there this most remarkable 
 colloquy took place. 
 
 Saul. — It was commenced by the King, who, see- 
 ing the Prophet coming towards him, advanced to 
 meet him with an unctuous phrase upon his lips, 
 " Blessed be thou of the Lord," and, with great com- 
 placency in his demeanour, added, " I have performed 
 the commandment of the Lord." Whether Saul was 
 blinded and did not really know how far he had de- 
 teriorated, for it is certain that disobedience puts out 
 
1 88 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 our eyes, as Hubert did young Arthur's, blinding us 
 to the enormity of our sin, or whether he desired to 
 gloss over his failure, and to appear as a truly 
 obedient son, so as to deceive the prophet, we cannot 
 tell, but that " Blessed be thou of the Lord," from 
 his lips, and at such a moment, has an ugly sound. It 
 reminds one of certain persons who interlard their 
 business talk with references to religion, so that they 
 may put the unwary off their guard, and enable their 
 user to take a mean advantage, under the appearance 
 of a high code of morals. It is the sin of Judas who 
 betrayed his Master with a kiss. Better the open foe 
 than the secret assassin. Better a dozen times the 
 arrow that flieth by day than the pestilence that 
 walketh in darkness. 
 
 Samuel. — At that moment the sheep began to 
 bleat, and the oxen to low. A breath of wind, laden 
 with the unmistakable indication of the near presence 
 of a great multitude of flocks and herds, was wafted 
 to the Prophet's ear. It is an unfortunate occurrence 
 when, just as a man is becoming loud in his protes- 
 tations of goodness, some such untoward incident 
 suddenly takes place, so that the lowing of the oxen 
 and the bleating of the sheep belie his words. I re- 
 member once a professor of religion who desired to 
 impress me with his entire sanctification, and deliver- 
 ance from every kind of idol, giving unmistakable 
 evidence, by the taint of tobacco on his breath, whilst 
 he spoke, that he had been smoking a rather rank kind 
 
A REMARKABLE COLLOQUY. 189 
 
 of tobacco. I had not said a single word about smok- 
 ing. I have never feh it my business to denounce 
 indulgences concerning which God may not convict 
 men universally. It is our business, on matters not 
 clearly forbidden, and concerning which Christian 
 people are not agreed, to lay down general principles, 
 and to leave our hearers to apply them for themselves. 
 But when this man went out of his way to assert his 
 entire deliverance, I naturally was more on the alert, 
 and in the taint on his breath I detected the presence 
 of the choice oxen and sheep which had been re- 
 served. With sad irony the prophet said, " What 
 meaneth then this bleating of sheep in mine ears, and 
 the lowing of oxen which I hear ? " 
 
 Saul. — The King excused himself by laying em^ 
 phasis on the word they — " They have brought them 
 from the Amalekites; for the people spared the 
 best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice unto the 
 Lord thy God." Notice the subtle effort to conciliate 
 the prophet by the emphasis laid upon the word thy — 
 "thy God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed." 
 It was unroyal and contemptible to lay the blame 
 upon the people, and it was an excuse which could 
 not be allowed. 
 
 Samuel. — The royal backslider would probably 
 have gone on speaking, but Samuel interrupted him, 
 saying, " Stay, and I will tell thee what the Lord hath 
 said to me this night." Then the faithful old prophet 
 went back to the past. He reminded Saul how in- 
 
190 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 significant had been his origin, and how he had 
 shrunk from undertaking the great responsibihty of 
 the station to which God had summoned him. He 
 reminded him how he had been raised up to the 
 throne, and how the Almighty King of Israel had 
 delegated to him his authority, requiring that he 
 should act as his designated vicegerent. He re- 
 minded him also that a distinct charge had been given 
 him, and that the responsibility of determining his 
 line of action had been transferred from himself, as 
 the agent, to the Divine Being who had issued his 
 mandate of destruction. In spite of all, Saul had 
 allowed his greed to hurry him into an act of dis- 
 obedience. He had flown upon the spoil as a hungry 
 lion upon his prey, and had done evil in the sight of 
 the Lord. 
 
 Saul. — The King reiterated his poor excuse: 
 " Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the Lord, and have 
 gone the way that the Lord sent me, and have 
 brought Agag, the king of Amalek, and have utterly 
 destroyed the Amalekites. But the people took of the 
 spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the devoted things, 
 to sacrifice unto the Lord thy God in Gilgal." It was 
 as though he had said, " You have judged me wrong- 
 fully. If you would wait for a little while, you would 
 see the issue of my act of apparent disobedience." 
 He may even have cajoled himself into thinking that 
 he meant to sacrifice these spoils now that he had 
 reached Gilgal; or he might have mentally resolved 
 
A REMARKABLE COLLOQUY. 191 
 
 there and then that he would sacrifice them, and so 
 reheve himself of the complicated position into which 
 he found himself drifting. 
 
 Samuel. — In answer to this last remark, God's 
 messenger uttered one of the greatest sentences in the 
 earlier books of the Bible, a sentence which is the 
 seed-germ of much to the same purpose in the 
 Prophets, which in subsequent centuries was repeated 
 in different forms, and to which our blessed Lord 
 gave his assent — " Hath the Lord as great delight in 
 burnt-offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice 
 of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, 
 and to hearken than the fat of rams." Whatever 
 Saul might be leading him to infer, as to his intention 
 to offer the sacrifice, there could be no doubt that up 
 to that moment, at least, he had disobeyed God's posi- 
 tive command ; and, in point of fact, the whole attitude 
 of his soul was towards disobedience and rebellion, 
 which, in fact, were the assertion of his own will and 
 way against God's. 
 
 Then, tearing the veil aside, the old man showed 
 the enormity of the sin which had been committed, 
 by saying: " Rebellion is equally vile as the sin of 
 witchcraft, and stubbornness is as idolatry and the 
 teraphim." These sins were universally reprobated 
 and held up to the contempt of good men, but in 
 God's sight there was nothing to choose between them 
 and the sin of which the King had been guilty. 
 Then, facing the monarch, and looking at him witK 
 
iga SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 his searching eyes, the Prophet, in the majesty of his 
 authority as God's representative, pronounced the 
 final sentence of deposition, saying, " Because thou 
 hast rejected the word of the Lord, He hath also re- 
 jected thee from being King." 
 
 Saul. — In a moment the King realised the brink 
 of the precipice on which he stood; and with the cry 
 not of a penitent, but of a fugitive from justice; not 
 hating his sin, but dreading its result; eager at any 
 cost to keep the crown on his brow and the empire 
 in his hand; afraid of the consequences which might 
 ensue if his leading men detected any break or cool- 
 ness between himself and the Prophet — he cringed 
 before Samuel, saying, " I liave sinned ; for I have 
 transgressed the commandment of Jehovah, and thy 
 words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their 
 voice. Now therefore, I pray thee, pardon my sin, 
 and turn again with me, that I may worship the 
 Lord." 
 
 There is a great difiference in the accent with which 
 men utter those words, " / have sinned." The prodi- 
 gal said them with a faltering voice, not because he 
 feared the consequences of sin, but that he saw its 
 heinousness in the expression of his father's face, and 
 the tears that stood in the beloved eyes. Saul, how- 
 ever, feared the consequences rather than the sin, and 
 that he might avert the sentence he said, as though 
 Samuel had the power of the keys to open and unloose, 
 to pardon or to refuse forgiveness, " Pardon my sin." 
 
A REMARKABLE COLLOQUY. 193 
 
 Samuel. — The Prophet saw through the subter- 
 fuge. He knew that his penitence was not genuine, 
 but that the King was deceiving him with his words, 
 and he turned about to go away. Then Saul, in the 
 extremity of his anguish, in fear that in losing him he 
 might lose at once his best friend and the respect of 
 the nation, seems to have sprung forward and seized 
 the collar of Samuel's cloak, and as he did so with a 
 strong, masterful grasp, as if to restrain and di"aw 
 back to himself the retreating figure of the Prophet, 
 it rent. When Samuel felt and heard the tear, he 
 said, " The Lord hath rent the kingdom of Israel from 
 thee this day, and hath given it to a neighbour of 
 thine, that is better than thou." And then, referring 
 to Saul's effort to turn him back, as though he would 
 reverse the sentence which he had pronounced, he 
 said, " Remember that the Strength of Israel will not 
 lie nor repent ; his sentence is irrevocable. The 
 word is gone out of his lips and cannot be called 
 back. There is no opportunity of changing his 
 mind though thou shalt seek it bitterly and with 
 tears." 
 
 Even at that moment, had Saul thrown himself at 
 God's feet and asked for pardon, he would have been 
 accepted and forgiven. Even though as a monarch 
 his kingdom might have passed from him, as a man 
 he would have received pardon. But there are mo- 
 ments in our lives, irrevocable moments, when we 
 take steps that cannot be retraced, when we assume 
 
194 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 positions from which we cannot retreat, when results 
 are settled never to be reversed. 
 
 Saul. — Again the King repeated the sentence, " I 
 have sinned," but his real meaning was disclosed in 
 the following words : " Yet honour me now before 
 the elders of my people, and before Israel, and turn 
 again with me, that I may worship Jehovah thy God." 
 His inner thought was still to stand well with the 
 people, and he was prepared to make any confession 
 of wrong-doing as a price of Samuel's apparent friend- 
 ship. 
 
 Finally, Samuel stayed with him, that the elders 
 might not become disaffected, and that the people 
 generally might have no idea of the deposition of the 
 King, lest the kingdom itself might totter to its fall 
 before his successor was prepared to take his place. 
 He stayed therefore. The two knelt side by side be- 
 fore God, but what a contrast! Here was darkest 
 night; there, the brightness of the day. Here was the 
 rejected; there, the chosen faithful servant. Here 
 was one whose course from that moment was to be 
 enwrapped in the dark clouds of moody tyranny and 
 jealousy, until he died upon the field of Gilboa; tlwre 
 was one, the unsullied beauty of whose character was 
 to remain untarnished until his removal to that world 
 where he would shine as the sun, in his heavenly 
 Father's kingdom. 
 
 Lastly, the old man summoned Agag, the King of 
 the Amalekites, to his presence, and Agag came to 
 
A REMARKABLE COLLOQUY. 195 
 
 him " clwerfully," hoping without doubt that he would 
 be spared; and saying, as he advanced, " Surely the 
 bitterness of death is past — there is no reason for me 
 to fear it." Then Samuel, strengthened with some 
 paroxysm of righteous indignation, seized a sword 
 that lay within his reach, and hewed Agag in pieces 
 before the Lord — emblem, this, of the holy zeal that 
 will give no quarter to the flesh; and we are reminded 
 of the words of the Apostle, " Make not provision for 
 the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof." To Amalek we 
 must give no quarter. 
 
 May God help us to read deeply into this tragic 
 story. Whensoever God our Father puts a supreme 
 test into our lives, let us at any cost obey Him. 
 Everything hinges upon absolute obedience. If you 
 cannot obey, you cannot command. If you do not 
 obey, you are not fit to be an instrument in God's 
 hand. If the chisel is not true, the sculptor dare not 
 hold it still in hand. Let us walk circumspectly and 
 wisely, redeeming each opportunity, that God may 
 make the most possible of us, and that, above all, we 
 may not become castaways. 
 
XIX. 
 
 "Bn lEvd Spirit from tbe XorJ>." 
 
 (i Samuel xvi. 13-14.) 
 
 Canst thou not minister to a mind diseased; 
 Pluck from the memory a rooted sorrow? 
 Raze out the written troubles of the brain, 
 And with some sweet, oblivious antidote 
 Cleanse the stuff'd bosom of that perilous stuff 
 Which weighs upon the heart? 
 
 — Shakspere. 
 
 ALL great painters and poets whose works are 
 of the first order have availed themselves of 
 the force of contrast — that there should be a 
 dark background to set forth some beautiful and 
 radiant object. The Bible excels in its use of this 
 striking method of laying emphasis. In the very first 
 chapter the world is described as without form and 
 void, whilst darkness broods over the face of the 
 deep, and against that, as the background, is the crea- 
 tion of light, leaping across the void, and upon the 
 background of chaos arises the cosmos of order and 
 beauty. Also at the end of this great Book, great 
 even as a literary production, we have again the force 
 of contrast, as from all the storm and tumult of the 
 world we are borne upwards to those heavenly spaces 
 where a white-robed multitude with crowns on their 
 brows, and palms of victory in their hands, in perfect 
 
 ig6 
 
"AN EVIL SPIRIT FROM THE LORD." 197 
 
 peace, chant the everlasting song. In contrast with 
 the apostate Church of Babylon, there is the Bride of 
 the Lamb, Jerusalem from above, prepared as for her 
 marriage. All through the Bible you are constantly 
 brought face to face with the greatest possible con- 
 trasts, and much of its interest may be attributed to 
 this source. 
 
 The same feature is stamped on this division of the 
 Book. In the opening chapters, against the wild 
 licence and unbridled indulgence of the Book of the 
 Judges, and especially against the dissolute and 
 abominable behaviour of Eli's sons, as the back- 
 ground, is the kneeling figure of the young Samuel, 
 with clasped hands, engaged in prayer beneath the 
 open sky. The beauty of the child's piety is the more 
 exquisite because of the dark wildness, licence, and 
 passion amid which it unfolds. And here, at the end 
 of the Book, where it is evident that Saul is drifting 
 as a wreck to the rocks, whilst from the lurid sky the 
 thunderbolts fall and the lightning flashes on the 
 earth, the curtain is uplifted from God's own king, 
 the man after his own heart, the young and beautiful 
 boy called from following the sheep to be the shep- 
 herd of Israel. Against the contrast of Eli's sons you 
 have Samuel, and against the contrast of Saul's rejec- 
 tion you have David's anointing. This law of con- 
 trast pervades this great Book — great from the 
 artistic and human standpoint, altogether apart from 
 its lofty, its transcendent, its Divine, origin. 
 
198 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 We will notice the dawn of fair promise; the dark- 
 ened afternoon; and, finally, the lurid gleams of a 
 false zeal. 
 
 I. The Dawn of a Fair Promise. — " Samuel cried 
 unto the Lord." His intercessions rose day and 
 night for Saul, if haply he might arrest the terrible 
 consequences of his sin, which seemed so imminent? 
 But he was made aware that prayer would not avail. 
 It seemed as though Saul had already made the fatal 
 choice, and had committed the sin which is unto 
 death, and concerning which we have no encourag.e- 
 ment to pray. Tlie summons of the hour was, there- 
 fore, not to prayer, but action. The Spirit of God 
 bade Samuel go to Bethlehem, and among the sons 
 of Jesse discover and anoint the new king. Samuel 
 was stunned by the request, and suggested that if 
 Saul heard a whisper of such a proceeding, he would 
 at once take measures to avenge himself, by inflicting 
 the death penalty. But the Spirit of God bade him 
 go, taking his long horn of oil in one hand, and lead- 
 ing a heifer with the other. Thus he made his way 
 across the broken hill-country of Judea, until he came 
 to the village of Bethlehem, lying along the slope of 
 the hill at the foot of which, not long before, Boaz had 
 courted Ruth. The halo of the immortal story of 
 their love was still fresh as dew. 
 
 When he entered the little town the elders were 
 filled with consternation; it was so unusual to see the 
 
" AN. EVIL SPIRIT FROM THE LORD." 
 
 199 
 
 great prophet visiting them without previous an- 
 nouncement. They asked if he had come peaceably. 
 " Peaceably ! " was the laconic reply. A sacrificial 
 feast was at once prepared, the victim ofifered; but as 
 some time must elapse between the offering of the 
 sacrifice and the preparation of the food, Samuel ad- 
 journed to spend the interim in the house of the vil- 
 lage chieftain, Jesse the Bethlehemite, a mighty man 
 of valour and of wealth ; and thus, in the privacy of the 
 home, in a manner unlikely to attract the notice of 
 the Court, David's career as king began. 
 
 One after another the stalwart sons of Jesse passed 
 before the prophet, and as he looked upon them in 
 their towering stature and manly frame, he supposed 
 that any one of them might be God's designated 
 monarch. But his Almighty Counsellor told him 
 that outward appearance was not this time to weigh 
 in the scales of choice; but that the royal qualities of 
 the heart were alone to determine his selection. And 
 so son after son passed ; all had come but one, and he 
 was with the sheep. Samuel felt that probably, be- 
 cause he was the youngest and the least, he might be 
 God's accepted king. He could not proceed with the 
 holy exercises until the boy was summoned; and, 
 anon, coming quickly from the hills, the colour 
 mounting to his ruddy cheeks, his hair waving in the 
 wind, his beautiful blue eyes flashing with purity and 
 truth, David stood before the old man, the dawn of a 
 new age, the inauguration of a better time, the key- 
 
200 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 stone of the great fabric of Hebrew monarchy; above 
 all, the man whom God loved. As his brethren stood 
 around, the old man took the horn of oil, broke the 
 capsule, poured it on the bright young locks, drench- 
 ing them with the holy unction, as the boy bent be- 
 neath. As he anointed him, it seemed as though 
 God Almighty accompanied the outward sign and 
 seal by the inward grace, for we are told that the 
 Spirit of God came upon that young life from that 
 day forward, bathing it, permeating and filling it, so 
 that he went in the power of the Holy Spirit to meet 
 his great life-work, to be the sweet singer of Israel, 
 the shepherd of God's people, and the inaugurator of 
 Solomon's temple. 
 
 You may have nothing in the outward semblance, 
 nothing in your surroundings or circumstances, to 
 indicate the true royalty within; but if you bare your 
 heart to God, you shall stand revealed as his son, as 
 a priest and king unto Himself. Oh, that at this 
 moment the Holy Ghost might descend upon you! 
 Would that you might seek and receive an unction 
 from the Holy One Himself! Oh, that the Holy 
 Spirit of God, who is the true anointing oil of the soul, 
 might be shed upon you, so that you might go forth, 
 saying, " The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, He hath 
 anointed me "! 
 
 n. An Overcast Afternoon. — We have morn- 
 ing with David; we have afternoon with Saul. Here 
 
"AN. EVIL SPIRIT FROM THE LORD." 201 
 
 youth; there manhood which has passed into prime. 
 Here the promise; and there the overcast meridian of 
 a wrecked life. 
 
 You will notice that, whereas it is said that the 
 Spirit of God descended upon David, we are told 
 that " The Spirit of the Lord had departed from Saul." 
 That does not necessarily mean that all the religious 
 life of Saul had become extinct, but that the special 
 faculty and power by which he had been prepared for 
 his kingly work were withdrawn from him. It is 
 abundantly sure that the work which a man does in 
 this world is not wrought only by the force of his 
 genius, the brilliance of his intellect, or by those 
 natural gifts with which God may have endowed him, 
 but by a something beyond and behind all these — a 
 spiritual endowment which is communicated by the 
 Spirit of God for special office, and which is retained 
 so long as the character is maintained; but when the 
 character begins to deteriorate and decline, when 
 there is a divorce between religion and morality, when 
 a soul turns definitely from the will and way of God 
 to the paths of disobedience — then that mystic power, 
 which our forefathers called unction, and which the 
 Bible calls the Spirit of God, seems to be dissipated, 
 and to pass away as the aroma when scent has been 
 long exposed to common air. So Saul lost the 
 special endowment of power, which had enabled him 
 to subdue his enemies and to order his kingdom. 
 
 Secondly, we have the mysterious power of open- 
 
202 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 ing our nature to the Holy Spirit of God, who is the 
 medium of communicating all the virtue, the energy, 
 and the life of God, infilling spirit, soul, and body, 
 quickening the mind, warming the heart, elevating 
 and purifying the whole moral life. We have also the 
 awful alternative power of yielding ourselves to the 
 evil spirit, or demon spirits, of which the spiritual 
 sphere is full. When we are first born into the world, 
 the inner shrine of our being is not, as yet, occupied; 
 it is a holy of holies not yet tenanted; but as years go 
 on it is left for each to choose by which spirit he will 
 be inhabited. Some, by the grace of God, are led to 
 open their natures to receive the most blessed gift that 
 God can bestow, since it is Himself; whilst others re- 
 semble Judas, of whom it is said that " Then Satan 
 entered into him " ; or Saul, of whom it is said : " Then 
 the Spirit of God departed from him, and an evil spirit 
 troubled him." In many cases men appear to be 
 tenanted, occupied, and infilled by the spirit of evil; 
 and possibly even some of the worst forms of drunk- 
 enness, of lustful passion, and of jealous temper, are 
 simply to be attributed to possession by some demon 
 spirit. In the treatment of the insane, it would per- 
 haps be wise to bear this theory in mind, and to deal 
 with the tormented nature as our Lord did, who dealt 
 with such as palaces occupied by legions of vinclean 
 tenants, whom He commanded to go forth. 
 
 It is affirmed that " an evil spirit from the Lord " 
 troubled Saul, To interpret this aright, we must re- 
 
"AN EVIL SPIRIT FROM THE LORD." 
 
 203 
 
 member that, in the strong terse Hebrew speech, the 
 Almighty is sometimes said to do what He permits 
 to be done. And surely such is the interpretation 
 here. God cannot be tempted of evil, neither 
 tempteth He any man, but He allows us to be tempted 
 of Satan (Job i. 6-12; Luke xxii. 31). Our Lord was 
 led by the Spirit into the wilderness, to be tempted oi 
 the devil, and He taught us to ask that we should not 
 be led along that dreaded path; but that the neces- 
 sary discipline of life should come in some other way. 
 When therefore we read that an evil spirit " from the 
 Lord " troubled Saul, we must believe that, as Saul 
 had refused the good and gracious influences of the 
 Holy Spirit and definitely chosen the path of dis- 
 obedience, there was nothing for it but to leave him 
 to the working of his own evil heart. The guard of 
 spiritual help was removed, and there was nothing to 
 prevent Satan entering him, as in after-days he en- 
 tered Judas. In the solemn words, thrice repeated in 
 Rom. i., God " gave him up " to a reprobate mind 
 (Rom. i. 24, 26, 28). 
 
 HI. The Lurid Gleams that Break through 
 THIS Overcast Sky. — In 2 Sam. xxi. 2 you have this : 
 — " The king "—that is David—" called the Gibeon- 
 ites, and said unto them (now the Gibeonites were not 
 of the children of Israel, but of the remnant of the 
 Amorites; and the children of Israel had sworn unto 
 them: and Saul sought to slay them in his zeal to the 
 
204 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 children of Israel and Judah)." Saul was smarting 
 under Samuel's words, writhing under the sentence of 
 deposition, and his soul was stirred to neutralise, if 
 possible, the Divine verdict so as to still keep the 
 favour of God. It was true, and Saul knew it well, 
 that he had failed in one distinct act of obedience; he 
 had kept the choice of the spoil for himself, but why 
 should he not, by excessive zeal in other directions, 
 win back his lost inheritance? Granting that he has 
 failed, he will more than compensate. Allowing that 
 he has failed in what God told him to do, why should 
 he not succeed in something that God had not told 
 him to do? Why should he not resuscitate some old 
 command, and give it unexpected obedience? 
 
 Now there were two such commandments which 
 seem to have occurred to him. The one enacted that 
 when the children of Israel entered the Land of 
 Promise, they should destroy all the people of the 
 land. The Gibeonites, however, succeeded in secur- 
 ing that they should be excepted because they had 
 made a covenant with Joshua, and Joshua had sworn 
 to them (Josh. ix). The Gibeonites, therefore, had 
 lived amongst the children of Israel for many cen- 
 turies, and had become almost an integral part of the 
 nation. But in his false zeal for God Saul seems to 
 have laid ruthless hands upon these peaceable people; 
 and, in spite of the old covenant which bound Israel 
 to respect their liberty and life, he exterminated them 
 — an act that brought righteous retribution in after- 
 
"AN. EVIL SPIRIT FROM THE LORD." 205 
 
 days on his house, for you remember how, as a set- 
 off to this ruthless attack, Rizpah's sons, and his own 
 five grandsons, were hanged upon a tree, and left 
 there until the rain rotted them (2 Sam. xxi. 8). 
 Secondly, there was on the statute-book a very dras- 
 tic law against necromancers and witches, and it was 
 commanded that these should be exterminated from 
 the land (Exod. xxii. 18). Therefore Saul turned 
 his hand against them. In his heart he still believed 
 in them — for at the end of his life, when a man al- 
 ways casts aside his pretences and appears as he is, 
 Saul sought out one of these very women and availed 
 himself of her help. In order, however, to show his 
 religious zeal for God, and to extort the reversal of 
 his sentence, Saul began to exterminate them. 
 
 But as his edicts went forth, there was rottenness 
 in his heart. His royal state was greatly increased; 
 he wore from this time a gorgeous turban, like other 
 kings, which was brought from the field of Gilboa to 
 David. There was a great increase of luxury in his 
 Court, for he arrayed the daughters of Israel in scarlet 
 and gold (2 Sam. i. 24). A subtle admixture of 
 Baal worship with the recognition of Jehovah appears 
 from his naming his sons, partly from the name of 
 Jehovah and partly by the name of Baal. He took 
 to himself concubines in imitation of his neighbours. 
 While on the one hand, therefore, there was this out- 
 burst of lurid zeal for God, his own heart was becom- 
 ing more and more enervated and evil. 
 
2o6 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 Saul's is not an isolated case. Take, for instance, 
 two examples from the New Testament, which are 
 almost parallel. The one in which the apostle says, 
 of Israel, that " they have a zeal for God, but not ac- 
 cording to knowledge. For being ignorant of God's 
 righteousness, and seeking to establish their own, they 
 did not subject themselves to the righteousness of 
 God." And the other, the case of that still more 
 famous Benjamite, Saul's namesake, who tells us that, 
 while he was kicking against the pricks, he had a 
 zeal for God in the persecution of the Church (Rom. 
 X. 2; Acts xxii. 3, 4). 
 
 Dti not we know this in our own experience? 
 When one has fallen under the condemnation of con- 
 science, the heart has endeavoured to whisper comfort 
 to itself by saying, " I will endeavour to redeem my 
 cause by an extravagance of zeaJ." We have plunged 
 into some compensating work to neutralise the result 
 of failure. It is zeal, but it is false ; it is zeal, but it is 
 strange fire; it is zeal, but it is self-originated; it is 
 zeal, but it is only for self, smd not for God ; it is zeal, 
 but it is zeal for the letter, for the tradition, for the 
 external form; it is not the zeal of the man who is 
 eaten up and devoured by a passionate love for the 
 Son of God, and for the souls He has made. 
 
 This is the story of ourselves. No man can get 
 away from it. Here is the mirror in which we behold 
 our own faces. The Bible is the Book of God, be- 
 cause it is the Book of man; it is the timeless Biook; 
 
"AN EVIL SPIRIT FROM THE LORD." 207 
 
 it is the Book that is the mirror of the soul, because 
 man is always seeing himself in the experience of 
 those that have preceded him. 
 
 Let us turn from Saul for a moment to that dear 
 face that bends over us to-day; to that heart that 
 yearns over us; to the Christ of God that loves us. 
 We, too, have disobeyed, have come short, have 
 failed to fulfil his commands, but there is forgiveness 
 in those flowing wounds; there is pardon in that lov- 
 ing heart. Ask Him to blot out the past. And may 
 the Holy Ghost kindle upon our heart-altars a fire of 
 zeal which shall never be put out, which shall always 
 burn for his glory, purifying our nature, making us 
 living sacrifices unto Him. 
 
XX. 
 
 " Sin JSringing fovtb S>eatb." 
 
 (i Samuel xviii. 12.) 
 
 We scatter seeds with careless hand. 
 And dream we ne'er shall see them more; 
 
 But for a thousand years 
 
 Their fruit appears 
 In weeds that mar the land, or healthful store. 
 
 — Keble. 
 
 NEVER has there been a truer illustration of 
 the words in which the Apostle James describes 
 the genealogy of sin and her fateful family 
 than that furnished by the life-history of Saul. No 
 sooner are we told that he had begun to yield to the 
 spirit of evil than the historian hastens to tell us of 
 the successive steps by which the early suggestions 
 grew into a headlong passion, hurrying the monarch 
 to one breach after another of the Divine law. How 
 true it is that they who offend in one point are finally 
 guilty in all. The first sin is like the letting in of 
 water, which gradually eats away the embankment, so 
 that presently the entire flood of waters inundates the 
 land. 
 
 It befeTl thus. About this time, while Saul was 
 smarting under Samuel's sentence of deposition, 
 David for the first time crossed his path. Two 
 
 308 
 
"SIN BRINGING FORTH DEATH." 209 
 
 accounts of the introduction of the young shepherd 
 to the God-forsaken and moody monarch are given, 
 but are not inconsistent. The one tells of his enter- 
 ing the royal palace as a minstrel, the other of his 
 prowess in war, which rendered his presence an indis- 
 pensable adjunct to the court. 
 
 The attacks of Saul's depression and despondency 
 became more frequent and severe; and at last it was 
 suggested by his servants — tradition says by Doeg the 
 Edomite — that the effect of music should be tried on 
 the poor diseased brain. " Behold now," they said, 
 " an evil spirit from God troubleth thee ; let our lord 
 now command thy servants, which are before thee, to 
 seek out a man who is a cunning player on the harp, 
 and it shall come to pass, when the evil spirit from 
 God is upon thee, that he shall play with his hand, and 
 thou shalt be well." 
 
 Instantly the king fell in with the suggestion; and 
 presently David's name was mentioned by one of the 
 young men, who had, perhaps, come from the same 
 part of the country, and had often met the son of 
 Jesse in their native village, may even have sat with 
 him at the feet of the same Rabbi. The young shep- 
 herd was possessed of the very qualities which were 
 most captivating for the king. He was skilful in play- 
 ing. Already he had come to be known as a man of 
 valour, in the border-skirmishes which he maintained 
 with them for the integrity of his father's flock. He 
 was skilful in judgment, and eloquent in speech. 
 
2IO SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 Manly beauty characterised his countenance and port. 
 It seems as though that had happened to David which 
 happens in measure to all God's servants — the unction 
 and abiding of the Holy Spirit had brought out into 
 fair and living prominence his natural traits, as when 
 a spark is taken from common air and plunged into a 
 jar of oxygen gas, or as though an island which had 
 long Iain under the spell of Arctic winter could be 
 loosed from its moorings and drifted down to southern 
 seas, and beneath the genial touch of the tropic sum- 
 mer all the buried seeds should burst forth into a rich 
 and luxuriant growth. 
 
 The description given to him greatly pleased the 
 king, who was always on the outlook for promising 
 youths, and in the exercise of that unquestioned 
 autocracy which marked his reign, like that of other 
 Eastern monarchs, he despatched a summons to Jesse 
 to send him David, his son, who was with the sheep. 
 Such a summons could not be disregarded, and making 
 up a present of the produce of his fann, the old man 
 despatched his Benjamin to begin to tread the difficult 
 and intricate paths of royal favour. " And David came 
 to Saul, and stood before him, and he loved him 
 greatly." And whenever Saul was overtaken by one 
 of his fits of melancholy, when the sky was overcast 
 with the heavy clouds of God-forsakenness and despair, 
 " when the evil spirit from God was upon him," 
 David, then probably about eighteen years of age, took 
 the harp and played with his hand, so that Saul was 
 
"SIN BRINGING FORTH DEATH." 211 
 
 refreshed, and the evil spirit departed from him, and 
 he was well. 
 
 Robert Browning has depicted for us, with a 
 wonderful luxuriance of imagination, the scene when 
 the minstrel strove with all the spell of his art to tame 
 and exercise the depression that mantled the royal 
 brow: how he sang of the scenes in the valleys where 
 the sheep were being gathered beside the brimming 
 waters of the wells; and again of the pasture lands 
 over which they were scattered, browsing on the 
 tender grass. At one moment there was a strain of 
 martial music, summoning the clans to repel a border 
 foray ; at another it seemed as though the voices of 
 maidens were welcoming back from the fight their 
 lovers, crowned with victory. Again, the music told 
 of the rising storm, the rattle of the thunder, the pelt 
 of the hail, until you became aware that the fury of 
 the elements had spent itself, and was dying down 
 into the cadences of a summer landscape, bathed in 
 peace. Now you could have heard the sough of the 
 wind through the trees, or sweeping over the meadows, 
 and anon the music of the spheres, as the heavens 
 declared the glory of God and the firmament told of 
 his handiwork. Sometimes the young poet would 
 rehearse the joy of drinking the pure nectar of young 
 life: 
 
 " Oh, the wild joys of living! the leaping from rock up to 
 
 rock; 
 The strong rending of boughs from the fir-tree; the cool 
 
 silver shock 
 
212 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 Of the plunge in a pool's living water — the hunt of the 
 
 bear, 
 And the sultriness showing the lion is couched in his lair. 
 And the meal — the rich dates yellowed over with gold-dust 
 
 divine, 
 And the locusts' flesh steeped in the pitcher! the full draught 
 
 o£ wine, 
 And the sheep in the dried river-channel where bulrushes 
 
 tell 
 That the water was wont to go warbling so softly and well. 
 How good is man's life, the mere living! how fit to employ 
 All the heart, and the soul, and the senses for ever in joy." 
 
 It is probable that the spell of music with which 
 David sought to relieve the king's dark moods was 
 greatly successful, as afterward in the case of Philip 
 V. of Spain, who was cured of a fixed melancholy by 
 the music of a famous player. His fits of insanity 
 became less and less frequent, the need for David's 
 attendance at court was greatly relaxed, and the king 
 may almost have ceased to think of him, amid the 
 many suitors for his royal favour. Perhaps this very 
 fickleness was part of the disease. It was due proba- 
 bly to the disordered condition of the king's brain 
 that he well-nigh forgot the stripling whom he had 
 greatly loved, and who had become alike his armour- 
 bearer and his physician (xvi. 22). 
 
 How long a period elapsed in this way we cannot 
 tell, but another series of events brought Saul and 
 David into closer and more tragical contact. The 
 Philistines had never forgiven the Hebrews for having 
 discarded the yoke which for so long they had meekly 
 borne, and at last, after a series of forays and raids 
 
" SIN BRINGING FORTH DEATH." 213 
 
 on the southern borders of Canaan, the tide of invasion 
 could no longer be restrained. It rolled across the 
 frontiers and poured through the valleys, till the 
 Philistine hosts were gathered together in the valley 
 of the Terebinth, which belonged to Judah, and pitched 
 their camp at Ephes-dammim, " the Boundary of 
 Blood," so called probably, from the dark and bloody 
 encounters which had taken place there. The valley, 
 or wady, is broad and open, and about three miles 
 long. It is divided in the centre by a remarkable 
 ravine, or trench, formed by a mountain torrent, which 
 is full of foaming water in the winter, though dry in 
 summer. It was the presence of this gorge or chan- 
 nel, some twenty feet wide, with steep vertical sides, 
 and with a depth of ten or twelve feet, that protracted 
 the issue for so long, so that the two hosts lay watch- 
 ing each other for forty days, neither of them daring 
 to face the hazard involved in crossing the valley and 
 its ravine, in the face of the other. 
 
 The full story of the combat with Goliath belongs 
 to the Life of David; we only touch on it here as it 
 concerns the ill-fated and hapless Saul. 
 
 When the gigantic Philistine champion, whose name 
 was suggested by his " shining armour," strode forth, 
 and even dared to come near the lines of the Hebrew 
 troops, clothed in helmet, jerkin, and greaves of bright 
 copper mail, handling a mighty spear, and with a 
 sword girt at his side; and when he boldly challenged 
 the armies of Israel to produce a man worthy to take 
 
214 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 up the gage of battle, Saul was as dismayed and panic- 
 stricken as any of his soldiers. It is said that he was 
 "greatly afraid" (ver. ii). Though he was God's 
 chosen king, and in his earlier life had stood in the 
 might of a simple faith, his disobedience had severed 
 the sinews of his power, and he had become as weak 
 as any other. Obedience and faith are two aspects of 
 the same posture of the soul; as you obey, you are 
 able to believe; as you believe, you can obey. In the 
 Epistle to the Hebrews, the fourth chapter, the words 
 are perpetually interchanged. Let a man but have faith 
 in God he waxes valiant in the fight, and turns to flight 
 armies of aliens. One can chase a thousand, and two 
 put thousands to flight. Oh ! beware of disobedience 
 which introduces trembling and faintness into the 
 heart, so that the sound of a driven leaf chases the 
 fugitive! All that Saul could do, in the face of the 
 braggart blasphemy of Goliath, was to hold out the 
 most lavish promises of what he would do for the 
 hero who would take up the challenge, and make the 
 proud Gittite bite the dust. 
 
 When, finally, David was brought into his presence, 
 his soul glowing with an heroic faith, and avowing his 
 determination to go alone to fight the Philistine, Saul 
 endeavoured to dissuade him. " Thou art not able to 
 go against this Philistine to fight with him." He had 
 no idea of power other than that which came of long 
 usage (ver. 33), or of helmets and coats of mail 
 (ver. 38, 39). The point of David's narrative of his 
 
"SIN BRINGING FORTH DEATH." 215 
 
 successful conflicts with the lion and bear was entirely 
 lost on him. Saul looked on them as the result of 
 superior agility and sinewy strength; he did not 
 fathom David's meaning as he spoke of the great 
 deliverances which Jehovah had wrought (ver. 37). 
 Already the young Psalmist was saying to himself : 
 
 " The Lord is my light and my salvation, 
 Whom shall I fear? 
 The Lord is the strength of my life. 
 Of whom shall I be afraid?" 
 
 But such boasts of the believer in God were an 
 enigma to the king. The eyes of his heart were 
 blinded, and he could not see. He had no idea that 
 faith opens altogether new sources of power, touches 
 stops in the great organ of nature which elude other 
 hands, and avails itself of those Divine prerogatives 
 which, like legions of angels, wait in harnessed squad- 
 rons around the beset believer. 
 
 As David went forth to meet the Philistine, Saul 
 said to Abner, his uncle, and the trusted captain of his 
 army, " Whose son is the youth ? Inquire whose 
 son the stripling is " ; and when presently the young 
 champion returned with the head of the Philistine in 
 his hand, the one question the king put to him was, 
 " Whose son art thou, thou young man ? " It was as 
 though Saul thought to account for his success on the 
 ground of heredity. " Surely," thought he, " this 
 youth comes of a great line of ancestry; the blood of 
 Caleb or Joshua must be in his veins; the best of 
 
2i6 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 Hebrew stock must have yielded this scion." It is 
 thus that the man of this world tries to compute and 
 reckon up the child of faith. He is always analysing 
 the elements of his success, and trying to account for 
 him. He has no conception of what God can be or 
 do for the soul that wholly trusts Him. 
 
 On the ground of expediency, after his return to 
 Gibeah, Saul set David over the men of war. Tlie 
 harp was exchanged, for the most part, for the sword ; 
 and as he went forth on his expeditions against the 
 hereditary foes of Israel, he became more and more 
 necessary to the stability of the throne, as he became 
 increasingly the darling of the nation. " Whitherso- 
 ever Saul sent him, he behaved himself wisely." Out 
 of this popularity originated the great sin of Saul's 
 Hfe. 
 
 On one occasion, as Saul and David were returning 
 from some final and decisive victory over the Philis- 
 tines (ver. 6, see margin), the people crowded to meet 
 them and the troops ; and the women, dressed in gay 
 attire, danced around and before the advancing 
 columns, singing to the music of their tambourines and 
 three-stringed instruments. As they performed the 
 usual sacred dance they sang responsively, " answering 
 one to another," an ode of victory, of which this was 
 the refrain: 
 
 " Saul hath slain his thousands, 
 And David his ten thousands." 
 
 Instantly the king was smitten with the dart of 
 
" SIN BRINGING FORTH DEATH." 217 
 
 jealousy. All his soul was set on fire with the thought 
 that not improbably David was the neighbour of whom 
 Samuel had spoken, as being the divinely designated 
 successor to the kingdom, which was even now passing 
 from his hand. What if this bright young soldier, 
 with the light of God on his life, and the love of the 
 people already gathered to his person, was to dis- 
 possess him ! " And Saul was very wroth, and the 
 saying displeased him ; and he said : What can he have 
 more than the kingdom." 
 
 " And Saul eyed David from that day and forward." 
 All the love and admiration that he had entertained 
 towards him turned to gall and bitterness. The milk 
 of human kindness turned sour. His old malady, 
 which had been charmed away from him, came back 
 with mote than its wonted force ; and on the day after 
 the incident, brooding over his fancied wrongs, it 
 seemed as though his whole nature were suddenly 
 thrown open to an evil spirit, who possessed him, and 
 swept him on to do a deed of murderous hatred. Rav- 
 ing in a mad fit of frenzy, he caught up the spear that 
 stood beside him as the emblem of his royal state, and 
 hurled it at David, who was sitting before him, en- 
 deavouring to charm away his malady. Not once, but 
 twice the murderous weapon quivered through the air, 
 but David avoided out of his presence twice, no doubt 
 imputing the attempt on his life to the king's illness, 
 and having no idea of the jealousy that was burning 
 in his soul like fire. 
 
2i8 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 Let us take care of the first beginnings of sin, when 
 the least suggestion begins to float in the air around 
 us, like a microbe or germ of malignant and deadly 
 disease. Then is the time to turn to Christ with it 
 for deliverance, securing his gracious interposition, as 
 you exercise faith in the grace of his salvation. 
 " Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins ; 
 let them not have dominion over mie; then shall I be 
 upright, and I shall be innocent from the great trans- 
 gression." 
 
XXI. 
 
 Ube Stn of Jealous^?. 
 
 (i Samuel xviii.) 
 
 All selfish souls, whate'er they feign, 
 
 Have still a slavish lot; 
 
 They boast of Liberty — in vain — 
 
 Of Love — and feel it not! 
 
 He whose bosom glows with Thee — 
 
 He, and he alone, is free. 
 
 — COWPER. 
 
 AMONG the most terrible of human sins is 
 jealousy — the parent of the darkest and 
 blackest crimes that have disgraced the annals 
 of our race. And of all the delineations of it, which 
 are frescoed on the walls of history, none is more 
 absolutely true to life, and terrible in its graphic 
 colouring, than this portraiture of the first king of 
 Israel. 
 
 I. Jealousy Opens the Door to the Devil. — In 
 Saul's case the interval was the briefest possible. On 
 the morrow after the song of the women, which first 
 aroused in his heart the feeling of jealousy towards 
 David, we learn that " an evil spirit " came mightily 
 upon the ill-fated monarch. 
 
 There is an impenetrable wall, as we believe, built 
 
2 20 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 by the providence of God between human souls and 
 the evil spirits which tenant the atmosphere around 
 us, and are therefore called " the spiritual hosts of 
 wickedness in the heavenlies " (Eph. vi. 12,), whilst 
 their leader is known as the Prince of the Power of 
 the Air (Eph. ii. 2). No spirit of evil, however 
 malignant, can break through that barrier from his 
 side ; but it is possible for man to break it down on 
 his. Every time we yield in thought or act to the 
 temptations which are perpetually accosting us, we 
 disintegrate and impair that barrier, and expose our- 
 selves to the entrance of demon influence, which adapts 
 itself to the outward mould of our sinful desires, only 
 investing and filling it with an intensity of passion 
 which would otherwise be impossible to us. 
 
 This evil spirit, in Saul's case, is said to have been 
 " from God " — a phrase which can only be interpreted 
 on the hypothesis that God permitted it to come, and 
 that this tragic result transpired in direct pursuance 
 of the immutable fixtures of the universe. If a man 
 tampers with his soul, God cannot save him from the 
 inevitable results. Obey the law of fire, and it will 
 obey you like a dutiful slave — this is God's will and 
 appointment ; but it is also his will and appointment 
 that, if you disobey it, it will devour your towers, 
 palaces, treasures, and homes, with merciless fury. 
 When men rebel and vex the Holy Spirit, He turns 
 to be their enemy and fights , against them. " God," 
 says one, " must be something to us ; what He shall be 
 
THE SIN OF JEALOUSY. 221 
 
 depends on what we are to Him." Go with the wind, 
 and it beneficently wafts you forward; go against it, 
 and your progress becomes ruinous in its deadly cost. 
 
 " With the merciful, Thou wilt show Thyself merciful; 
 With the perfect man, Thou wilt show Thyself perfect; 
 With the pure, Thou wilt show Thyself pure; 
 And with the froward, Thou wilt show Thyself froward. 
 
 II. Jealousy Defeats its Own Good. — David had 
 suddenly become the darling of the people. With 
 almost a single bound, he had leapt into the throne of 
 universal homage and affection. " All Israel and 
 Judah loved David " (16). In this common affection 
 for one who was so accessible to them all, the people 
 forgot their ancient feuds. Not only they, but the 
 Court, was enamoured of him. He was set over the 
 men of war, and went out with them whithersoever 
 Saul sent him, and his promotion was good, not only 
 " in the sight of all the people," but also " in the sight 
 of Saul's servants," while Jonathan loved him with a 
 love passing the love of women; and Michal, Saul's 
 daughter, was tenderly attached to him. There must 
 have been something of a spell in the influence of that 
 pure, bright soul over all who came into contact 
 with it. 
 
 Besides this, the Lord was evidently with him. Note 
 how constantly the sacred chronicle touches that 
 note : " Saul was afraid of David, because the Lord 
 was with him'' (12) ; " David behaved himself wisely 
 in all his ways, and the Lord was with him " ( 14) ; 
 
2 22 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 " And Saul saw and knew that the Lord was with 
 David" (28). 
 
 Moreover, he behaved himself wisely, or prospered 
 (5) ; wisely in all his ways (14) ; very wisely, so much 
 so that Saul stood in awe of him (15) ; more wisely 
 than all the servants of Saul, so that his name was 
 much set by (30). 
 
 Under these circumstances, how judicious it would 
 have been for Saul to bind the son of Jesse to himself ! 
 Admitting frankly that he was his designated succes- 
 sor, and that he was enjoying the special favour of 
 Jehovah, Saul might have used David for the re- 
 habilitation of his waning fortunes. It was evidently 
 impossible to reverse the Divine choice, but he might 
 have postponed the infliction of the inevitable sentence. 
 Nothing could have made the king himself more 
 popular than to have identified his fortunes and those 
 of his family with one who could have rendered con- 
 spicuous and inestimable service to court and kingdom. 
 Nothing could have been easier, nothing more politic. 
 But instead of this, Saul allowed his mad passion to 
 smoulder always, and sometimes burst into a flame, 
 until it broke out in irresistible fury and consumed the 
 house of his life. 
 
 In the case of the higher passions of the soul, it is 
 often easy to curb and restrain them by the introduc- 
 tion of considerations of self-interest and personal 
 prestige ; but it is not so with jealousy. At the shrine 
 of this passion, which differs from the lust of the 
 
THE Sm OF JEALOUSY. 223 
 
 libertine and the drink-crave of the inebriate, in being 
 wholly a passion of the mind, the jealous soul is 
 prepared to repeat the act of Palissy the potter, who 
 tore up the very boards of his home, after having 
 destroyed every atom of furniture, in order to prose- 
 cute the design by which he was consumed. The 
 peace of the home ; the success of some great enter- 
 prise; the happiness and prosperity of some loved one 
 who has been the unwitting cause of jealousy; the 
 service of God; the prospect of long, happy years of 
 high respect if only the passion is resisted and ex- 
 tinguished — I have seen these, and more than these, 
 sacrificed because jealousy has demanded its re- 
 venge. 
 
 III. Jealousy is very Inventive of Methods of 
 Executing its Fell Purpose* — Its shape is protean. 
 Sometimes it uses the stiletto, whose edge is so fine 
 that you do not know you have been struck till after- 
 wards; and sometimes the bludgeon, that fells to the 
 ground with one murderous blow. The poison cup, 
 or the fine meshes of a subtle stratagem, which leads 
 the victim to inflict his own doom — such are the 
 methods which jealousy employs. 
 
 Trace this in the history before us. First Saul, 
 under the excuse of his malady, attempts to take 
 David's life with his own hand. He knew that the 
 murderous deed would be imputed to the deranged 
 condition of his mind, and therefore, with impunity. 
 
224 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 twice launched the javelin at the minstrel who sought 
 to charm, away his malady. 
 
 Then he sought to throw him into positions of 
 extreme peril, by inciting him to valiant deeds on the 
 field of battle, and in border warfare. For a bribe 
 he promised him his elder daughter, Merab, whose 
 hand should be given him in marriage, as the reward 
 of heroic deeds ; and to this was added the appeal of 
 religion, than which no motive could be more potent 
 with this devout and chivalrous soul. " And Saul 
 said to David, Behold, my elder daughter, Merab ; her 
 will I give thee to wife : only be thou valiant for me, 
 and fight the Lord's battles." And then, with un- 
 sparing hand, the sacred writer draws aside the veil, 
 and recites to us the secret thoughts that were passing 
 in that dark and evil-haunted nature — " for Saul said. 
 Let not mine hand be upon him, but let the hand of 
 the Philistines be upon him." We do not know the 
 heroic deeds to which these allurements led, but it was 
 not for want of them that the royal promise was un- 
 fulfilled, and Merab given to Adriel the Meholathite. 
 
 The stratagem had failed, but it seemed too insidious 
 and too likely to realise the royal purpose, to be aban- 
 doned without being put to one further proof and 
 Michal, Saul's younger daughter, who really loved 
 David, at this time, at least, was made the guerdon or 
 prize to allure the young, unsuspecting warrior to fresh 
 encounters with the Philistines. The sure evidence 
 that a hundred of these doughty foes had fallen by 
 
THE SIN OF JEALOUSY. 225 
 
 David's hand was the only stipulated dowry which 
 was required, and the honour of becoming the king's 
 son-in-law was the theme of many a hint, suggestion, 
 and open conversation, between the courtiers and the 
 young soul on whose career so much attention was 
 being concentrated. To his servants, Saul must have 
 seemed to be sincerely attached to David, and to desire, 
 with genuine earnestness, to enrol him in his family; 
 clearly he was playing a game of unusual adroitness. 
 On the one hand, his servants really believed that the 
 king delighted in David, and wanted the alliance; on 
 the other, " Saul thought to make David fall by the 
 hand of the PhiHstines." 
 
 It was only after the plot had failed, and it seemed 
 as though through the providence of God David was 
 possessed of a charmed life, that Saul spoke to Jona- 
 than his son and to all his servants, that they should 
 slay David ; again hurled his javelin at him with such 
 force that it stood quivering in the palace wall ; and 
 finally pursued him, first to his own home, and finally 
 to Samuel's home in Naioth (see chap. xix.). 
 
 Not otherwise is it with jealousy. When a wife is 
 jealous of another woman, who may be absolutely 
 guiltless of any attempt to influence the husband's 
 affections ; when an elder minister becomes jealous of 
 his assistant, or of a neighbour ; when a person becomes 
 jealous of the influence which another is obtaining 
 over his friend — it becomes almost impossible to 
 enumerate all the unkind suggestions, all the insinua- 
 
2 26 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 tions, all the wrong constructions on conduct, all the 
 perversion of words, actions, and looks, through which 
 the soul will vent its spleen. 
 
 IV. Jealousy of the Innocent is Unable to 
 Avail against God. — Everything that it does has a 
 reverse effect from that which was intended, and so 
 far from overwhelming the rival, extends his influence, 
 and more thoroughly establishes his throne. 
 
 It was remarkably so with David. Saul was bent 
 on alluring him to his ruin. Through God's inter- 
 position, however, each murderous intent was foiled, 
 and became the cause of the still greater popularity of 
 his rival. If he is set over the men of war, he prospers 
 wherever he is sent ; if he is separated from the imme- 
 diate proximity of the king, and permitted to go in 
 and out before the people, the whole nation loves him 
 (xviii. 13, 15). If he is sent to fight the Philistines, 
 he slays not one hundred but two, so that his name 
 is much set by (30). If Saul urges Jonathan to slay 
 him, he drives his own son to a closer friendship, and 
 forces him to plead the cause of the twin soul, with 
 which his own was knit. Everything that is meant 
 for ill turns out for good. The weapons that are 
 hurled on the young life are boomerangs which return 
 on the hand that launched them. The curses came 
 home to roost. Saul digs privily a pit, into which he 
 falls himself. 
 
 If only jealous people would ponder such a story 
 
THE SIN OF JEALOUSY. 
 
 227 
 
 as this, surely they would see the uselessness of their 
 malignant attempts to injure those who may seem 
 destined to take their place. It is not thus that the 
 peril can be met. The stars in their courses fight 
 against Sisera. Balak may bribe Balaam with his 
 wealthiest rewards to come to curse Israel, but how 
 shall he curse whom God hath not cursed, and how 
 shall he defy whom the Lord hath not defied ? 
 
 There is a Nemesis in life which will certainly 
 return on the evil-doer. The Lord will not leave his 
 Davids to the cruel mercies of a Saul. He will raise 
 up Jonathans to warn them of their peril, will cause 
 Michal to ward oflf the molesting blow, will overpower 
 with the mysterious spell of spiritual influences the 
 murderous bands, and will still the enemy and avenger. 
 
 " God is a righteous judge, 
 If a man turn not, he will whet his sword, 
 He hath bent his bow and made it ready. 
 He hath also prepared for him the instruments of death. 
 
 His mischief shall return upon his own head, 
 And his violence shall come down upon his pate.'" 
 
XXII. 
 
 "Cruel as tbe ©rave." 
 
 (i Samuel xx.-xxvii.) 
 
 'Tis greatly wise to talk with our past hours; 
 And ask them what report they bore to heaven; 
 And how they might have borne more welcome news. 
 Their answers form what men Experience call, 
 The Spirit walks of every day deceased, 
 And smiles an Angel, or a fury frowns. 
 
 — Young. 
 
 JEALOUSY has no scruples, and will not hesitate 
 to violate the most revered sanctities. Her foot 
 is ruthless; it will trample upon the relationship 
 of home, the bonds of friendship and kinship, and the 
 reverence which attaches itself to the house and wor- 
 ship of God. When once this passion has kindled, 
 there is nothing on which it will forbear to feed, noth- 
 ing is too sacred to be fuel for its flame. Not that it 
 often, under the restraint of Christian civilisation at 
 least, proceeds to murder ; rather, by whispered sus- 
 picions, by the shrug of the shoulders, the movement 
 of the finger, the furtive look, the suggestive question, 
 it may destroy the peace which one has in husband, 
 wife, child, or friend. 
 
 The home-life is one of the most sacred institutions 
 of our human life. It originates in the knitting of 
 
"CRUEL AS ThE CRAJ'E." 229 
 
 spirit with spirit, so that the twain become one; and 
 from that union springs the dower of blessed children, 
 sowing the world with flowers, and making the race 
 perennially young. Such a home, in David's case, was 
 largely due to Saul's own arrangement. When 
 Michal, his daughter, loved David, and they told him, 
 and it pleased him, and he gave her to David to wife, 
 it was the burst as of a new spring-tide to those two 
 young lives — happy in each other's affection, though 
 afterwards to be sadly alienated. Yet when David had 
 evaded his javelin, and fled to the security of his home, 
 saying to himself, " At least my father-in-law will 
 respect the sanctity of his daughter's love," the madly 
 jealous monarch sent messengers thither to watch him, 
 and slay him in the morning, eliciting from the im- 
 prisoned singer the plaintive strains preserved in one 
 of his Psalms (lix.). 
 
 " Deliver me from mine enemies, O my God; 
 Set me on high from them that rise tip against me. 
 Deliver me from the workers of iniquity, 
 And save me from bloodthirsty men. 
 For, lo, they lie in wait for my soul; 
 The mighty gather themselves together against me; 
 Not for my transgression, nor for any sin, O Lord." 
 
 Michal knew her father too well to trust his clem- 
 ency, warned her husband of the imminence of death, 
 with woman-wit (and what will not women do for 
 those they love!) aided him to escape, with her own 
 hands letting him down from the window. It was to 
 his daughter that it was due that the newly formed 
 
230 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 home was not rendered desolate, and the light of its 
 hearth quenched. 
 
 The sanctuary of religious worship is next in im- 
 portance to the home, if not superior. They stand or 
 fall together. The one is generally the guarantee of 
 the stability of the other. From the home as its fore- 
 court, we pass into the house of God as our abiding- 
 place. " In my Father's house," said our Lord, " are 
 many mansions " ; and may we not suppose that human 
 homes are included amongst them? 
 
 But the case of Saul shows that jealousy will break 
 down the precincts of the sanctuary as ruthlessly as 
 of the home. David hastened to tell Samuel of the 
 turn that things were taking, and of the grave suspicion 
 which was forcing itself on his soul, that Saul's 
 attempts on his life were not the result of a disordered 
 brain, but of a wicked and murderous will. For 
 greater security Samuel led him to a cluster of booths, 
 perhaps woven of osiers (called Naioth), where a 
 number of young men were being trained for the 
 prophetic office, and were living in the fullest manifes- 
 tation of spiritual power. The very atmosphere where 
 they dwelt seemed charged with spiritual electricity. 
 
 Into this sacred assembly Saul forced three succes- 
 sive bands of messengers to arrest David, and finally, 
 in hot wrath at their failure to return, came himself. 
 In after-days it was distinctly remembered how he 
 came to the great well, or cistern, in Sechu, and asked 
 with peremptory vehemence for Samuel and David. 
 
"CRUEL AS THE GRAVE." 231 
 
 When one told him,, he went off to Naioth; but was 
 stricken down or ever he reached the place; and, 
 divested of his royal robes, for a second time in his 
 life lay on the ground in a kind of trance, which 
 lasted for all that day and all that night. 
 
 We cannot read of this singular incident without 
 being reminded of scenes in the life of John Wesley, 
 of whom it is said, " While preaching on the common 
 at Bristol a young woman sank down in violent agony, 
 as did five or six persons at another meeting in the 
 evening. One was a young lady, whose mother was 
 irritated at the scandal, as she called it, of her daugh- 
 ter's conduct; but the mother was the next who 
 dropped down and lost her senses in a moment, yet 
 went home with her daughter, full of joy. Bold blas- 
 phemers were instantly seized with agony, and cried 
 aloud for the Divine mercy, and scores were some- 
 times strewed on the ground at once, insensible as 
 dead mien. A Quaker who was admonishing the by- 
 standers against these strange scenes as affectation 
 and hypocrisy was himself struck down, as by an un- 
 seen hand, while the words of reproach were yet upon 
 his lips." The difference, of course, between these 
 two phenomena lay in the result. In the case of the 
 sunken down under Wesley and Jonathan Edwards, 
 the outcome was a change of heart and life, together 
 with a very blessed and exalted religious experience. 
 In the case of Saul, the experience was as the early 
 cloud and the morning dew, which goeth away. What- 
 
232 
 
 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 ever the nature of the experience, whether physical, 
 mental, or spiritual, and probably it was the latter, it 
 was transient and evanescent, and left him really worse 
 than it found him, for his jealousy next threatened the 
 life of his noble son Jonathan. 
 
 The very fountains of a father's love and pride dry 
 up before the volcanic fires of jealousy, and become 
 the cause of even deeper and wider contortions. 
 Jonathan was one of the noblest types of manhood. A 
 truly princely soul was his. In any age, even of the 
 most romantic age of chivalry, he would have stood 
 easily, and by a universally acknowledged right, in 
 the foremost rank. Whether in the court or on the 
 battlefield, he shone as a star of the first magnitude. 
 Grace and beauty must have adorned his person, whilst 
 intrepid daring and courage characterised his be- 
 haviour on the battlefield. The darling of the people, 
 who once saved his life from his father, the chosen 
 ideal of the maidens and youth of his time, wise in 
 statesmanship, true in friendship, strong in resolution, 
 there was everything to bind his father to him, for 
 reasons of policy as well as of paternal pride. But 
 these considerations had no weight with Saul, whilst 
 jealousy of David lay heavy in the other scale. He 
 might be, as his friend eloquently expressed it in his 
 funeral elegy, " lovely and pleasant," swifter than an 
 eagle, stronger than a lion, but Saul was prepared to 
 sacrifice it all to the spirit of revenge. 
 
 It was on the monthly festival that this new vent 
 
"CRUEL AS THE GRAVE." 233 
 
 of the volcano which raged within Saul's heart re- 
 vealed itself. It was the second day, and as on the 
 previous one, David's seat was empty. Speaking of 
 him derisively as " the son of Jesse," thus accentuating 
 his lowly birth, and ignoring the relationship that 
 bound him to the royal family, the king asked 
 Jonathan the reason of his absence; and when he 
 received the answer on which the two friends had 
 previously agreed, he fell into a grievous rage, abused 
 Jonathan with the vilest epithets that an Eastern can 
 use, who to-day vents his scorn on the mother of the 
 object of his hate, insisted on David's immediate arrest 
 and execution, and ended by hurling his javelin at his 
 noble son, who had interfered to mollify his wrath. 
 " So Jonathan arose from the table in fierce " (and 
 righteous} " anger, and did eat no meat the second 
 day of the month: for he was grieved for David, 
 because his father had done him shame." 
 
 ■ But jealousy is also responsive to the worst possible 
 suggestions. Of this there is an illustration in the 
 following chapter (xxi.). The fugitive fled this time 
 to Nob, where Ahimelech, the high priest, presided over 
 the relics of the ancient sanctuary. The suspicions 
 excited in Ahimelech's mind by his unescorted and 
 hasty advent were removed by an evasive reply, and 
 the king's son-in-law was received with all deference, 
 supplied with bread, with the mighty sword of Goliath, 
 and such spiritual counsel as the ephod could afford. 
 
 The incident was reported to Saul, some months 
 
234 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 afterwards, as he was encamped " on the height " 
 (r. v. margin) above Gibeah, waiting for .tidings of 
 his hated rival, that he might at once march with his 
 household troops, composed of trusted Benjamites, 
 men of his own tribe, to capture and slay him. It 
 seemed as though all the demands of the public service 
 were set aside and accounted as the small dust of the 
 balance so long as the vengeance of his soul was un- 
 appeased. The promulgation and execution of law, 
 the hearing of suits, the defences of the kingdom — all 
 were of no account in his estimation until this one 
 purpose was fulfilled. 
 
 In the heat of his spirit he gave vent to the 
 complaint (and jealousy so often takes on the 
 tone of injured innocence) that all his servants 
 were in conspiracy against him, that no one cared for 
 him, that Jonathan was at the bottom of David's con- 
 spiracy, and that each was cherishing the hope of his 
 speedy downfall in order to receive possessions and 
 promotions as the price of treachery from the hand of 
 the son of Jesse. It was an unjust and injurious taunt. 
 Well might the apostle James affirm that the tongue is 
 often " set on fire of hell." It was so here. Mad 
 jealousy runs amuck, striking here and there, with 
 absolute disregard of all that is most precious and 
 true in human loyalty and love. Amid the silence that 
 followed these undeserved reproaches, Doeg narrated 
 what he had seen on that fateful day when he had 
 happened to be detained at the Tabernacle, for some 
 
'CRUEL AS THE GRAVE." 
 
 235 
 
 ceremonial ablution or other rite, and had witnessed 
 Ahimelech's attentions to the king's son-in-law (i 
 Sam. xxi. 7). 
 
 Doeg's malicious statement at once diverted the 
 king's suspicions from his courtiers to the priests. 
 Nob was not far distant from Gibeah; and a per- 
 emptory summons, after a brief interval, brought 
 Ahimelech and all his father's house, i. e., all the males 
 of the high priest's family of the house of Eli, into 
 the presence of the king. In unmeasured terms Saul 
 accused the whole of them of connivance with David 
 for the overthrow of his throne and dynasty, and would 
 give no heed to Ahimelech's mild expostulations. The 
 high priest pleaded that, though he had done what the 
 king accused him of, he had done it quite innocently. 
 He had always accounted David as one of the most 
 faithful of Saul's servants, had looked on him as being 
 constantly entrusted with secret commissions, and had 
 frequently made similar inquiries of God on his behalf, 
 believing that in this he was serving the royal will. 
 But he might as well have tried to stem the swelling 
 of Jordan. The king's mind was made up before he 
 began his defence. Yielding to some unholy impulse 
 which surely must have come to him from some 
 malign and evil spirit, and to which his disordered 
 nature was as susceptible as it had been to the spiritual 
 afflatus of Naioth, he said, " Thou shalt surely die, 
 Ahimelech, thou and all thy father's house." 
 
 The royal bodyguard shrank from executing the 
 
236 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 awful sentence; but Doeg the Edomite, a foreigner, 
 with his herdsmen, had no such compunctions, but 
 forthwith fell on the unresisting priests, who were 
 butchered one after another, until their mangled 
 corpses were piled in heaps, and their white robes were 
 saturated with their hearts' blood. 
 
 It was a cowardly and dastardly deed, the tidings 
 of which must have staggered the whole nation with 
 dumfoundering horror. All good men must have 
 felt that the foundations of society were loosed, and 
 that neither life nor liberty was safe, while such frenzy 
 was enthroned in their monarch's breast. The black 
 current which had caught him was bearing him ever 
 more swiftly to his doom: a depraved heart wrought 
 on a maddened brain, and this reacted back again to 
 his destruction. 
 
 What a warning is here that we should not yield to 
 the first intrusion of evil, lest the thought should lead 
 to the act, and repeated acts to the habit, and habits 
 congeal to character, and character become set in 
 destiny ! 
 
 Jealousy is, however, subject to strong remorse. 
 These scourges are the remonstrances of that blessed 
 Spirit who allows no soul to drift unwarned to the 
 bottomless pit. Saul was very subject to these power- 
 ful eddies in the hurrying current. 
 
 When, in an earlier stage, Jonathan reminded his 
 father of the priceless services that David had rendered, 
 he hearkened attentively, relented, and pledged his 
 
'CRUEL AS THE GRAVE." 
 
 '31 
 
 royal oath that he should not be put to death (xix. 
 
 1-7)- 
 
 When David spared his life in the cave, near the 
 Fountain of the Wild Goat, amid the wild ravines that 
 border on the western shores of the Dead Sea, refus- 
 ing to put forth his hand against the Lord's anointed, 
 and restraining his surprised and eager followers — 
 touched by a generosity which was wholly unexampled 
 in those rude days, Saul lifted up his voice and wept, 
 and poured out the pent-up generosity which had been 
 natural to him in earlier days, but had for long been 
 restrained. " If a man find his enemy," he said, " will 
 he let him go well away? Wherefore the Lord re- 
 ward thee good for that thou hast done for me this 
 day" (xxiv. 16-22). 
 
 And, when again he came in search of David and 
 pitched his camp on the ridge of Hachilah, on the 
 southern hills, and again, though David's clemency, 
 his life was spared from the fatal plunge of the spear, 
 which would not have needed a second thrust, Saul 
 went so far as to say before all his camp : " I have 
 played the fool, and have erred exceedingly. I have 
 sinned ; return, my son David, for I will no more do 
 thee harm" (xxvi.). 
 
 But, alas! in every case, his remorse was of brief 
 duration, and failed to produce any permanent 
 change in heart or purpose. The fire still smouldered 
 in his soul, awaiting the least breath of air to rekindle 
 its flames. He might exclaim, " Blessed be thou, 
 
238 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 my son David, thou shalt both do mightily, and 
 shalt surely prevail." But David dare not trust 
 him, and said in his heart, " There is nothing 
 better for me than that I should escape into 
 the land of the Philistines '' ( i Sam. xxvi. 25 ; 
 xxvii. i). 
 
 But the cure of jealousy is clearly set forth in these 
 terrible chapters. Without doubt Saul's surmises 
 were well known to all the members of his family, and 
 especially to Jonathan. Before ever Saul had blurted 
 out his threat that Jonathan's kingdom would not be 
 established, so long as the son of Jesse lived upon the 
 ground, the heir-apparent had assured his friend that 
 he knew the time would come when the Lord would 
 cut off the enemies of David, every one from the earth 
 (xx. 14, 15, 30, 31). And later, while Saul was seek- 
 ing David's life amid the ravines of Ziph, urged on 
 in his madness by the treacherous Ziphites, Jonathcin 
 came to him, and strengthened his hand in God, and 
 said : " Fear not, for the hand of Saul, my father, shall 
 not find thee, and thou shalt be king over Israel, and 
 I shall be next unto thee ; and that also Saul my father 
 knoweth." 
 
 Jonathan, then, was even more affected by the choice 
 of David than his father was. It was certain that he 
 would never succeed to the throne. Respected and 
 loved he might be, but enthroned never. But not a 
 cloud of jealousy ever darkened the pure heaven of 
 hjs Ipye, or cast its shadow on the crystal lake of his 
 
"CRUEL AS THE GRAVE." 239 
 
 peace. Perfect love had cast out hate; we are told 
 that " he loved David as his own soul." 
 
 If you are tempted to jealousy, do not brood over 
 the fell passion, or allow it to grow from less to more, 
 but arise to deal with it at once, and with all the 
 energy of your soul. Insist on loving the one to 
 whom you have felt the unholy passion. You reply 
 that that is the very emotion of love. It may be 
 impossible for you to command the latter, but quite 
 possible to practice the former, since love consists 
 primarily, not in the feeling, but in the doing; not 
 in emotions, but in strong acts of self-denial and 
 service. 
 
 Find out the individual concerning whom you were 
 beginning to feel jealous. Be on the alert to do kind 
 acts and speak kind words. Whenever you are 
 tempted to utter a depreciating remark, arrest the 
 words before they cross your lips, and utter some 
 kindly ones instead. Whenever you find yourself on 
 the point of speaking contemptuously or judging 
 harshly, go out of your way to do some generous 
 deed. Overcome evil with good, hatred with love. 
 Do not wait to feel kindly, but act promptly and 
 heartily. Go out of your way to confer a kindness. 
 Above all, avoid aloofness. Throw yourself in that 
 other's company; try to enter into the anxieties, trials, 
 and temptations by which his life is torn and rent; 
 cultivate a near and close fellowship, and always offer 
 and present yourself to God as a living sacrifice. 
 
240 
 
 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 Believe also that God does hear you, that his Holy 
 Spirit takes part with you against the enemy of your 
 peace, and that He who has led you to desire perfect 
 deliverance is prepared to work in you to will and do 
 of his good pleasure. 
 
XXIII. 
 
 B (Breat Sunset, 
 
 (i Samuel xxv. i.) 
 
 Life is only bright when it proceedeth 
 Toward a truer, deeper Life above; 
 
 Human Love is sweetest when it leadeth 
 To a more divine and perfect Love. 
 
 — A. A. Procter. 
 
 AT length Samuel came to his end, so far as 
 f-\ this world, at least, was concerned; and was 
 borne to his grave, ag a shock of corn 
 fully ripe. Though he had spent the last years in 
 retirement, partly because of his great age, and 
 partly because of the breach between the king and 
 himself, he had never lost the love and respect 
 of his people; and when finally the tidings sped 
 through the country that he had fallen upon that 
 blessed sleep which God giveth to his beloved, the 
 event was felt to be a national calamity, so that from 
 Dan in the far north to Beer-sheba on the southern 
 frontier, " all Israel gathered themselves together, and 
 lamented him, and buried him." 
 
 Josephus adds this significant paragraph to the 
 record of Scripture: "His moral excellence, and the 
 esteem with which he was regarded, were proved by 
 the continued mourning that was made for him, and 
 
242 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 the concern that was universally shown to conduct the 
 funeral rites with becoming splendour and solemnity. 
 He was buried in his own native place, and they wept 
 for him many days; not regarding it as the death of 
 another man or a stranger, but as that in which each 
 individual was concerned. He was a righteous man, 
 and of a kindly nature, and on that account very dear 
 to God." 
 
 The impression made on his contemporaries lin- 
 gered, as an afterglow, long after his sundown. 
 Again and again he is referred to in the sacred record. 
 
 I Chron. ix. 22 suggests that he laid the founda- 
 tions of that elaborate organisation of Levites for the 
 service of the sanctuary which was perfected by David 
 and Solomon. 
 
 1 Chron. xxvi. 27, 28, asserts that he began to ac- 
 cumulate the treasures by which the House of the 
 Lord was ultimately erected in the reign of David's 
 mighty son. 
 
 2 Chron. xxxv. 18, contains a passing reference to 
 some memorable Passover Feast, which he instituted 
 and carried through. 
 
 Psa. xcix. 6, and Jer. xv. i, commemorate the fra- 
 grance of his perpetual intercessions. 
 
 Acts iii. 24, and xiii. 20, indicate what a conspicu- 
 ous landmark was furnished by his life and work in 
 the history of his people. 
 
 Heb. xi. 33 places him in the long gallery of time, 
 the niches in the walls of which have been filled 
 
A GREAT SUNSET. 
 
 243 
 
 one by one by the statues of those who have lived and 
 wrought in the power of a hving faith. " The time 
 would fail me to tell ... of Samuel . . . who through 
 faith . . . wrought righteousness . . ." 
 
 I. The Blessedn'ess of his Life. — Though 
 Samuel's career was an arduous one, it must have 
 been fraught with the elements of true blessedness. 
 
 He was pre-eminently a man of prayer. This was 
 his perpetual resort. Whether for his people or his 
 king, for the overthrow of the Philistines or the re- 
 covery of Saul from his evil courses, he never ceased 
 to pray — he would have counted it a sin if he had. 
 " God forbid," he exclaimed on one memorable occa- 
 sion, " that 1 should sin against the Lord in ceasing 
 to pray for you." Many a sleepless night did he 
 spend in tears and prayers for the king whom he had 
 set up, and to whose hands he had committed the 
 national interests as a precious charge (i Sam. xv. 11, 
 35; xvi. i). 
 
 It has yet to be seen, and probably we shall never 
 know until the veil of eternity is lifted, whether the 
 world has benefited most by our prayers or labours. 
 It is more than likely that the men and women who 
 have poured out perpetual supplications and interces- 
 sions have, like Epaphras, wrought most effectively. 
 These have resembled mighty mountains, commenc- 
 ing with the skies, down whose slopes the perennial 
 streams have poured, wreathed in rainbow vapour, 
 
244 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 and carrying the quality of the mountain soil into the 
 plains. 
 
 All books, says an eloquent writer, are dry and 
 tame compared with the great unwritten book prayed 
 in the closet. The prayers of exiles! The prayers 
 of martyrs! The prayers of missionaries! The 
 prayers of the Waldenses! The prayers of the Cov- 
 enanters! The sighs, the groans, the inarticulate 
 cries of suffering men, whom tyrants have buried 
 alive in dungeons, whom the world may forget, but 
 God never! If some angel, catching them as they 
 were uttered, should drop them down from heaven, 
 what a liturgy they would make! Can any epic equal 
 those unwritten words which pour into the ear of God 
 out of the heart's fulness? But these prayers have 
 been deeds. In the words of James (ver. i6, r. v.), 
 they have availed much in their working. An energy 
 passes from the holy soul, striving mightily in prayer, 
 which becomes a working force in the universe, an 
 indestructible unit of power, not apart from God, but 
 in union with his own mighty energies, of whom, and 
 through whom, and to whom are all things. 
 
 Let us pray more, especially as life advances. Let 
 us seek to be enrolled among those who call upon his 
 Name. Let us so live that men may shelter them- 
 selves in the thought of our intercessions, as Saul in 
 those of Samuel. 
 
 " More things are wrought by prayer than this world 
 dreams of," 
 
A GREAT SUNSET. 245 
 
 Samuel was also characterised by great singleness af 
 purpose. He could court without flinching the most 
 searching scrutiny (i Sam. xii. 3). From those early 
 days when, as a child, the vision of his childlike 
 purity, contrasted with the evil of Eli's house, struck 
 on the imagination of Israel, his had been a career of 
 stainless and irreproachable honour. The interests 
 of his people had been his all-absorbing concern. 
 For these he had spent himself with ungrudging de- 
 votion, and to find that he must withdraw from them 
 in favour of another was the sorest grief of his life. 
 The troubles which had befallen his land had only led 
 him nearer God, and bound him more tightly to his 
 fellow-countrymen; but when he discovered that they 
 desired him to give up his position, it required all the 
 gifts of God's grace, and all the qualities of a natu- 
 rally noble nature, to sustain the shock with equanim- 
 ity. But again his unselfishness, which had become 
 the inner law of his life, conquered; he set himself to 
 secure the best successor which the age could afiford, 
 and humbly stepped down from the supreme place of 
 power. 
 
 ■It was this beautiful humility and singleness of pur- 
 pose that arrested the reverence of his people and at- 
 tracted their veneration. And it was to this trait of 
 his character that we must attribute his perception 
 of the Divine purpose. The eye must be single in its 
 intention, if the whole body is to be full of light. Sir 
 Percivale missed, but Sir Galahad beheld, the vision 
 
246 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 of the Holy Grail, because the one missed what the 
 other possessed. 
 
 " O son, thou hast not true humility. 
 The highest virtue, mother of them all. 
 
 Thou though test of thy prowess and thy sins; 
 Thou hast not lost thyself to save thyself. 
 As Galahad." 
 
 Oh, to be so absorbed in a consuming passion for 
 the glory of God in the salvation of others, that we 
 may be oblivious of ourselves, willing to take the 
 second place, to be reckoned as no account, to retire 
 from the blaze of light that falls on the stage to the 
 retirement and twilight of the cloister, where the 
 progress of the days is marked by the clock-chimes, 
 and the incidence of the shadows indicates the prog- 
 ress of the sun from solstice to solstice! 
 
 Samuel was also careful to construct. When the 
 whole land was disorganised, he began to lay the 
 foundations of a new state. Deep down in the wel- 
 tering waves his careful hands laid course upon 
 course. The time and care he expended on the 
 schools of the prophets, his careful administration of 
 justice in his itineraries, his appeals to the people in 
 their great convocations, were part of a great policy 
 which resulted in a consolidated and united people. 
 
 Do something in your life. Don't waste the 
 precious time in criticising others, but put a piece of 
 solid work into the great fabric which is rising around 
 us, and on which the new Jerusalem will one day be 
 
A GREAT SUNSET. a47 
 
 established. To criticise others is a less efficient way 
 
 of setting them right than to do the same thing as they 
 
 are doing, so much more quickly and deftly that they 
 
 are led to follow our example. I like the example of 
 
 the man who, instead of criticising the garden plots 
 
 of his neighbours, made his own so beautiful that 
 
 those on his right and left, to the extreme ends on 
 
 either side, were led, one by one, to do the same. 
 
 " We will not cease from mental strife, 
 Nor shall our sword sleep in otir hand, 
 Till we have built Jerusalem, 
 In this our green and pleasant land." 
 
 'As first of the prophets, as the connecting-link be- 
 tween the first days of the settlement in Palestine and 
 the splendour of Solomon's reign, by his unblemished 
 character, by his sympathy and strength, by his evi- 
 dent fellowship with the God of Israel from his boyish 
 days to his old age, Samuel won from his people the 
 most profound veneration; and it is not to be won- 
 dered at that one of them — who owed everything to 
 him, though he was unable to appreciate the majesty 
 of his personality — in the supreme hour of his des- 
 perate need, when all beside had deserted him, turned 
 for help to the great prophet, though he had been 
 withdrawn for a considerable time from earthly 
 scenes, and cried, " Bring me up Samuel." 
 
 II, His Blessed Death. — Death is not a state, 
 but a step; not a chamber, but a passage; not an 
 abiding-place, but a bridge over a gulf. None are 
 
248 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 dead. We should speak of the departed as those 
 who, for a moment, passed through the shadow 
 of the tunnel, but are living in the intensity of a 
 vivid existence on the other side. " God is not the 
 God of the dead, but of the living, for all live 
 unto Him." None are dead, in the sense of re- 
 maining in a condition of deadness. 'Those whom we 
 call dead are those who died, and passed through 
 death into the other life. They put off their earthly 
 tabernacle, but the tenanting-spirit has passed into 
 other scenes and activities for weal or woe, from 
 which it would be an effort to tear itself, if sum- 
 moned to return to the cares and responsibilities of 
 this mortal existence: " Why hast thou disquieted me, 
 to bring me up?" 
 
 Remember how tlie Apostle Paul describes death. He 
 speaks of his departure (2 Tim. iv. 6). His word is 
 a nautical term, and signifies the loosing of a ship 
 from its moorings, not that it may reach harbour, but 
 that it may go out from the harbour on to the broad 
 bosom of the ocean. 
 
 This is the exact thought caught by Tennyson, 
 when he sings: 
 
 " Sunset and evening star. 
 And one clear call for me ; 
 And may there be no moaning of the bar 
 When I put out to sea. 
 
 " For though from out our bourne of time and 
 place 
 The flood may bear me far. 
 
A GREAT SUNSET. 
 
 I hope to see my Pilot face to face 
 When I have crossed the bar." 
 
 249 
 
 To recall this sonnet is to be irresistibly reminded 
 of another of the noble conceptions of death given by 
 this great Christian poet, which is so exactly in keep- 
 ing with the apostle's thought, when he describes the 
 passing of Arthur thus: 
 
 " So said he, and the barge with oar and sail, 
 Moved from the brink, like some full-breasted swan. 
 That, fluting a wild carol ere her death, 
 Ruffles her pure cold plume, and takes the flood, 
 With swarthy webs." 
 
 This is death. It is a moving out of the soul from 
 the stagnant waters and containing walls of the har- 
 bour, on to the great bosom of the ocean of eternity, 
 where there are width and space, opportunity to ex- 
 plore to the furthest coast-lines of thought, and to at- 
 tain to the golden shores of the blessed isles. 
 
 Speaking of the deaths of two men, whom we both 
 knew and loved, a beloved friend of mine has quoted 
 a poem of Bret Harte, which is exceedingly beautiful 
 and apposite, because it so exactly expresses the de- 
 sire of the man who is in a strait betwixt two, know- 
 ing that the blessedness of this mortal life is far less 
 than that of departing to be with Christ: 
 
 " But lo, in the distance the clouds break away! 
 The gates' glowing portals I see; 
 And I hear from the outgoing ship in the bay 
 The song of the sailors in glee. 
 
250 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 So I think of the luminous footprints that bore 
 
 His comfort o'er dark Galilee, 
 And wait for the signal to go to the shore, 
 
 To the ship that is waiting for me! " 
 
 Remember how the apostle Peter describes death. 
 Speaking of his death, he uses the very word which 
 had been employed in that memorable conversation 
 on the Mount of Transfiguration, when Moses and 
 Elijah spake with the Master of the decease which 
 He was to accomplish at Jerusalem. " After my de- 
 cease " (Luke ix. 31 ; 2 Peter i. 15). The Greek word 
 is exodos. There is only one other place in which that 
 word occurs, in the whole New Testament, when the 
 reference is to the going out of the people from Egypt 
 (Heb. xi. 22). 
 
 Death, under this conception, is a going out, not 
 a coming in. It begins. If it ends, it ends the life 
 of slavery and pain, and opens the way into a world 
 where the development of the soul will be unre- 
 strained. 
 
 Let us not dread to die. With most the soul is 
 probably as unconscious of the act of death as of that 
 of birth. It needs but the cracking of the frail shell, 
 the withdrawing of the thin curtain, the slackening of 
 the golden cord of life. In all probability we shall 
 be surprised to find that heaven has been lying all 
 around us, throughout the days of our mortal pil- 
 grimage, and that we had come (long before we died) 
 into the midst of Mount Sion, had been walking the 
 
A GREAT SUNSET. 
 
 aSi 
 
 streets of the new Jerusalem, had been mingHng with 
 the innumerable hosts of angels, and the spirits of just 
 men made perfect. 
 
 The Lord justly claims the title, " the Resurrection 
 and the Life." 'He has abolished death, and brought 
 Life and Immortality to light through his Gospel. We 
 are not now left to the dim light of a surmise, of sup- 
 position, or of hesitating guess work. We know that 
 there is a life beyond death, because men saw Him 
 after He was risen. " We are witnesses," says one of 
 them, " of all things which He did in the country of 
 the Jews, and in Jerusalem, whom also they slew, 
 hanging Him on a tree. Him God raised up the third 
 day, and gave Him to be made manifest, not to all the 
 people, but unto witnesses that were chosen before 
 of God, even to us, who did eat and drink with Him 
 after He rose from the dead." 
 
 Yes, He lives, and because He lives we shall live 
 also. He has gone to prepare mansions for us in the 
 Father's house, and He will come again to receive 
 us to Himself, that where He is we may be also. And 
 in that world we shall see his face, and his Name shall 
 be on our foreheads, and, in company with kindred 
 spirits, we shall do his commandments, hearkening to 
 the voice of his Word. " His servants shall serve 
 Him." Even now I suppose Moses and Aaron are 
 among his priests, and Samuel among them that call 
 upon his Name, " in the solemn troops, and sweet 
 societies " of eternity. 
 
XXIV. 
 En&or an5 (Bllboa. 
 
 (Samuel xxviii.; i Chronicles x. 13.) 
 
 Earth fades! Heaven breaks on me; I shall stand next 
 Before God's throne; the moment's close at hand 
 When man the first, last time, has leave to lay 
 His whole heart bare before His Maker. . . . 
 
 -R. B. 
 
 YEARS had passed since David's sling had 
 brought Goliath to the ground, and the Phil- 
 istines had fled headlong at Ephesdammim 
 before the onset of the men of Israel. A new inva- 
 sion was now planned to revenge that disgrace, and 
 re-establish the Philistine supremacy over the plain of 
 Esdraelon, which was the necessary link between the 
 wealthy cities of the Euphrates Valley and the vast 
 market for their wares and produce furnished by the 
 cities of the Nile Valley. To hold that great trade- 
 route involved the right to impose very valuable taxa- 
 tion on the merchandise transported to and fro — 
 hence the desire to hold its keys. The tides of Philis- 
 tine invasion, therefore, poured up by the seacoast 
 route, which was favourable for the evolutions of the 
 Philistine chariots and cavalry, and a strongly forti- 
 
BNDOR AND) GILBOA. 253 
 
 fied camp was formed at Shunem, about three and a 
 half miles north of Jezreel, and celebrated in after- 
 time as the abode of the rich woman who so hos- 
 pitably entertained the prophet Elisha. 
 
 Hastily gathering what forces he could collect, Saul 
 marched northwards, and pitched his camp on the 
 slopes of Mount Gilboa, four miles distant from the 
 invading army, and on the south of the Great Plain. 
 " Green plains rising from the level of the Kishon 
 lead to the slopes of Gilboa, swelling after a time into 
 low heights, which rise bare and stony. Behind 
 these the many summits of the hills shoot up abruptly 
 some five or six hundred feet, bleak, white, and bar- 
 ren, their only growths spots of scrub oak and moun- 
 tain thorns and flowers, which in spring at least are 
 never wanting in Palestine." 
 
 The sight of the great force which was arrayed 
 against him seems to have completely paralysed Saul's 
 courage. He contrasted the complete accoutrements 
 of the Philistines with the spears and slings of Israel, 
 and "his heart trembled greatly." The heroic 
 courage which faith might have brought him was not 
 now possible, since the sense of God's presence was 
 withdrawn. There was no rift in the black canopy of 
 despair that overshadowed his terror-stricken soul. 
 He could say with another, " Behold I go forward, 
 but He is not there; and backward, but I cannot per- 
 ceive Him; on the left hand, where He doth work, 
 but I cannot behold Him; He hideth Himself on the 
 
854 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 right hand that I cannot see Him " (Job xxiii. 8). It 
 was to this that the terrible series of tragedies, which 
 we are now about to narrate, must be attributed. 
 The restraining grace of God, which he had so long 
 despised and resisted, no longer strove with him, and 
 he was left to follow the promptings of those evil 
 spirits — " the rulers of the darkness of this world " — 
 who, for mysterious purposes, are permitted to assail 
 the sons of men. 
 
 True, he inquired of the Lord, for probably the first 
 time after the lapse of many years; but there was no 
 repentance or confession of sin, only abject terror and 
 frantic despair. Therefore " the Lord answered him 
 not, neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by 
 prophets." " If I regard iniquity in my heart, the 
 Lord will not hear me." 
 
 'I. EisTDOR. — At some previous period, as we have 
 seen, " Saul had put away those that had familiar 
 spirits, and the wizards, out of the land." He may 
 have done this in one of those strange lucid moments 
 when he became conscious of the strivings of God's 
 good Spirit, or as a set-off to the vn\A strivings of 
 passion of which he was guiltily conscious — so often 
 men seek to atone for the sins into which they have 
 been betrayed, by some strong outward act, intended 
 as a make-weight in the other scale, or a sop to an 
 uneasy conscience. It became clear, however, that 
 he had no heartfelt abhorrence of the crimes he thus 
 
ENDOR AND GILBOA. 255 
 
 punished, seeing that in his own dire extremity he had 
 recourse to the very arts he had striven to abolish, and 
 sought from the mouth of hell the help for which he 
 had appealed to heaven in vain! 
 
 About two miles north from Shunem, in the rear, 
 therefore, of the Philistine army, lay the little village of 
 Endor. It was one of those spots from which Manas- 
 seh had failed to expel the old population; and 
 amongst these, the descendants of the ancient Ca- 
 naanites, was an old woman who professed to be able 
 to bring up the souls of the dead. It is likely enough 
 that her claims were baseless. By ventriloquism and 
 sleight of hand she no doubt simulated the voice and 
 appearance of those who seemed to come from the 
 other world at her bidding. If there was more than 
 that, we do not hesitate to affirm our belief that in all 
 ages demons have been in collusion with necro- 
 mancers and spiritualists, and have answered to their 
 call. This is at the root and heart of the phenomena 
 of modern spiritualism. 
 
 Heavily cloaked and disguised, accompanied by 
 two trusty companions whom tradition has identified 
 as Abner and Amasa, Saul set forth in the early hours 
 of the night, crossed the plain, made a detour round 
 the eastern shoulder of Little Hermon, and arrived 
 safely at the witch's dwelling. The door opened to 
 admit them to the house, and amid the dark weirdness 
 of the interior, revealed by the glimmering light of a 
 brazier, choked with smoke, the woman was quite 
 
2s6 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 unable to recog-nise the features of the haggard man 
 who accosted her with the request that she should 
 bring up whomsoever he should name. 
 
 At first she hesitated, reminding him how perilous 
 her profession was, and suggesting that to give him 
 satisfaction might cost her life. " Behold, thou 
 knowest what Saul hath done, how he hath cut oflf 
 those that have familiar spirits and wizards out of the 
 land; wherefore then layest thou a snare for my life, 
 to cause me to die?" 
 
 With an oath which strangely implicated the God 
 whom he was at that moment denying, and with a 
 touch of his kingly prerogative the king assured her 
 that no punishment should befall her for doing what 
 he requested. " As the Lord liveth, there shall no 
 punishment happen to thee for this thing." 
 
 Thus reassured, the woman asked whom she should 
 bring up ; but she must have been not a little startled, 
 when in a hoarse whisper, as of one paralysed and 
 awestruck by his weird surroundings, the King said, 
 " Bring me up Samuel." 
 
 Retiring from him to a distance, the wretched 
 woman began her incantations, perhaps dropping a 
 powder on the coals of the brazier, muttering incanta- 
 tions in a low voice, making passes and adjurations. 
 But before she had completed her preparations the 
 Almighty seems to have interfered, sending back his 
 faithful servant from the world beyond the article of 
 death, so that the witch might not even appear to 
 
ENDOR AND GILBOA. 257 
 
 have the credit of securing so wonderful a visitation. 
 " The woman saw Samuel." 
 
 At the same moment that she recognised Samuel, 
 she seems to have recognised Saul also. Startled and 
 frightened for her life she called with a loud voice, 
 and spake unto Saul, saying, " Why hast thou de- 
 ceived me?" Perhaps in her excited condition of 
 soul, she was endowed with that supernatural insight 
 which we call clairvoyance; or perhaps there was 
 something in Samuel's appearance so startlingly vivid 
 and real that she was led in that dread hour to con- 
 nect prophet and king as in years gone by; or per- 
 haps the king in his eagerness had drawn near, and 
 had dropped the mantle which veiled his face and 
 figure. But however it befell, she saw through his 
 disguise, and in horror-stricken tones, cried, "Thou 
 art Saul!" 
 
 Again he reassured her, and asked her what she 
 had seen. 
 
 " A majestic being, worthy to be God," she replied, 
 " arising as if from out of the earth." 
 
 Pressed by Saul to describe his appearance more 
 minutely, for she was beholding a mysterious form, 
 which, though present in the same chamber as him- 
 self, was veiled from him, she said, " He resembles an 
 old man covered with a robe." " And Saul perceived 
 that it was Samuel, and he bowed with his face to the 
 ground, and made obeisance." 
 
 Very touching and thrilling was the conversation 
 
258 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 that followed. I am disposed to think that it was held 
 without the medium of the witch, and that God per- 
 mitted the prophet to speak with Saul, as afterwards 
 Moses and Elijah to speak with our Lord of the de- 
 cease to be presently accomplished at Jerusalem. It 
 is likely that these sentences were actually inter- 
 changed between the king and his former friend and 
 confidant, to whom he turned remorsefully in his 
 awful agony. Do you not think that if, even then, 
 Saul had turned to Jehovah with tears of confession 
 and the simplicity of faith, he would have been an- 
 swered according to the multitude of the Divine com- 
 passions? Assuredly he would; but there was no sign 
 of such a change of temper. 
 
 Samuel did not wait to be questioned, but sadly 
 told the awestruck king that, even in the other life, 
 his misdoings had filled his spirit with unrest, so 
 much so that he could not forbear returning to speak 
 to him once more. " Why hast thou disquieted me 
 to bring me up?" 
 
 Saul's answer was that of despair. " I am sore 
 distressed; for the Philistines make war against me, 
 and God is departed from me, and answereth me no 
 more, neither by prophets, nor by dreams; therefore I 
 have called thee, that thou mayest make known unto 
 me what I shall do." 
 
 But from the lips of the prophet came no words of 
 comfort or hope. It was useless to ask of the servant 
 the help which was denied by the Master. There 
 
EN DOR AND GILBOA. 259 
 
 was no gain in evading the fact that God Himself was 
 on the side of David, and against the king, whose 
 reign had begun with such fair promise. The multi- 
 pHed misfortunes which had befallen him and his 
 realm were due to his disobedience to the direct in- 
 structions issued with respect to Amalek. The sin 
 which he had now perpetrated had put the last touch 
 on all his transgressions. Nothing, at this hour, 
 could stay or avert the descending avalanche. As he 
 had sown, he must reap ; as he had fallen, so he must 
 lie. It was, therefore, revealed that the Lord would 
 deliver Israel also with him into the hand of the Phil- 
 istines, and on the morrow Saul and his sons should 
 have also passed into the world of spirits ; the Hebrew 
 host would be annihilated, the camp sacked, and the 
 land left to the fate which the conquered of those days 
 knew well how to expect. 
 
 Little wonder was it that the king fell straightway 
 his full length upon the earth, and was sore afraid. 
 He was already weak with watching and fasting 
 through the previous day ; the events of the night had 
 completely unnerved him; and his nervous system 
 collapsed under the terrible strain. Even the callous 
 nature of the witch was smitten with compunction 
 and pity. Her woman's nature was thoroughly 
 aroused by the awful horror that lay on the King's 
 soul. She besought him to eat. By the trust she 
 had reposed in him she pleaded that she had some 
 claim on his mercy, to be expended not for her, but 
 
26o SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 for him. " Let me set a morsel of bread," she 
 pleaded, " before thee ; and eat, that thou mayest have 
 strength when thou goest on thy way." 
 
 At first he refused. It seemed as though he would 
 never rise again from the mud-floor on which all the 
 glory of his manhood lay prone. " But his servants, 
 together with the woman, constrained him; and he 
 hearkened unto their voice. So he arose from the 
 earth, and sat upon the bed." -What memories must 
 have passed before his mind, as he sat on that divan, 
 whilst the woman hasted to prepare the meal! Did 
 he not remember the first happy days of his reign; 
 Jabesh-gilead; the overthrow of the Philistines, not 
 once or twice; and the love of his people? But, step 
 by step, he saw how he had gone down from the sun- 
 lit summits to the dark valley, where the black tor- 
 rent ran, and the overhanging rocks met overhead. 
 As with a drowning man, the whole of his previous 
 career passes before him in a moment of time, so the 
 whole panorama of his past must have stood in clear 
 outline before the mental vision of the king. Then, 
 after hastily partaking of the calf and the unleavened 
 cakes, the three figures stole through the darkness, 
 back to the camp. 
 
 II. GiuBOA. — On the morrow there was some 
 slight alteration in the disposition of the respective 
 hosts. The Philistines moved towards Aphek, a little 
 to the west of their camp; while the Israelites de- 
 
ENDOR AND. GILBOA. 261 
 
 scended from the heights of Gilboa, and took up a 
 position near the spring or fountain of Jezreel 
 (xxix. i). 
 
 Presently the battle was joined. In spite of the 
 most desperate eflforts to withstand the onset of the 
 heavily mailed troops that were opposed to them, the 
 Hebrews were routed, and fled from before the Phil- 
 istines. It is expressly noted by the historian that the 
 lower slopes of Gilboa were covered by the wounded, 
 whose hearts' blood bedewed the mountain pastures 
 (xxxi. I, R. V. margin). 
 
 Saul and Jonathan made the most desperate efforts 
 to retrieve the day: 
 
 " From the blood of the slain, from the fat of the mighty, 
 The bow of Jonathan turned not back 
 And the sword of Saul returned not empty." 
 
 But it was in vain. " The battle went sore against 
 Saul." "The Philistines slew Jonathan and Abina- 
 dab and Melchi-shua, the sons of Saul." The flower 
 of his army lay strewn around him; the chivalry of 
 Israel was quenched in rivers of blood. Then, leav- 
 ing all others, the Philistines concentrated their at- 
 tack on that lordly figure which towered amid the 
 fugitives, the royal crown on his helmet, the royal 
 bracelet flashing on his arm. " The Philistines fol- 
 lowed hard upon Saul . . . and the archers overtook 
 him, and he was greatly distressed because of the 
 archers." He knew what fate awaited him if he was 
 captured whilst his life was yet in him. Exposed to 
 
262 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 ignominy, tortured to death, it seemed to him that 
 immediate death were far preferable to such a fate. 
 " Then said Saul to his armour-bearer, Draw thy 
 sword and thrust me through therewith; lest these 
 uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and 
 make a mock of me." 
 
 The armour-bearer dared not lift up his hand 
 against the sacred person of his king, so Saul, placmg 
 his sword-hilt firmly in the earth, fell upon the point, 
 which pierced his heart. 
 
 The narrative which the Amalekite gave afterwards 
 to David suggests that the effort to take his life was 
 not at once successful ; and he seems to have asked this 
 child of a race which he was once bidden utterly to 
 destroy, to give him the last finishing stroke. " He 
 said unto me. Stand, I pray thee, over me, and slay 
 me; for anguish hath taken hold of me; because my 
 life is yet whole in me." It may be, however, that all 
 this was a fabrication, intended to win David's favour; 
 for we are told that when the armour-bearer saw that 
 Saul was dead, he likewise fell upon his sword, and 
 died with him. 
 
 The day of Gilboa was a veritable Chevy Chase. 
 " Saul died, and his three sons, and his armour- 
 bearer, and all his men, that same day together.'' 
 The next day the Philistines set to work to strip 
 the dead, and finding the bodies of Saul and his 
 sons, they despatched their heads, armour, and de- 
 capitated corpses to be carried in triumph through 
 
ENDOR AND GILBOA. 263 
 
 the streets of their principal cities, and finally to be 
 affixed to the walls of Beth-shan. As the tidings 
 spread, the people left the towns and villages in the 
 neighbourhood, and fled across the Jordan. Roving 
 bands followed up the victory, and carried fire and 
 sword into all parts of the land. It was the tidings 
 of their approach to Gibeah that caused the accident 
 to Mephibosheth. " He was five years old when the 
 tidings came of Saul and Jonathan out of Jezreel, and 
 his nurse took him up and fled; and it came to pass, 
 as she made haste to flee, that he fell, and he became 
 lame " (2 Sam. iv. 4). 
 
 One brave deed relieved the sombre hues of that 
 terrible catastrophe. The men of Jabesh-gilead could 
 not forget how nobly Saul had come to their aid in 
 the early days of his reign ; and they resolved, at least, 
 to retrieve the royal body from the ignominy to which 
 Philistine malice had exposed it. The valiant men 
 therefore arose, and went all night, took down the 
 body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the 
 temple walls, bore them reverently back to Jabesh, 
 burnt them to conceal the hideous mutilation to which 
 they had been subjected, buried them under " the 
 tamarisk tree in Jabesh," and lamented with un- 
 feigned grief this tragic close to a reign which had 
 been once as a morning without clouds. 
 
 It is an awful thing when a man persists, as Saul 
 and as Judas, to the end striving against God. We 
 feel that it was a dreadful thing to do as he did; we 
 
264 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 are horrified at his temerity; we marvel at his infatu- 
 ation; yet we may fall into his wicked ways, and be 
 overcome of evil as he was. We, too, may have re- 
 sort to things, habits, and people which we had once 
 religiously tabooed. We, too, are liable to step back 
 to our undoing. If a man, having felt the evil of 
 covetousness, and set himself against the love of 
 money, after a while allows it again to invade his soul ; 
 if a man has been a slave of his appetites, and having 
 realised their degrading tendencies, has acted, for a 
 while, on a vow of temperance, but has gradually al- 
 lowed them to resume their former sway; if after 
 years of irreligion he has begun to be in earnest about 
 his soul, but has again relapsed into moral apathy — 
 is not this like Saul seeking help in the cave of the 
 enchantress, whose class he had proscribed? Such 
 men are wells without water, clouds carried before the 
 blast of the tempest, for whom, in the words of the 
 apostle, is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever : 
 " For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the 
 world through the knowledge of the Lord and 
 Saviour, they are again entangled therein and over- 
 come, the latter end is worse than the beginning; for 
 it had been better for them not to have known the way 
 of righteousness, than, after they had known it, to 
 turn back from the holy commandment delivered 
 unto them." 
 
XXV. 
 
 Hn Epilogue, 
 
 (2 Samuel i. 19, etc.) 
 
 He who did most, shall bear most! The strongest shall 
 
 stand the most weak! 
 'Tis the weakness in strength that I cry for, my flesh that 
 
 I seek 
 In the Godhead!— I seek and I find i*! Oh, Saul! it shall be 
 A Face like my face that receives thee; a Man like to me, 
 Thou Shalt love and be loved by for ever; a Hand like this 
 
 hand 
 Shall throw open the gates of new life to thee! See the 
 
 Christ stand! 
 
 — R. B. 
 
 " ^ I ^HE Song of the Bow," for that is the title of 
 I the touching-ly beautiful elegy with which 
 David's muse mourned over the tragedy of 
 Gilboa, is very pathetic and inspiring. It seemed as 
 though the singer had forgotten the rough experi- 
 ences which had fallen to his lot through the jealous 
 mania of the king; and passing over recent years, he 
 was a minstrel-shepherd once more, celebrating the 
 glory and powers of his king. 
 
 " Thy glory, O Israel, is slain upon thy high places! 
 How are the mighty fallen! " 
 
 " Saul and Jonathan were lovely and pleasant in their lives, 
 And in their death they were not divided." 
 26s 
 
z66 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 It makes us think of the love of God to hear David 
 sing like that. It reminds us that God has said, 
 " Their sins and iniquities I will remember no more." 
 Here at least, long before the Christian era, was a 
 love that bore all things, believed all things, hoped 
 all things, endured all things, and never failed ; which 
 cast the halo of its idealism around the memory of the 
 departed ; which thought only of what had been noble 
 and beautiful in them, and refused to consider aught 
 that had been base and unworthy. 'It is thus that we 
 also would think of Saul, the first king of Israel. 
 
 It always seems to us as though Saul were one of 
 those castaways of whom the apostle speaks, and 
 among whom he feared lest he should finally be 
 classed; who were once selected by God for some 
 high and holy purpose, who bade fair to realise it, but 
 who at last were cast .aside from his use and service 
 as salt which has lost its savour, and was cast out to 
 be trodden under foot of men. 
 
 It is a very solemn thought! No career could be- 
 gin with fairer, brighter prospects than Saul had, and 
 none could close in a more absolute midnight of de- 
 spair; and yet such a fate may befall us, unless we 
 watch, and pray, and walk humbly with our God. 
 
 We cannot forget that representation on the pages 
 of the " Immortal Dreamer," of the man in an Iron 
 Cage. The man said, " I was once a fair and flour- 
 ishing professor, both in mine own eyes and in the 
 
AN EPILOGUE. 267 
 
 eyes of others; I once was, as I thought, fair for the 
 Celestial City, and had then even joy at the thoughts 
 that I should get thither; but I left ofif to watch and 
 be sober; I laid the reins upon the neck of my lusts; 
 I sinned against the light of the Word and the good- 
 ness of God; I have grieved the Spirit, and He is 
 gone; I tempted the devil, and he has come to me; I 
 have provoked God to anger, and He has left me; I 
 have so hardened my heart that I cannot repent." 
 "Well," said Christian, "this is fearful! God help 
 me to watch and be sober, and to pray that I may 
 shun the cause of this man's misery! " 
 
 But those who are most fearful of falling into such 
 a case are they who are least liable to it. It is the 
 disciple who says, Lord, is it I? in lowly distrust of 
 himself is he who will never be found guilty of tread- 
 ing the Son of God beneath his feet, or crucifying 
 Him afresh. 
 
 But, deeper than all, the dispensational aspect of 
 Saul's reign appeals to us with profoundest interest. 
 He seems to represent the prince of this present age 
 (or, as it might be called, "the world"), who was 
 once Lucifer, the Son of the Morning; who was ap- 
 pointed as God's vicegerent to rule over his heritage; 
 who fell from his high estate, and in his fall dragged 
 down not only a noble retinue of bright and beautiful 
 spirits, but cast a blighting influence over the entire 
 realm over which he had been set. In each of these 
 
2 68 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 points there is a close analogy between Saul, the king, 
 and Satan, the fallen archangel. Both were favoured 
 above most; both began with high promise; both 
 were vicegerents over God's heritage; both were dis- 
 obedient, wilful, and proud; both fell from their pri- 
 mal estate, and in their fall dragged many in their 
 train, and left an entail of woe as their legacy and 
 memento. And both incurred the sentence of depo- 
 sition in favour of another kingdom, which was 
 springing up in the heart of their kingdom. In the 
 case of Saul, this was David's; in the case of Satan, it 
 is that kingdom which can never be removed, but 
 abideth for ever! 
 
 That gathering to the Cave of Adullam of all who 
 were in desperate circumstances until, by careful dis- 
 cipline and the infusion of his own heroic spirit, David 
 moulded them into a great army, and won the empire 
 of that time and land; that generous and noble dis- 
 position which stood out in such striking contrast 
 to the character of his adversary; that incessant per- 
 secution and pursuit by the crowned prince of the 
 realm — what are these but striking analogies, which 
 have their highest counterpart only in the history of 
 the Son of Man, who from his cradle to his grave was 
 always subjected to the hatred and opposition of 
 Satan ! 
 
 Notwithstanding all that Saul's malice could do to 
 thwart and frustrate the Divine plan, yet Jehovah set 
 his king upon the holy hill of Zion, and he came forth 
 
AN EPILOGUE. 269 
 
 to declare the decree of his enthronement and corona- 
 tion. Similarly the Divine purpose with regard to 
 our Lord must stand, though demons and men oppose 
 it. The Son of God is destined to be the crowned 
 King of men. His kingdom is now hidden and in 
 mystery; his followers are not manifested to the eyes 
 of men; the full proportions of his empire are con- 
 cealed. It has yet " to come." The overthrow of 
 its great antagonist must precede its establishment. 
 For the universe also there is to be an Armageddon, 
 just as there was a field of Gilboa, and only when 
 that last fight has been fought, and the powers of 
 darkness have been shattered, never to be recon- 
 structed, shall there be heard the sound of many 
 voices, as of the tumultuous sound of vast multitudes, 
 saying, " Hallelujah, the kingdoms of this world have 
 become the kingdoms of our God and of his Christ, 
 and He shall reign for ever." 
 
 " Wherefore, we receiving a kingdom, that shall 
 not be removed, let us have grace, whereby we may 
 serve God acceptably, with reverence and in godly 
 fear, for our God is a consuming fire." 
 
 The reign of Saul would be almost too bitter to 
 contemplate, unless under its rough cuticle and rind 
 we could detect the formation of the luscious fruit of 
 David's kingdom, destined to sow eternal seed over 
 the world. Similarly we might despair of the condi- 
 tion to which the Trinity of Evil has reduced our 
 world, did we not know that in the days of these kings 
 
270 SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 the God of Heaven shall set up a kingdom which shall 
 never be destroyed, nor shall the sovereignty thereof 
 be left to another people; but it shall break in pieces, 
 and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand 
 for ever (see Dan. ii. 4). 
 
 " Samuel the Prophet " thus practically bridges 
 the gulf between Samson the Judge and David the 
 King: and there is deep significance in the fact that 
 his name is identified with the two Books of Scrip- 
 ture which describe this great transitional period, 
 every event of which was affected by his influence. 
 
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