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1 Samuel
Chapter Thirteen
1 Samuel 13
Chapter Contents
The invasion of the Philistines. (1-7) Saul sacrifices,
He is reproved by Samuel. (8-14) The policy of the Philistines. (15-23)
Commentary on 1 Samuel 13:1-7
(Read 1 Samuel 13:1-7)
Saul reigned one year, and nothing particular happened;
but in his second year the events recorded in this chapter took place. For
above a year he gave the Philistine time to prepare for war, and to weaken and
to disarm the Israelites. When men are lifted up in self-sufficiency, they are
often led into folly. The chief advantages of the enemies of the church are
derived from the misconduct of its professed friends. When Saul at length
sounded an alarm, the people, dissatisfied with his management, or terrified by
the power of the enemy, did not come to him, or speedily deserted him.
Commentary on 1 Samuel 13:8-14
(Read 1 Samuel 13:8-14)
Saul broke the order expressly given by Samuel, see 1 Samuel 10:8, as to what should be done in
cases of extremity. Saul offered sacrifice without Samuel, and did it himself,
though he was neither priest nor prophet. When charged with disobedience, he
justified himself in what he had done, and gave no sign of repentance for it.
He would have this act of disobedience pass for an instance of his prudence,
and as a proof of his piety. Men destitute of inward piety, often lay great
stress on the outward performances of religion. Samuel charges Saul with being
an enemy to himself. Those that disobey the commandments of God, do foolishly
for themselves. Sin is folly, and the greatest sinners are the greatest fools.
Our disposition to obey or disobey God, will often be proved by our behaviour
in things which appear small. Men see nothing but Saul's outward act, which
seems small; but God saw that he did this with unbelief and distrust of his
providence, with contempt of his authority and justice, and with rebellion
against the light of his own conscience. Blessed Saviour, may we never, like
Saul, bring our poor offerings, or fancied peace-offerings, without looking to
thy precious, thy all-sufficient sacrifice! Thou only, O Lord, canst make, or
hast made, our peace in the blood of the cross.
Commentary on 1 Samuel 13:15-23
(Read 1 Samuel 13:15-23)
See how politic the Philistines were when they had power;
they not only prevented the people of Israel from making weapons of war, but
obliged them to depend upon their enemies, even for instruments of husbandry.
How impolitic Saul was, who did not, in the beginning of his reign, set himself
to redress this. Want of true sense always accompanies want of grace. Sins
which appear to us very little, have dangerous consequences. Miserable is a
guilty, defenceless nation; much more those who are destitute of the whole
armour of God.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on 1 Samuel》
1 Samuel 13
Verse 3
[3] And
Jonathan smote the garrison of the Philistines that was in Geba, and the
Philistines heard of it. And Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land,
saying, Let the Hebrews hear.
Blew —
That is, he sent messengers to tell them all what Jonathan had done, and how
the Philistines were enraged at it, and therefore what necessity there was of
gathering themselves together for their own defence.
Verse 4
[4] And all Israel heard say that Saul had smitten a garrison of the
Philistines, and that Israel also was had in abomination with the Philistines.
And the people were called together after Saul to Gilgal.
Saul —
Perhaps contrary to some treaty.
Verse 5
[5] And
the Philistines gathered themselves together to fight with Israel, thirty
thousand chariots, and six thousand horsemen, and people as the sand which is
on the sea shore in multitude: and they came up, and pitched in Michmash,
eastward from Bethaven.
Thirty thousand chariots, … — Most of them, we may suppose, carriages for their baggage, not chariots
of war, tho' all their allies were joined with them.
Verse 6
[6] When
the men of Israel saw that they were in a strait, (for the people were
distressed,) then the people did hide themselves in caves, and in thickets, and
in rocks, and in high places, and in pits.
Strait —
Notwithstanding their former presumption that if they had a king, they should
be free from all such straits. And hereby God intended to teach them the vanity
of confidence in men; and that they did not one jot less need the help of God
now, than they did when they had no king. And probably they were the more
discouraged, because they did not find Samuel with Saul. Sooner or later men
will be made to see, that God and his prophets are their best friends.
Verse 7
[7] And some of the Hebrews went over Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. As
for Saul, he was yet in Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling.
All the people —
That is, all that were left.
Verse 8
[8] And
he tarried seven days, according to the set time that Samuel had appointed: but
Samuel came not to Gilgal; and the people were scattered from him.
Seven days —
Not seven compleat days; for the last day was not finished.
Verse 11
[11] And
Samuel said, What hast thou done? And Saul said, Because I saw that the people
were scattered from me, and that thou camest not within the days appointed, and
that the Philistines gathered themselves together at Michmash;
Camest not —
That is, when the seventh day was come, and a good part of it past, whence I
concluded thou wouldst not come that day.
Verse 12
[12]
Therefore said I, The Philistines will come down now upon me to Gilgal, and I
have not made supplication unto the LORD: I forced myself therefore, and
offered a burnt offering.
Supplication —
Thence it appears, that sacrifices were accompanied with solemn prayers.
Forced myself — I
did it against my own mind and inclination.
Verse 13
[13] And
Samuel said to Saul, Thou hast done foolishly: thou hast not kept the
commandment of the LORD thy God, which he commanded thee: for now would the
LORD have established thy kingdom upon Israel for ever.
For ever —
The phrase, for ever, in scripture often signifies only a long time. So this
had been abundantly verified, if the kingdom had been enjoyed by Saul, and by
his son, and by his son's son; after whom the kingdom might have come to Judah.
Verse 14
[14] But
now thy kingdom shall not continue: the LORD hath sought him a man after his
own heart, and the LORD hath commanded him to be captain over his people,
because thou hast not kept that which the LORD commanded thee.
A man —
That is, such a man as will fulfil all the desires of his heart, and not oppose
them, as thou dost.
Commanded —
That is, hath appointed, as the word command is sometimes used: but though God
threatened but Saul with the loss of his kingdom for his sin; yet it is not
improbable, there was a tacit condition implied, to wit, if he did not repent
of this; and of all his sins; for the full, and final, and peremptory sentence
of Saul's rejection, is plainly ascribed to another cause, chap. 15:11,23,26,28,29, and 'till that second
offence, neither the spirit of the Lord departed from him, nor was David
anointed in his stead. "But was it not hard, to punish so little a sin so
severely?" It was not little: disobedience to an express command, tho' in
a small matter, is a great provocation. And indeed, there is no little sin,
because there is no little god to sin against. In general, what to men seems a
small offence, to him who knows the heart may appear a heinous crime. We are
taught hereby, how necessary it is, that we wait on our God continually. For
Saul is sentenced to lose his kingdom for want of two or three hours patience.
Verse 20
[20] But
all the Israelites went down to the Philistines, to sharpen every man his
share, and his coulter, and his axe, and his mattock.
Philistines —
Not to the land of the Philistines, but to the stations and garrisons which the
Philistines retained in several parts of Israel's land, though Samuel's
authority had so far over-awed them, that they durst not give the Israelites
much disturbance. In these, therefore, the Philistines kept all the smiths; and
here they allowed them the exercise of their art for the uses following.
Verse 22
[22] So
it came to pass in the day of battle, that there was neither sword nor spear
found in the hand of any of the people that were with Saul and Jonathan: but
with Saul and with Jonathan his son was there found.
Sword — It
seems restrained to the six hundred that were with Saul and Jonathan; for there
were no doubt a considerable number of swords and spears among the Israelites,
but they generally hid them, as now they did their persons, from the
Philistines. And the Philistines had not yet attained to so great a power over
them, as wholly to disarm them, but thought it sufficient to prevent the making
of new arms; knowing that the old ones would shortly be decayed, and useless.
There were likewise other arms more common in those times and places, than
swords and spears; to wit, bows and arrows, and slings and stones.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on 1 Samuel》
"A MAN AFTER GOD'S OWN HEART"
1 Samuel 13:13-14
INTRODUCTION
1. In Paul's sermon at
history of
David:
"I
have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who
will do all My will." - Ac 13:22 (cf. 1 Sam 13:13-14)
2. This beautiful compliment, "a man after My
own heart", is one that
should characterize every person who wears the name of Christ
a.
For David was not only the ancestor of Christ according to the
flesh...
b.
But he possessed many of the attitudes that:
1) Were later
perfected by Christ
2) Should
characterize all those who are disciples of Christ
3. In this study we shall...
a.
Consider some of these attitudes that David had
b.
See the similarities between his attitudes and those of Christ
c.
And encourage all who are Christians to have the same so that we
too might be
people "after God's own heart"
[We begin, then, by noticing that...]
I. DAVID LOVED THE WORD OF GOD
A.
"OH, HOW I LOVE YOUR LAW!" - Psa 119:97
1. In this
psalm, if not written by David it certainly expresses
his sentiment found elsewhere, we find one who has a great
love for God's Word - cf. Psa 119:47-48
2. This love for
God's Word is due to the fact that...
a. It protects him from sin - Psa 119:11
b. It revives him in affliction - Psa 119:50
c. It gives him great peace of mind - Psa 119:165
B.
JESUS LOVED THE WORD OF GOD...
1. As is evident
from His frequent quotation of it
2. Especially at
the time of His temptation - Mt 4:4,7,10
C.
HOW IS OUR LOVE FOR THE WORD OF GOD?
1. Do we
"hide" it in our heart?
2. Do we find it
to be a source of comfort in times of
affliction?
3. Does it give
us peace of mind?
4. If not, we
should give heed to the instructions of David in
Psa 1:1-3
a. Learn to delight in the Word
b. Learn to meditate upon it daily
-- Then we will be truly "blessed"!
[We next see that...]
II. DAVID LOVED TO PRAY
A.
"I WILL CALL UPON HIM AS LONG AS I LIVE" - Psa 116:1-2
1. His love for
prayer was based upon the fact God had answered
him before - Psa 116:1-2
2. It was based
upon the fact that God had greatly blessed him
- Psa 116:12-13
3. It was based
upon the fact that prayer brought God close to
him - Psa 145:18
B.
JESUS WAS ALSO A MAN OF PRAYER...
1. He made it a
point to often slip away to pray privately - Lk
5:16
2. In times of
greatest trial, Jesus resorted to prayer...
a. At
b. On the cross:
1) "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they
do." - Lk 23:34
2) "My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?" - Mt 27:46
3)
"Father, into your hands I commend My Spirit." - Lk
23:46
C.
HOW IS OUR LOVE FOR PRAYER?
1. Have we found
it to be a source of peace "which surpasses all
understanding"? - Ph 4:6-7
2. Do we
"pray without ceasing"? - 1 Th 5:17
3. If not, then
let David instruct us to depend upon prayer for
our very preservation - Psa 32:6-7
[In addition to the Word of God and prayer...]
III. DAVID LOVED TO PRAISE GOD
A.
"SEVEN TIMES A DAY I PRAISE YOU" - Psa 119:164
1. He praised
God because of His righteous judgments
2. He praised
God because of His greatness and lovingkindness
- Psa 95:1-7
3. And he was
determined to sing praises as long as he lived
- Psa 104:33
B.
JESUS ALSO LOVED TO PRAISE GOD...
1. As He did on
one occasion publicly in prayer - cf. Mt 11:25-26
2. As He did
with his disciples in song - cf. Mt 26:30
C.
DO WE LOVE TO PRAISE GOD?
1. Do we delight
in singing praises to God in song?
2. Do we take
time to praise God in our prayers?
3. Once again,
David has words to encourage us in this activity
- Psa 147:1
-- Thus it is
becoming for those who profess to be children of
God to praise their Heavenly Father!
[We note also that...]
IV. DAVID LOVED UNITY AMONG BRETHREN
A.
"BEHOLD, HOW GOOD AND HOW PLEASANT IT IS..." - Psa 133:1
1. David knew
the value of good friendship and unity, as
exemplified in the relationship he had with Jonathan - 1 Sam
18:1
2. He also knew
the terrible pain of division within a family
(cf. his sons, Amnon and Absalom - 2 Sam 13)
B.
JESUS LOVED UNITY ALSO...
1. He prayed
diligently that His disciples might be one - Jn 17:
20-23
2. He died on
the cross that there might be unity - Ep 2:13-16
C.
DO WE LOVE UNITY ENOUGH TO PAY THE PRICE?
1. By diligently
displaying the proper attitudes necessary to
preserve the unity Christ has accomplished through His death?
- cf. Ep 4:1-3
2. By marking
those who needlessly cause division? - Ro 16:17
[Finally, we note that...]
V. DAVID HATED EVERY FALSE WAY
A.
"I HATE EVERY FALSE WAY" - Psa 119:104
1. His hatred
was based upon his understanding of God's precepts
- cf. Psa 119:104
2. His hatred
affected his selection of activities and friends
- cf. Psa 101:3-4,6-7
B.
JESUS ALSO HATED ERROR AND FALSE WAYS...
1. As manifested
in His driving the moneychangers out of the
temple - Mt 21:12-13
2. As manifested
in His denunciation of the hypocritical
Pharisees, scribes, and lawyers - cf. Mt 23:13-36
C.
WHAT IS OUR ATTITUDE TOWARD FALSE WAYS?
1. Are we soft
or compromising?
2. Or do we
realize that we are involved in a "battle" over the
souls of men, and are not to think lightly of that which is
false? - cf. 2 Co 10:3-5
3. While we are
to love the sinner, we must ever hate the sin!
CONCLUSION
1. In closing, we note that it was said concerning
David that he was
one "...who will do all My
will." - Ac 13:22
a.
Because he was "a man after God's own heart" and had all these
attributes we
have considered in this lesson...
b.
God was confident that David would do ALL that God asked of him
2. Thus it requires all of the attributes to motivate
one to be
faithful to all that God may ask
a.
We have seen where Jesus possessed them, and He was certainly
motivated to do
the Father's will - cf. Jn 4:34; Mt 26:42
b.
How about us? Are we motivated to
do ALL of God's will?
Not
every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the
kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is
in heaven. (Mt 7:21)
－－《Executable
Outlines》
13 Chapter 13
Verses 1-23
Verse 1
Saul reigned one year; and when he had reigned two years over
Israel.
The War of Independence
The sacred historian prefaces the account of the War of
Independence with a statement as to Saul’s age and reign. The Revised Version
thus gives it: “Saul was thirty years old when he began to reign; and he
reigned two years over Israel.” There is no mention of Saul’s ago in the
present Hebrew text, the number having been accidentally dropped in the
copying; but the number thirty, which the translators of the Revised Version
have adopted from an emendation of the Septuagint, is very probably correct, as
thirty was the usual age for public service amongst the Jews. As to the second
half of the statement, many, such as Ewald and Dean Stanley, take it to be a
correct account of the period that elapsed between Saul’s election and the War
of Independence. According to them, the War of Independence began after Saul
had reigned two years. But there are several considerations which go to show
that this can hardly be accepted.
1. The abject condition of the country when the War of Independence
began.
2. The age of Jonathan. Jonathan appears in the War of Independence
as the captain of a thousand and one of the most heroic warriors of the nation;
and as such he could hardly have been less than twenty years of age. That would
make him, if Saul had only reigned two years, eighteen years of age when his
father was elected king.
3. The sad deterioration in the character of Saul. The character of
Saul, as displayed in the War of Independence, is in marked contrast with that
portrayed in the early part of his history. As a young man in the beginning of
his career, he was meek, humble, considerate, and self-restrained; but in the
War of Independence he is impatient, imperious, cruel, and rash. And according
to the Latin proverb, Nemo repents turpissimus est--no one becomes wicked
all at once--the period of little more than a year is much too short to account
for this baleful and disastrous change. As the sacred writers are in the habit
of giving the age of each king, and the length of his reign--there are no fewer
than thirty-seven illustrations of this in the Old Testament--it seems
extremely probable that this was what was actually done in this passage. And I
am convinced that the passage originally stood thus: “Saul was thirty years old
when he began to reign; and he reigned forty years over Israel.” My reasons for
thinking so are the following:--
Verses 2-7
Saul chose him three thousand men of Israel.
Aggression upon the camp of evil
The spiritual application of this incident teaches us that every
man in the Church is a soldier acting under Divine leadership, or human
leadership Divinely appointed, and that the solemn and unchangeable duty of the
great army is to make daily aggression upon the whole camp of evil. The very
existence of that camp should be regarded as a challenge. There need be no
waiting for formal defiance; the Christian army is justified in regarding the
existence of any form or colour of evil as a call to immediate onslaught. We
fight not against men, but against their corruptions. We do not kill our
brother men, we seek by Divine instrumentalities to slay the evils which have
debased their manhood. There must be war in the world until all evil is driven
out of it. Physical carnage is incompatible with the Spirit of Christ, and is,
therefore ever to be regarded with horror and inexpressible detestation; but
the grand spiritual war is never to cease until the last black spot of
wickedness is taken away from the fair robe of the moral creation. Judging by
what is seen in the spirit and action of nominal Christians, who could justly
regard them as men of intrepidity and invincible resoluteness? What trembling,
what hesitation, what nightmare fancies, what ghostly noises in the night, what
nameless spectres have combined to make the Church afraid! What a genius the
Church has for creating fears! How afraid the Church is of sensationalism,
offending the weak, annoying the sensitive, disturbing the slumbering! What
wonder if amid all this unworthy hesitation the war should be going against the
Divine standard! But we must not look at the people: our eyes must be upon the
Captain of our salvation. In his heart there is no misgiving; he must reign
till he hath put all enemies under his feet; he never turns back from the war;
his sword is always highest in the air, pointing the road to danger and to
victory. (J. Parker, D. D.)
Verses 8-10
And he tarried seven days, according to the set time that Samuel
had appointed.
The impatience of man and the long-suffering of Christ
(with 1 Timothy 1:16):--The figure of
Samuel is scarcely ever presented to us alone. In childhood it is ever set in
contrast with the wicked practices of those sons of Eli. Those young men
defiled with sin the sanctuary of God: that child adhered to duty in the very
presence of their ill example. In manhood and old age, the prophet is ever
confronted with the king; the messenger sent to select, to anoint, to counsel,
at last to warn and to reprove, to judge and to condemn, with the unhappy
object of all these ministrations; whose advancement seemed in the fore view so
full of honour and of happiness, but was made by his ungoverned temper and
perverse self-will so ruinous to his own peace and to his people’s welfare. The
king had been expressly charged to await the coming of the prophet to offer an
offering in Gilgal. It was a trial of fidelity and obedience. If Saul really
believed that the direction was from God, and if he was really anxious to obey
God, he would wait. If he allowed any other considerations to come in,
considerations of self-interest, of expediency, of what was reasonable or
probable apart from the command, then, tried as he was to be, he would
certainly anticipate the ceremony, and not wait. The seven days ran their
course, and there was no sign of Samuel’s approach. Meanwhile the people were
discouraged. Accordingly the king’s resolution gave way. There was some excuse,
considerable temptation, no slight admixture of better motives, some
superstition, some religion, some sense of the necessity of God’s help, much
neglect of God’s directions as to the proper way of securing it. Saul’s fell on
this occasion through the operation of a principle (if so it can be called)
which is natural to all of us, the principle of impatience. How many errors,
faults, and sins, in our lives, spring out of this source! We scarcely ever do
a thing (as we express it) in a hurry, without having afterwards to regret it.
Nothing so done is likely to be well done. A thing may be done quickly, and
well done, but not hurriedly, not in impatience. How many things have to be
done twice over, because they were not done once quietly! Sometimes out of a
little momentary act of haste springs a misunderstanding never to be cleared
up, a quarrel never to be reconciled, an injustice never to be repaired. It is
thus that impatience shows itself in the little daily acts of life: but it has
a still more serious influence upon life’s greater changes. Every condition of
life has its less pleasant side: those who think they have a right to a portion
wholly agreeable fret under these alloys of enjoyment, and can sea almost
nothing else in the lot assigned to them. Every rank and every age is liable to
this feeling. A servant has become dissatisfied with his present position, and
in the hurry of his impatience he suddenly resolves to make a change: how
often, how often, for the worse! He has changed perhaps a kind master for one
cold and considerate, a Christian home for a worldly, a safe place for one full
of temptation, and in point of comfort, meanwhile, he has gained nothing. He
would fain have returned, but the door is closed, and even if he could, pride
would not let him. And how often has a man of mature age erred, and marred his
life, through the very same impatience! Keenly alive to the trials of his
present position he has greedily seized some opening for change. Bitterly may
he one day regret that unthankful spirit of human impatience, which doubled the
aggravations of the then known and present, and blinded him to the certain
dangers of the then untried and future. But most of all is the working of this
mind seen, as it was seen in King Saul, when there is not only a lurking
imprudence but also a lurking disobedience. It was not merely that Saul was too
much in a hurry, and did that precipitately which he might have done quietly: he
showed the strength of his impatience by letting it interfere with and overbear
a plain command of God. And how often now is the same sin committed! A man
impatient of what is, is in no safe state for choosing what shall be. To say
nothing of things positively forbidden, choices which can only be made by
absolute sin, there are many things wrong for the individual though not wrong
for another, and of which God, in the manifold workings of conscience and of
His Spirit, leaves us not in ignorance or forgetfulness. But, like all God’s
admonitions, these may be overborne, and often are so. There is yet, perhaps, a
just application of the history before us to the subject of human impatience in
matters more entirely and purely spiritual. There is a strong yearning in the
heart of man for the realisation of God. We long, and it is right to do so, for
something more than a mere book knowledge or a mere head knowledge of Christ
and of His salvation. We would believe, not because of the saying of another,
but because we have seen Him for ourselves, and know that He is indeed the
Christ, the Saviour of the world. But, O how many, in the sickness of a hope
deferred, have at last discarded it; in the impatience of nature, they have
said at last. The happiness, the blessedness, of a realised conviction is not
for me: they have either ceased to look for it, and gone back into the world of
sense and sin, or they have accepted some lie in its place; have put their
trust in forms or in shadows, in things external and ceremonial. Thus, in one
way or another, after waiting their seven days almost but not quite to a
termination, they have despaired of the promised advent of comfort and
illumination; they have seized some offering of their own, and offered it
instead of that which God hath provided; they have satisfied conscience and
stifled the Spirit. Human impatience has forced itself into things spiritual,
and destroyed for the soul itself God’s best and highest gift. I have reserved
the last few words of my sermon for that beautiful and touching thought which
should correct as well as contrast with the impatience of man, the thought, I
mean, of the long suffering of Christ. St. Paul gives this as the object with
which he, once a blasphemer and a persecutor, he the chief of sinners, had
obtained mercy, that in him first Jesus Christ might show forth all
long-suffering for a pattern to those who should hereafter believe on Him to
life everlasting. If Jesus Christ were impatient like us, where should we be at
this time--where, and what? His ways are not as our ways: if He dealt with us
at all as the very best deal with one another, there is not a man upon earth
who would live to grow up: one and twenty years of such provocation would be
absolutely impossible. But to all things there is an end. A day of grace
implies a morning, a mid-day, and an evening; implies too a deep dead midnight
when all work has stood still, when all prayer is silent. Let patience have her
perfect work, the patience of Christ which so long calls you to repentance. (C.
J. Vaughan, D. D.)
The trial of Saul
We are all on our trial. Every one who lives is on his trial,
whether he will serve God or not. Saul is an instance of a man whom God blessed
and proved, as Adam before him, whom He put on his trial, and who, like Adam,
was found wanting. Before Saul went to battle, it was necessary to offer a
burnt sacrifice to the Lord, and to beg of Him a blessing on the arms of
Israel. He could have no hope of victory, unless this act of religious worship
was performed. Now priests only and prophets were God’s ministers, and they
alone could offer sacrifice. Kings could not, unless they were specially
commanded to do so by Almighty God. Saul bad no leave to offer sacrifice; yet a
sacrifice must be offered before he could fight; what must he do? He must wait
for Samuel, who had said that be would come to him for that purpose. What a
great trial this must have been! Here was a king who had been made king for the
express purpose of destroying the Philistines; he is in the presence of his
powerful enemy; he is anxious to fulfil his commission; he fears to fail; his
reputation is at stake; he has at best a most difficult task, as his soldiers
are very bad ones, and are all afraid of the enemy. His only chance, humanly
speaking, is to strike a blow; if he delays, he can expect nothing but total
defeat. Yet he is told to wait seven days; seven long days must he wait; he
does wait them; and to his great mortification and despair, his soldiers begin
to desert. Yet does be govern his feelings so far, as to wait all through the
seven days. So far he acquits himself well in the trial; he was told simply to
wait seven days, and in spite of the risk, he does wait. Though he sees his
army crumbling away, and the enemy ready to attack him, he obeys God; he obeys
His prophet; he does nothing; he looks out for Samuel’s coming. But now, when
his trial seemed over, behold a second trial--Samuel comes not. The prophet of
God said he would come; the prophet of God does not come as he said. Why Samuel
did not come, we are not informed; except that we see it was God’s will to try
Saul still further. O that he had continued in his faith! but his faith gave
way, when his trial was prolonged. When Samuel did not come, there was no one
of course to offer sacrifice; what was to be done? Saul ought to have waited
still longer, till Samuel did come. He had had faith in God hitherto, he should
have had faith still. He who had kept him so safely for seven days, why should
He not also on the eighth? however, he did not feel this, and so he took a very
rash and fatal step. That step was as follows: since Samuel had not come, he
determined to offer the burnt sacrifice instead of him; he determined to do
what he could not do without a great sin; viz, intrude into a sacred office to
which he was not called; nay, to do what he really could not do at all; for he
might call it a sacrifice, but it would not be really such, unless a priest or
prophet offered it. This is a crime often denounced in Scripture, as in the
case of Korah, and Jeroboam, and Uzziah. Korah was swallowed up by the earth on
account of it; Jeroboam had his hand withered, and was punished in his family;
and Uzziah was smitten with leprosy. Yet this was Saul’s sin. You see, if he
had waited but one hour more, he would have been saved this sin; in other
words, he would have succeeded in his trial instead of failing. But he failed,
and the consequence was, he lost God’s favour, and forfeited his kingdom. How
much is there in this melancholy history which applies to us at this day,
though it happened some thousand years ago! We are, like Saul, favoured by
God’s free grace; and in consequence we are put on our trial like Saul--we are
all tried in one way or another; and now consider how many there are who fall like
Saul.
1. How many are there who, when in distress of any kind, in want of
means, or of necessaries, forget, like Saul, that their distress, whatever it
is, comes from God; that God brings it on them, and that, God will remove it in
His own way, if they trust in Him: but who, instead of waiting for His time,
take their own way, their own bad ways, and impatiently hasten the time, and
thus bring on themselves judgment! Sometimes, telling an untruth will bring
them out of their difficulties, and they are tempted to do so. They make light
of the sin; they say they cannot help themselves, that they are forced to it,
as Saul said to Samuel; they make excuses to quiet their conscience; and
instead of bearing the trial well, enduring their poverty, or whatever the
trouble may be, they do not shrink from a deliberate lie, which God hears.
2. Again, how many are there who, when in unpleasant situations, are
tempted to do what is wrong in order to get out of them, instead of patiently
waiting God’s time! What is this but to act like Saul? he had very little peace
or quiet all the time he remained in presence of the enemy, with his own people
falling away from him; and he, too, took an unlawful means to get out of his
difficulty.
3. Again, how many are there who, though their hearts are not right
before God, yet have some sort of religiousness, and by it deceive themselves
into an idea that, they are religious! Observe, Saul in his way was a religious
man; I say, in his way, but not in God’s way; yet his very disobedience he
might consider an act of religion, He offered sacrifice rather than go to
battle without a sacrifice. An openly irreligious man would have drawn up his
army and fallen upon the Philistines without any religious service at all. Saul
did not do this; he desired to have God’s blessing upon him; and, while he felt
that blessing to be necessary, he did not feel that the only way of gaining it
was seeking it in the way which God had appointed. Thus he deceived himself;
and thus many men deceive themselves now; not casting off religion altogether,
but choosing their religion for themselves, as Saul did, and fancying they can
be religious without being obedient.
4. Again, how many are there, who bear half the trial God puts on
them, but not the whole of it; who go on well for a time, and then fall away!
Saul bore on for seven days, and fainted not; on the eighth day his faith
failed him. O, may we persevere to the end! Many fall away. Let us watch and
pray.
5. Once more, how many are there, who, in a narrow, grudging
coldhearted way, go by the letter of God’s commandments, while they neglect the
spirit. Instead of considering what Christ wishes them to do, they take His
words one by one, and will only accept them in their bare necessary meaning.
They are wanting in love. Saul was told to wait seven days--he did wait seven
days; and then he thought he might do what he chose. He, in effect, said to
Samuel, “I have done just what you told me.” And, in like manner, persona
now-a-days, imitating him, too often say, when taxed with any offence, “Why is
it wrong? Where is it so said in Scripture? Show us the text:” all which only
shows that they obey carnally, in the letter and not in the spirit. How will
all excuses, which sinners now make to blind and deaden their consciences, fail
them in the Last Day! Saul had his excuses for disobedience. He did not confess
be was wrong, but be argued; but Samuel with a word reproved, and convicted,
and silenced, and sentenced him. And so in the Day of Judgment all our actions
will be tried as by fire. (Plain Sermons by Contributors to the “Tracts
for the Times.”)
The first wrong step
At this first wrong step we are imperatively called to stay and
investigate--for it, was in Saul’s case, as it has been in thousands of
others--that the first digression from the course of integrity was ruinous He
never recovered himself; and the principles which were set going then are to be
detected in active operation throughout the whole of his history.
I. The nature of
the sin itself demands explanation. We find Samuel saying to Saul, in prospect
of the kingdom, “And 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 to thee, and show
thee what thou shalt do.” Now, from the whole tenor of the narrative, we
conclude that this direction was not intended to apply to any one single
occasion, but that it was to be a general rule for his guidance; that whenever
a difficulty arose Saul was to proceed to Gilgal, as a place of religious
resort, and to wait there for Samuel’s arrival, which, he was given to
understand, might not be until seven days had expired. Looking, then, at this
requirement, we are at once struck with the abundant wisdom which is manifest
in it. It was a simple but a very significant way of telling Saul that he was
not an independent monarch--that he must not act as though he were--that as he
was Divinely appointed, so he must consent to be Divinely guided--and that
Samuel was to be the medium through which this guidance was go be obtained.
This requirement, therefore, was a test by which it might be ascertained
whether or not there existed in Saul’s bosom an acquiescence in God’s plan. In
the same way, all Divine precepts become tests of character. If they are
followed out, they afford the proof of a spirit of obedience; if they are
neglected, they expose the lurking spirit of opposition. And now the time of
emergency had come--the Philistines were up in arms--the public danger was
great Saul is found at Gilgal--Samuel does not arrive--Saul is impatient Not a
moment longer will he wait. He did not mind running the risk of offending God:
and be sure, that when even the possibility of doing wrong can be lightly
viewed--when, there being a doubt even, we take advantage of that doubt to
gratify our own passions, rather than act on the principle of denying ourselves
in case we should be wrong--be sure, that when we do this, our hearts have
begun to be callous, the searing process on our conscience has already
commenced. And then, as it often happens in such eases, Saul had scarcely
committed himself to the wrong course before he was detected. It is clear that
his conscience told him that he was wrong, from the vain excuses which he made.
He told Samuel that he did it reluctantly--“I forced myself.” He charges Samuel
with delay and want of punctuality. “Thou camest, not within the days
appointed.” He assigned a religious motive--“I had not made my supplications to
the Lord.” Here we see that sort of special pleading which always shows a
consciousness of guilt.
II. This first
wrong step proved fatal to the prospects of Saul. Is it objected that the
penalty was severe, for not waiting a little longer than he did, till Samuel
arrived? We answer, “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” And though
we should never volunteer a justification of the Divine proceedings as though
they needed this, yet, we may find that there is a power in such thoughts as
the following, to throw light on the Divine dealings in this case.
1. Sin is not estimated by God according to its outward form, but
according to the amount and extent of the principle of evil embodied in that
form. There may be as much of downright rebellion against God in what men would
call a little sin, as in a series of what, they would describe as flagrant
offences.
2. The first wrong step is always marked by a peculiarity of evil
which does not attach to any subsequent offence. Men are accustomed to palliate
the first offence, because it is the first: a more accurate estimate would show
that this habit of judging is thoroughly erroneous and fallacious. There is
more to keep a man from committing a first offence, than there is to keep him
from committing a second or any subsequent criminal act. The impression of the
command is at least one degree deeper than it can possibly be after it has been
trifled with. The first sin involves the taking tip of a new position, and this
is harder work than to maintain it. It is assuming a character of disobedience,
and this requires more hardihood than to wear it when it has been once put on.
It is breaking through consistency, which is a strong barrier so long as it is
unbroken; but if once broken through, sin becomes easy. It is the first offence
in any particular direction which Satan aims at inducing us to commit; that sin
committed, the habit of doing right is broken through, and the next offence in
the same direction will be easier. It is to this point that he addresses his
most specious plea, “Only this once,”--“The first time, and it will be the
last.” But did it ever prove to be the last? All history says, No; and loud,
among other evidence, is the testimony of the narrative of Saul. Have we been
brought into the right path, and tempted to forsake it, then be this our
answer--“No! not even the first step will I venture again out of the path of
duty.” (J. A. Miller.)
Beginning of evil
There is a factory in France where spider webs are regularly
cultivated, and of the delicate fibres ropes for balloons for military purposes
are constantly made. It seems almost incredible that so frail a thing can, by
being multiplied, be made into a strong rope, strong enough go strangle a man;
yet so it, is. Cobwebs can now literally become cables. Sinful thoughts,
shadowy and filmy at the first, may become so strong by constant indulgence
that the strong cords of avarice, lust, hate, may at last bind the soul to its
utter undoing. Beware of the beginnings of evil. (H. O. Mackey.)
Decline of soul
When a worm gets to the root of a delicate and sensitive plant,
the first effect may only be a vague sense of general sickliness, a loss of
brightness, an unhealthy drooping of the leaves. But if it remain it will by
and by be the utter death of it. So when some secret sin is cherished in the
soul, the idolatry of gold, some awful lust, or a bitter spirit of detraction
or revenge, then there creeps over the religious life a general sickliness; the
brightness of Divine gladness departs; spiritual interests begin to droop, and
the whole soul becomes languid and weary. But if the evil be not removed, by
and by there comes open apostasy and blank denial and despair. Secret faults
lead to presumptuous sins. May grace arrest the former, that we fall not into the
latter. (H. O. Mackey.)
Loyalty essential to royalty
Saul was now to be taught that to be really royal a man must first
be really loyal. Obedience is the first condition of rulership. There was no
need for this usurpation of the priestly office on the part of Saul. It is at
this point that so many mistakes are made, that men will imagine that the cause
of God is in necessity, and will rush in a spirit of usurpation to do the work
which God Himself has undertaken to be done by other hands. When will men learn
to stand still, and in holy patience await the coming of the Lord? When will
men give up the self-idolatry which supposes that unless they undertake to
quicken the movements of Providence, the destinies of the universe will be
imperilled? The worship of patience may be more accepted than the service of
rashness. (J. Parker, D. D.)
Verse 11-12
Because I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that thou
camest not within the days appointed.
Principle and expediency
What a solemn and impressive condemnation have we here of that far
too common practice--deserting principle to serve expediency. I don’t like to
tell a lie, someone may say, but if I had not done it I should have lost my
situation. I dislike common work on the Sabbath day, but if I did not do it, I
could not live. I don’t think it right to go to Sunday parties or to play games
on Sundays, but I was invited by this or that great person to do it, and I
could not refuse him. I ought not to adulterate my goods, and I ought not to
give false statements of their value, but every one in my business does it, and
I cannot be singular. What do these vindications amount to, but just a
confession that from motives of expediency God’s commandment may be set aside?
(W. O. Blaikie, D. D.)
Waiting the Lord’s time
Unbelief is always in a hurry, cannot wait the appointed time,
will snatch at unripe fruit, and in deed, if not in words, proclaim itself
wiser than God, and better able to determine times and seasons. Faith is a
lovely, quiet, waiting grace; and taking its rest on infinite wisdom, and
boundless love, whether the Lord gives or denies, cheerfully exclaims, “Even
so, Father, for so it seemed good in Thy sight.” If this be faith, you will
readily perceive the need of that prayer, “Increase our faith.” It is easy for
us to blame Saul, but are we sure we should not have made haste under such
circumstances? He had waited till the seventh day; Samuel was not come, and
“the people were scattered from him.” Sometimes we think, if I could just see a
glimpse of hope--a prospect of an opening--the least sound of a distant moving
for my help; but seeing is not believing--believing is hoping for that which we
see not; yea, “against hope believing in hope.” The furnace for faith must be
heated to this point, or it is not sufficient to prove that it is real faith.
Sense might have waited till the seventh day; but to wait till the close of the
seventh day without an appearance of help, yea, with all appearances against
it, this required a faith to which poor Saul was a stranger. He would fain have
had Samuel come within the time appointed. Samuel would not come until the
time, but at the set time he came. The seventh day was not expired, for as soon
as ever Saul’s unholy sacrifice had been offered, behold, Samuel appeared. The
Lord grant us more of this patient waiting upon Him! this assurance that He
will come and will not tarry. He who made haste to be everything, shall now be
nothing. (Helen Plumptre.)
Awaiting God’s time
Good old Spurstow says that “some of the promises are like the
almond tree--they blossom hastily in the very earliest spring; but,” saith he,
“there are others which resemble the mulberry tree--they are very slow in
putting forth their leaves.” Then what is a man to do, if he has a mulberry
tree promise, which is late in blossoming? Why, he is to wait till it does
blossom; since it is not in his power to hasten it. If the vision tarry,
exercise the precious grace called patience, and the appointed time shall
surely bring you a rich reward. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Verse 12
I forced myself therefore, and offered a burnt offering.
The right and the wrong of Saul’s conduct
“I forced myself therefore”; “could not help it”; “my poverty but
not my will consents.” This not tenable in Christian morality. (Romans 12:1-21 fin.; 1 Corinthians 10:13.) The prophet
was mouthpiece of Divine law: the king its administrator and executor. Prophet
superior to king in respect of religious observances. Saul’s difficulty
continually recurs, plain commands of God not to be slighted or disobeyed for
less plain ones. In this incident we find something right in Saul, and
something wrong.
I. Where Saul was
right. He was in great distress, and felt need of Divine aid. (Psalms 60:11.) He was for seeking it in
ordinances appointed. Christ’s sacrifice on cross our great peace offering, to
be presented in faithful, intelligent prayer. (St. John 14:6 fin.) Do not stay at a mere
dull, diffused sense of wanting pardon. So, if need enlightenment, seek it in
Holy Scripture (St. John 5:39); if spiritual refreshment, at
Holy Communion. Ordinances have their proper value, rightly used. Thus Saul was
right.
II. Where Saul was
wrong. Elements of his fault: Want of faith; contrast Gideon (Isaiah 28:16); superstition as to
sacrifice. Nowadays, many value ordinance of religion quite independently of
state of heart in the person using it. Saul relied on the form only. “Sacrifice
must be offered!” No! It is not the objective but the subjective that is of
highest importance; the formal is useless without the spiritual. Heart first. (Isaiah 1:10-20; James 4:3; St. John 4:24; Psalms 51:9-10.) Saul misapprehended the
object and effect of religious ordinances. It is not the thing done, but the
obedient spirit of the doer which obtains. (Psalms 50:18.) No mechanical influence
upon God by prayer, etc. Ordinances are not charms, but channels of grace when
rightly used. Therefore Saul disobeyed. Sin never necessary. Contrary notion
arises from cowardice, or from superstition, or from some other want of
intelligence Since Saul’s fault was superstitious distrustfulness, seek from
Holy Spirit an intelligent reliance on the general promises of God, and an
intelligent obedience to the plain commands. (Cornelius Witherby, M. A.)
Verse 13-14
And Samuel said to Saul, Thou hast done foolishly: thou hast not
kept the commandment of the Lord.
Folly illustrated by the character of Saul
We perhaps, had we possessed no ulterior information, might have
been disposed to expect that, when the Searcher of hearts cast His eye over the
twelve tribes in quest of a man whom He might appoint to be ruler over His
people; He would select one conspicuous for piety, and prepared by steadfast
faith to meet the trials with which his exaltation would be attended. Yet why
should we have expected such a choice? Is it the established order of
Providence that piety should be recompensed by elevation to dignity and power?
Are the rulers of the earth, whether in Pagan or in Christian lands, whether
God raises them to empire by the settled course of succession, or by the storms
of warfare and revolutions, usually eminent for religion beyond the mass of
their subjects? The thoughts of the Most High are not as our thoughts. He knows
by what governor, in any particular nation and at any particular time, His Own
secret and righteous purposes, whether of mercy or of vengeance, will be most
efficaciously promoted. I purpose to lay before you the leading circumstances
in the conduct of Saul: and afterwards to deduce, for your edification, some of
the inferences which they suggest.
I. In the early
behaviour of Saul, after the period when he is introduced in the Scriptures to
our notice, there is much to prepossess us in his favour. The fruit, however,
corresponds little with the blossom. The impressions produced by early symptoms
in Saul of moderation end of respect for his sovereign Benefactor are soon to
be effaced. Though Saul by his disobedience respecting the sacrifice has
incurred the forfeiture of the kingdom, yet God, ever merciful and
long-suffering, forbears to commission Samuel to anoint a successor to the
throne, and is willing to grant to the unworthy prince an opportunity of
reinstating himself in the Divine favour. Samuel, by the direction of the Most
High, now commands Saul to execute the long predicted vengeance. To the conduct
of Saul throughout the whole of this transaction can a name more appropriate
than folly be ascribed? Can any fact be ascertained more clearly than the
identity of folly and sin? Saul is now an outcast from the Divine favour. He is
permitted to retain the kingdom during his life; but judgment in its most
terrible form delays not to overtake him. The Spirit of the Lord departs from
him. How shall the life of Saul be summarily described? I have sinned; I have
played the fool; I have erred exceedingly. Whose are these words? The words of
Saul himself in his latter days. Do you require stronger testimony to the
identity of folly and sin?
II. From the
foregoing history, several important observations may be derived.
1. We learn, in the first place, not to repose blind and premature
confidence on some few promising appearances as to piety. Let every symptom
favourable to the supposition that religion is the ruling principle in the
character of another be cordially welcomed, and judiciously encouraged. But
learn to guard your willing hopes from degenerating into sanguine credulity.
Conceive not that examples of religious consideration on some particular
occasions are proofs that religion is firmly and durably established in the
bosom. Gold is not known to be genuine, until it has stood the test of fire.
The crop is not estimated by the blade, but by the harvest. Wait until religion
has for some time been tried by the temptations of life, before you pronounce
on its reality.
2. Consider in the next place the guilt of impatiently endeavouring
to attain a present good by departing from the way of God’s commandments.
Everything which is not conformable to His revealed will is evil. Are you
involved in difficulty or trouble? Abide thou in the track of righteousness.
This is the way. Walk thou in it. Turn not aside to the right hand or to the
left. Abide thou in the track of righteousness: wait thou the time of the Most
High, and in His Own time and by the track of righteousness the Most High shall
guide thee to peace and to salvation.
3. Behold, thirdly, the guilt of rash resolutions and vows. In
concerns of importance that which is resolved hastily is commonly resolved
foolishly. But whenever, like Saul, a person forms a determination, or fetters
himself by an engagement, under the precipitate impulse of passion, seldom
shall a considerable time elapse before he perceives reason for deep and
lasting regret.
4. Mark the heinousness of fearing man rather than God. What sin is
more general? What sin is more conspicuously arrayed in the attributes of
folly?
5. Lastly, let the example of Saul admonish you to frequent
meditation on the consequences of disobeying God. (Thomas Gisborne, M. A.)
The great test of character
Michael Angelo once went into the studio of a young artist who had
just executed a statue to stand in the public square. Angelo saw its grave
defects, and pointed them out to his friend. The exultant artist did not
appreciate the criticism of his work, and supposed the greater man to be moved
with envy. So he told him, in the dim obscurity of his workshop he could not
see the defects which were so apparent to the aged critic, and in passion
sneered at the opinion given. “Well,” said Angelo, not the least disturbed,
“the light of the public square will test it.” “The light of the public square
will test it.” Ah, year The light of the public square is to test every human
life. Eternal blaze shall pour upon it, and defects unseen by the poorer light
of earth will grow to ghastly deformities. The light of the public square will
test it.
The prophet rebuking the king
It is never easy, and it is always unpleasant, to become a
rebuker; and when the transgressor is wealthy, or noble, or royal, the
difficulty of faithfulness is enhanced. It requires considerable courage and
great boldness in the faith for a man of God to reprove a king in whose hands
may be his life. Many have had to imperil their lives in the discharge of this
duty Some have attributed rudeness and insolence to John Knox, because he spoke
the truth to the bigoted Queen Mary of Scotland; but it required courage to
tell royalty that she ought to obey God. Had Saul but waited, he might have
spared his soul this guilt, and Samuel would have stood at the altar and spoken
authoritatively for God! But he took the step of sin, and was insnared in its
wiles. He took the first false step in his public career, and his future was an
incline to his tragic end. It was his first false step. The embankment of a
river can keep out the waters even though they swell and beat; but if a single
orifice be opened, how soon do they rush in, and sweep all away, and scatter
ruin around. Such is the first sin. It is as the letting out of water. Let the
reader beware of the first wrong step. It has wrecked many a soul. It has
caused many domestic griefs, darkened the fairest prospects, and withered the
most promising expectations. It has sent young men into a career of dishonesty
which ended in a prison, and young women into shame and the streets. It has
induced apostasy from the faith, and made the professor’s reprobate. This first
wrong step is often the crisis of a career. It is not the mere earliest
development of iniquity. That comes out with our natural character; but this is
the test of our good resolution, or of our profession. When a young man is
intrusted with money, and is tempted to dishonesty; when a daughter is enticed
by the spoiler, and is tempted to yield; when a professor has been at the table
of the Lord, and is called to take up his cross; when a convalescent has to
decide whether he will act upon the serious thoughts of eternity and the
earnest purposes of soul which marked his illness; when a convicted soul has
his old sin alluring him again;--these are times when a false step may prove
the beginning of sins and sorrows.
2. He had acted foolishly. This was more than thoughtlessness. It was
disobedience. “There are,” says Dr. Kitto, “two kinds of fools prominently
noticed in Scripture,--the fool who denies that there is any God,--the fool
that saith in his heart, ‘There is no God:--a text which suggests the remark,
that if he is a fool who says this ‘in his heart,’ a much greater fool is he
that utters the foolish thought. This is one. There is another,--the fool who
does not obey God, though he does not deny His existence. And yet, after all,
these are but one. If we probe the matter closely, we shall find that there is
scarcely more than an impalpable film of real difference between the
foolishness of the man who says in his heart there is no God, and that of the
man who does not render Him obedience. One may as well believe that there is no
God, as not obey Him.
3. The conduct of Saul was the test of his dynasty. He failed,
therefore he was cut off. His house was doomed by reason of his sin. His
kingdom could not be established. Samuel made the announcement of his fall to
the guilty king: “Now thy kingdom shall not continue.” It was not to be an
absolute monarchy. It was to he dependent on the will of God, and thus far
constitutional to the people. But Saul was not equal to the task of forming a
model monarchy for the people of God. He had ability enough, but he lacked
principle. He had advantages enough, but he lacked loyalty to God. Therefore,
his dynasty was to cease in himself. On first sight, the offence seems small
and the punishment heavy. And the question may arise, “Why did God so severely
punish Saul for so small an offence, and that occasioned by great necessity,
and done with an honest intention, as he professed?” Pool has given the
following answer: “First, men are very incompetent judges of God’s judgments.”
Men see nothing but Saul’s outward act, which seems small; but God saw with how
wicked a mind and heart he did this; with what rebellion against the light of
his own conscience, as his own words imply; with what gross infidelity and
distrust of God’s Providence; with what contempt of God’s authority and
justice,--and many other wicked principles and motives of his heart, unknown to
men. Besides, God saw all that wickedness that yet lay hid in his heart, and
foresaw all his other crimes; and therefore had far more grounds for his
sentence against him than we can imagine. Secondly, God doth sometimes punish
small sins severely, and that for divers weighty reasons; as that all men may
see what the least sin deserves, and how much they owe to God’s free and rich
mercy for passing by their great offences; and what need they have not to
indulge themselves in any small sin, as men are very prose to do, upon vain
presumptions of God’s mercy, whereby they are easily and commonly drawn on to
heinous crimes.
4. Conformity to the heart of God is necessary to the soul’s
blessedness. This was its original beatitude, and this is the result of
regeneration. Without holiness we cannot see or enjoy God. The man after God’s
heart only can enjoy the bliss of fellowship with God. “This likeness is a
vital image”--not the image only of Him that lives, the living God, but it is
His living and soul-quickening image. It is the likeness of Him in that very
respect, an imitation and participation of the life of God, by which, once
revived, the soul lives that was dead before. It was not a dead picture, a dumb
show, an unmoving statue; but a living, speaking, walking image,--that
wherewith the child is like the Father, and by which it lives as God, speaks
and acts conformably to him; an image, not such a one as is drawn with a
pencil, that expresses only colour and figure, but such a one as is seen in a glass
that represents life and motion. The hope of being thus like God gives energy
to the Christian in his struggles with sin, and attraction to the
many-mansioned home. This conformity is attainable in character, and it is more
promotive of bliss than intellect or power. We can be born again. This
experience is the introduction of the soul to the life of God. The man after
God’s own heart was to be the captain over His people. Saul was quite unfit for
this. David was the elect of God. His heart was right. (R. Steel.)
But now thy kingdom shall
not continue.
Severe punishment for seemingly small sins
Sometimes God punishes small sins severely, and such are set down
in scripture record, for weighty reasons. As--
1. To teach us the heinous nature of sin in its self, so hateful to
God, and so hurtful to men, that we may abhor all the degrees of it.
2. To show us, that indeed no sin can truly be called a little sin,
because there is no little God to sin against; therefore to disobey the great
God even in the smallest matters is a ground great enough, and a sin great
enough to procure God’s severity.
3. That we may not indulge ourselves in the least sin, as we are
prone to do in presuming on God’s mercy, lest God punish us for them, and lest
little sins make way for greater, as little wedges make room for the more
massive ones, and little thieves serve to open the doors for the grand crew.
4. That we may all learn the riches of Divine grace and free mercy,
in passing by and pardoning such great iniquities in us, when we find the
rigour of justice executed upon others for far lesser faults recorded in
scripture.
5. That an honest intention will not warrant an unwarrantable action,
as some suppose Saul had in sacrificing; two things make a godly man, good
actions and good aims. (C. Ness.)
The doom of the unfaithful instrument
The king, one whose character faithfully represented their own
national character and desires. Like his people, he leaned to an arm of flesh.
Their sin in desiring his rule was his sin in the conduct of that rule. In his
darkening course and fearful end was exhibited to them that law of God’s
dealings of which their own national history was to be to all ages the most
marvellous example whereby His chosen instruments, who refuse to fulfil the end
for which He raises them up, are cast down into darkness, and their opportunity
of service is given to another. In all this, so far as individuals go, the
lesson is plain and inevitable. It is a law of that unseen but most certain
dominion which even here, amidst the blinding showers which conceal His
immediate working, the Most High is administering, that they who being set
anywhere to do His will neglect to do it, are replaced by other and more
faithful instruments. This is an universal and eternal law. It was evidently
thus that He dealt with the chosen people, who in this, as in so many respects,
were the pattern nation. What else but a declaration of this truth is their
whole history as it is recorded by inspired annalists and interpreted by gifted
prophets? How is this written in every page of the record of God’s dealings
with them, down to that last sentence of rejection pronounced by the mouth of
the Apostle Paul, when charging on themselves the guilt of their own blood, he
said, “Lo, we turn to the Gentiles.” Here then we may see the same righteous
hand which wasted Jerusalem overturning the great Assyrian Nineveh. The same
law, which first exalted and then cast down the chosen people reached also to
the great empires of the heathen world. They rose because they were
commissioned to do a certain work; they fell, not by any mere natural process
of decay, but under the weight of God’s judicial sentence, executing itself
through the permitted action of these secondary causes. And now let me ask you
to apply this principle to our own country, and its prospects at this moment.
1. Are there then any tokens which specially mark out for us our
appointed work? Now to answer this question we must glance at those distinctive
features of our national life which sever us from other people. The first of
these is our insular position; for this at once confines us within narrow
bounds at home, and facilitates the formation of those distant settlements by
which alone we can provide for increasing numbers. Further, the same cause
makes it well-nigh impossible that we should be a great military nation, and
naturally leads, as the condition of national defence, to our becoming strong
in naval power: Further, the natural characteristics of our people tend to
produce the same result. In many of the highest gifts bestowed on other tribes
of men we are manifestly deficient. We have not the keen sense of beauty which
has ere now enabled Greece and even Rome to exalt our race. But we have the
gifts of a hardy, industrious, enterprising genius. We are fitted, apparently
by innate disposition, to be great subduers of nature’s rebellious and
reluctant but conquerable powers. And when any external agency has threatened
to destroy these powers, as when Spain and its Armada, or France at the head of
a continual system of exclusion, would have destroyed our naval greatness, some
direct interpositions of Providence have thwarted their designs. The natural
course of such influences has led us on, first to the establishment of distant
factories, and then to those factories growing into settlements, and from them
turning into colonies, which hays sometimes grown into mighty nations. Now what
special charge would such a national organisation seem naturally to suggest as
having been providentially committed to our hands? Surely at once it suggests
that we are to be employed by God as the bearers of some message to every race
and tribe. Not more evidently does the possession of great military power
wielded by a single despotic will, mark a people as charged with the avenger’s
office; not more evidently do eminent gifts of genius mark a nation as charged
to educate its brethren, than do our special faculties, instincts, and
relations to the great family of man mark us as the bearers of some message
through the world. What then can be the message to bear which we have been so
eminently fitted? Let the spiritual blessings God has given us supply the
answer to this question.
2. And if here we pause but for one moment, to ask how we, as a
nation, have fulfilled this our vocation, how appalling is the answer! Have we
not encircled the earth with the girdle of our settlements? Is it not true that
as from east to west the morning sun awakens to new life the successive
nations, the drum roll of English soldiers follows round the world its rising
light? And what, with all this, have we clone for God? Alas, how tardy, how
scanty, how interrupted, how unsystematic, how timid, how faithless have been
our services! How readily and how plentifully have we sown our vices and
diseases broadcast over a suffering world! How feebly, alas, have we planted
amongst its nations the living seed of God’s truth in God’s Church! if it be so
with us, why tarries yet the day of retribution, why sleep the thunders of
judgment? Is our present prosperity but the deep calm before the wild triumph
of the hurricane? God only knows, my brethren, how close to us may be that
fearful time of uttermost rejection. If to our startled gaze were now opened
revelations such as those which fell at Patmos on the beloved St. John, we
perhaps might see the mighty angels of vengeance withholding, but, as for a
moment, the four winds of heaven, to see whether Britain would repent and do
God’s work. Here then plainly is our nation’s calling and our nation’s risk.
3. And if this indeed be our vocation, what are the especial duties
binding upon us if we would rise up to its greatness? May it please God to
bring them home in all their power to some who listen to them. Now beyond all
question the first of all requisites for the delivery of such a message is that
we have received it thoroughly ourselves. Here then, alike for the teacher and
the taught, is our first, necessity; that the truth of God in all it, purity,
with a loving spirit and a patient reiteration, be proclaimed and inculcated;
that every lawful means be used, in season and out of season, to reproduce
amongst, ourselves men of the true apostolic stamp. Next to this we need to
learn to feel, and to make others feel, how mighty are the issues for our own people,
and for a waiting world, which hang on our fidelity or faithlessness. (Bishop
Samuel Wilberforce.)
The Lord hath sought Him a
man after His own heart.--
The man after God’s own heart
The simple earnest Christian has read and learnt the Psalms of
David with the greater care, and has loved them the more dearly because the
sweet Psalmist of Israel was declared to be after the mind of God: and on the
other hand the scoffer has pointed to David’s grievous sins, and asked with
scorn whether such things are the deeds of the man after God’s own heart. I
propose to offer to you some remarks upon the meaning of David’s noble title,
and to show you how he deserved it. And this I shall do principally by
contrasting his character with that of Saul, a contrast which is made in the
text, and which is in fact the basis of the title applied to David. And this
point I must beg you especially to bear in mind, if you would understand the
text aright, namely, that David is not called the man after God’s own heart as
distinguished from all other good men; it is not asserted that David was on the
whole the purest and best man who ever lived. David is described there as being
after the Lord’s own heart specially in opposition to Saul, who was very far
from being after the mind of God. Saul was a wilful disobedient man, the text
was spoken to him on occasion of his disobedience. And if he did such things in
the green tree, what would be do in the dry? if be thus ran riot while the oil
of consecration was almost fresh upon him, what would he do when his kingdom
was established and he became puffed up by his power? Do you not see then, that
Saul had showed himself radically unfit for the charge of the Israelitish
people? and therefore Samuel was charged to convey to him the voice of reproof
and warning, and to tell him that whereas he had shown himself to be a man
wilful and disobedient, God would not continue the kingdom to him, but would
give it, to a man after His own heart,--His own heart (that is) especially in
those very points in which Saul had failed. Now let me contrast a little more
carefully the characters of Saul and David. I should say, that the basis of the
character of the two men was exactly opposite in one to what it was in the
other; and if I can show you, that the basis of the character of one was
pleasing to God, and that of the other hateful to Him, then you will not be
surprised that the one should be spoken of as being after the mind of God,
while the other was rejected from being king. Observe, I am not saying that
there may not be some passages in David’s life very bad and disgraceful, and
some in Saul’s very good; but I am maintaining that the roots of their
characters were different, the one being faith in God, the other faith in man,
and that in the main the life of David was a life of faith and obedience, that
of Saul one of godless independence. It would not be possible for me to call up
all the passages in David’s life which would illustrate the point which we have
in hand; but I would refer you to those writings of his, in which he has given
us a transcript of his own mind. The Psalms of David present to us a more vivid
picture than can perhaps be anywhere else found of a mind waiting upon God,
looking away from itself, trusting in Him, blessing Him in trouble, and
blessing Him in prosperity, of a mind of which the motive principle is
evidently faith in God and submission to Him. It is true that we may find in
David’s life at least one very fearful stain. I suppose that never was sin
committed which brought such lasting contempt upon piety as that fearful fall
of David; but even in this ease let us look to David’s own record of his
feelings, when repentance and sorrow had enabled him to see his crime in its
true colours, and we shall see what a deep view be took of his sin, and what an
intolerable burden it was to him You must remember that David suffered most
severely in this world for his sin. “Against Thee, Thee only, have I sinned.”
You see here how every other view of sin vanishes before this, the view of it
as against God; a man’s vice may bring wretchedness on himself, it may ruin his
health, it may bring him to beggary; and these views are very true and in their
proper place valuable, but he who looks upon wickedness as God looks upon it,
must see it in the light in which it appeared to David; he may regard it as
noxious in itself, he may lament the unhappiness which it causes, but he
regards it emphatically as sin because it is against God. Thus looking upon the
character of David, I seem to see that of a man whose heart was in a very
wonderful degree right with God; a man not perfect indeed, for none is perfect,
and least of all must we look for Christian perfection under the imperfect
dispensation of the old Covenant; but still of a man whose chief characteristics
were faith in God, zeal for the honour of God, and humble submission to the
will of God. And therefore I do not wonder that Samuel, as contrasting him with
Saul, should describe him in the text as after God’s own heart; for these are
the characters of mind, which, whether in a king of Israel or in an Englishman
of our own days, must aver be the source and spring of all that is pleasing to
God. But now for a moment let us look at Saul. Without wishing to depreciate
such good qualities as he might possess, I think one may justly hold him forth
as a specimen of a man self-dependent, wilful, eminently deficient in these
qualities which form the beauty of David’s character, faith in God, humble
waiting upon Him, quiet submission to Him. And when we contrast the two
characters as I have sketched them to you, you will I think easily see, how,
without speaking slightly of David’s sin, we may nevertheless say with truth,
that his character in the main features of it was peculiarly after the mind of
God, and that David may be rightly spoken of as a man after the Lord’s own
heart. I have been endeavouring to show you from the example of David, what is
the character of mind which God loves; God loves the man who is ever looking to
and leaning upon Him, who has His honour ever in his mind, who thinks little of
his own personal convenience and advantage, and delights rather to worship God
and God does not love the man who ever seeks himself, the man of irreverent
mind, who exalts himself above God, and the world present above the world to
come; whatever qualities such a one may have which may make him popular or
powerful in the world, God who knows the heart estimates such a man’s deeds as
those of Saul, and rejects them. (H. Goodwin, M. A.)
Saul and David
The widely different judgments which Holy Scripture leads us to
form respecting Saul and David is a subject which occupies much attention when
we are reading the first book of Samuel. The impression which Saul makes upon
an average reader, at least at first, is beyond all question a favourable
impression. The salient points of his character engage our sympathy, and this
sympathy is deepened when we consider the misfortunes of his later life and its
tragic close. Saul, indeed, had many of these qualifications which always go to
make a man popular. Of the higher qualities of Saul’s natural character which
inspires this affection the first was, I do not say his humility, but his
modesty. Modesty, unlike humility, is not inconsistent with certain forms of
pride; and it is a natural virtue which is good as far as it goes, and which is
always attractive Saul was modest. It is plain from the account of his
elevation to the throne that he had no wish for such a position. When a number
of his new subjects despised him, and, failing in the ordinary usage of Eastern
courtesy, brought him no presents, he betrayed no annoyance or irritation; “he
held his peace.” Closely allied to this modesty was his capacity for generosity
towards opponents. Certainly, Saul was much besides all thin; he was proud, he
was reserved, he was obstinate, he was haughty in his later years, he was a
prey to the most capricious and irrational jealousy; but, especially in his
early life, he had qualities which are always valued and valuable, and which explain
the affection with which he was regarded by those who knew him. Moreover, his
reign was, on the whole, and in a civil or political sense, of benefit to his
country, and yet with this personal character and this note of God’s
assistance--for such it was under the old covenant--Saul had upon him, almost
from the first, the presentiments of disaster and ruin. When we turn to David
we find it difficult, at first, to explain this phrase--the man after the heart
of God--thus used by Samuel by way of contrast to Saul, for David’s feelings
are written much in the page of Holy Scripture, and they seem, at first sight,
to make such an expression unintelligible, or, at least, exaggerated. In point
of natural excellence, Saul and David had, at least, while each was a young
man, several points in common. If David could not rival Saul’s stature, his
activity and his muscular strength were exceptional; his feet, he tells us,
were like the feet of the gazelle; his arms could break even a bow of steel.
Both Saul and David were men of personal prowess and of personal courage, and
David resembled Saul in his modest estimate of himself, and in his generous
conduct upon occasions towards others. But there are dark traits in David which
the Bible makes no attempts to disguise. Nothing in the annals of Oriental
courts can well exceed the baseness of his intrigue with Bathsheba and the
cowardly murder of Uriah. Rarely has cruelty towards a conquered enemy been
greater than that with which David treated the Ammonites, and although another
side of his failings has been much exaggerated by some ancient and by several
modern critics, there are traces of deceitfulness in David which recall his
ancestor Jacob, and which impair the nobility and the beauty of the general
impression he leaves with us. And yet in contrast with Saul he has on him from
the first the notes of God’s special approval; his trials and misfortunes only
established or renewed his prosperity; his long persecution by Saul leads to
his succession to the throne; Absolom’s rebellion only makes his rule more
secure than ever in Jerusalem. All through there is upon David a presentiment
of acceptance, just as upon Saul, especially as the years pass on, there is
more and more plainly stamped a note of reprobation. If it seems at first sight
that there is something arbitrary in the different estimates that Holy
Scripture itself leads us to form of Saul and David, let us look once more hard
at Saul, and let us ask ourselves what it is that is especially wanting in him.
Is it not this, that Saul, so far as the Bible account of him goes, gives no
evidence of having upon and within him the permanent influence of religion, of
anything that we could call the fear and love of God in his hearty. And the
same temper is observable in Saul when he was ordered to go and smite the
sinners of the Amalekites and utterly destroy them and their cattle. The first
particular of his disobedience was occasioned by his wish to be popular, he
“feared the people and obeyed their voice”; the second was probably due to his
feeling for a brother monarch--a feeling which, however natural at other times,
ought not to have arrested obedience to a Divine command. Certainly, Saul’s
conduct in respect of Agag did not arise from any unwillingness on his part to
shed blood. He had no such scruples to prevent him from attempting the
extermination of the Gibeonites, although they ought in his eyes to have been
protected by Joshua’s oath, which pledged their safety in the midst of Israel.
The truth was that he was at heart indifferent to the command of God, and
thought himself at liberty to disobey just as much of it as the feeling or
convenience of the moment, might suggest. And it is no objection to this view
of Saul’s mind, as in reality unconcerned with the claims of God and with the
unseen world, that he showed himself anxious for some superhuman guidance when
on the eve of his death he stole round the base of little Hermon to endeavour
to consult the witch. We see the same thing every day of our lives. Men who have
scornfully rejected the Christian revelation are constantly haunted by weird or
grotesque superstitions. The human soul is made for faith in the unseen, and if
its deep craving be not satisfied by the one supreme reality of what He has
told us about Himself, it will seek satisfaction in quarters which faith would
condemn more earnestly than reason. Now it was precisely in this respect that
Saul presents so great a contrast to David. David, in spite of his grievous
faults, had upon his heart and conscience continually the impress, awful, yet
most fascinating, of the majesty, the beauty, the encompassing presence, the
boundless magnificence of God. This great possession remained with him
throughout his life. He has admitted us to the secrets of his soul at almost
every stage of his eventful history. David associates us with his experiences
not, only in his triumphs, but in his deep and unspeakable humiliations. We
know what he feels and thinks after his sin with Bathsheba, what he feels and
thinks as he flies a dishonoured exile before his rebellious son. And he is
always true to this ruling characteristic of his life. When in his fear or his
exaltation, in his penitence or in his joy, in his struggles or in his repose,
in thought or in action, God has the first place in his intellect; God’s
approval, God’s condemnation, God’s works, God’s will are ever his first
concern. This, the preoccupation of his life, makes him, even in the camp or on
the throne, a sort of enthusiast, on whom the outward world sits lightly, and
who cares not for its unfavourable opinion if only he is loyal to his unseen
and awful Master. “Whom have I in heaven but Thee? and there is none upon earth
that I desire in comparison of Thee.” One cannot imagine these words in the
mouth of Saul, the cool-headed man of the world, conducting himself as did
David when the ark was moved in state from the house of Obed-edom, near
Kirjath-jearim, to Jerusalem. This is the reason why David is called, in
contrast to Saul, “the man after God’s own heart.” Certainly. David’s sins were
not after God’s own heart. May He forgive the blasphemy that would suggest that
they were! But beyond and beneath those sins there was a permanent character of
soul instinct with the fear and with the love of God that survived and
conquered them. There was, so far as we know or can conceive, nothing
corresponding to this in Saul. There is, indeed, no event in Saul’s life which
is at once so cruel and so base as David’s sin with the wife of the murdered
Uriah; but then there was nothing in Saul that could have issued forth as
David’s heart-broken repentance. It is the difference between cold, tranquil,
decorous indifference to the real claims of God upon a human life, and a fear
of God and a love of God which are upon the whole of the governing forces of
the soul. Saul and David are lasting types of human character. Saul and David
live in their representatives at the present day. Lives on the whole decorous,
illustrated even by undoubted and high natural virtues, but based on a deep, if
not a reasoned, indifference to the will of God--such lives are lived side by
side with lives open to grave criticism on account of conspicuous failings, yet
based at bottom on a true fear and love of God, which lasts on under and in
spite of the imperfection of the service which is rendered to Him. Saul is the
more popular character with the world at large. The world likes his mixture of
generosity and haughtiness, his jaunty carelessness about all that points to
the mystery and the responsibilities of life. David too, is unquestionably
vulnerable and keen sighted, and unfriendly critics are always hard at work
upon the inconsistencies which they detect between his practice and his
professions. Nevertheless, my brethren, it is better to have our part with
David than with Saul; with a loyalty to God which is not always consistent,
rather than with an outward propriety, if so be that it is never really loyal.
(Canon Liddon.)
A man after God’s own heart
I. It is plain by
a reference to the context that the title “after God’s own heart” was only
comparative, not absolute. Meant that, by the side of Saul, David was the man
who attracted favour and confidence of God. The faith by which he walked with
God; gained the victory over Goliath; became at all worthy to be God’s
vicegerent; remained unconquered, though not unhurt, through many a defeat and
fall, through a life-long struggle.
II. Title was given
him in early days, before his life had become overcast with the cloud of sin
and error. “The Lord hath sought Him a man,” etc. And when God found him he was
still the David of the 23rd Psalm. Do not say that God did not love him after
his fall, or did not give him large praise until his death, and after his
death. But he is certainly never called the man after God’s own heart again.
III. David’s
repentance was far more deep than appears on the surface of the narrative. How
deep and true it was we know from 51st Psalm, which has supplied so many
millions of penitent souls with very words they wanted.
IV. It is most necessary
to bear in mind, in considering the career of David, the severity of punishment
which followed upon David’s sin. Let anyone look at David’s old age, and say
whether the justice of God is not an inexorable and an awful thing. For every
sin there is forgiveness, but for all that it may be that every sin leaves its
mark, its effect for ill. (R. Winterbotham, M. A.)
David
By this glowing announcement of a “Coming Man” our expectations
and our curiosity are naturally raised to the highest pitch. And I daresay that
if we read it in a modern three-volume book without any knowledge of
intervening occurrences, we should look on to the end of the third volume to
know at once whether he was supposed to have realised the ideal. If we did so,
we should find an answer in the affirmative. The main question to which I
propose to address myself is this. Can God ever express his approval of the
whole character of a man who has committed the blackest sins which history
records or which the imagination can picture? In approaching the question I
must ask you to bear in mind the immense difference between looking back at a
sin and looking forward to the self-same sin. A good deal of the genuine
perplexity about the case before us is caused, I am sure, by forgetting this. Men
commonly think that David was necessarily a bad man, because they think, and
rightly think, that they should certainly be bad men if they proposed to
themselves to commit the sin which David committed. But we cannot fairly argue
thus and say, “If David was a man after God’s own heart, it follows that such a
complication of sins as he committed is no hindrance to God’s favour.” It is
not fair to argue thus. Why not? Because the whole of the case is not stated.
The fair argument from David’s case is this, “If David was on the whole a good
man, it follows that great sin, followed by deep and lifelong repentance, does
not exclude from God’s favour, and His approval of the character as a whole.”
Put it thus: We see as a fact, now that the result is before us, that David did
repent and was accepted. If the history had stopped short at the account of his
sin, and there were no favourable notices of him, then we could not assume that
he had repented. Again, if we read that he sinned deliberately, trusting in the
mercy of God and fully intending to repent, then we could have but one opinion
of him; and if, in that case, he were mentioned with commendation or anything
remotely bordering upon it, Scripture could not, as far as I can see, possibly
be defended against the charge of encouraging wickedness and teaching men to
“continue in sin that grace might abound.” But, as matters stand, what is the
very most that can fairly be deduced from David’s case? That when a man does
fall into a grievous sin,
David-Beloved
In what respects did David deserve this name?
I. As a type of
Christ.
1. A perpetual covenant made with Him. Isaiah 55:3. (Explained Acts 13:34).
2. Born at Bethlehem. (John 7:42; Acts 13:23).
3. Chosen out of the people (Psalms 89:19).
I. As an example
to us in his own character.
1. Two qualifications Godward.
2. Five qualifications manward (1 Samuel 16:18).
III. He was God’s
choice. If God calls us to witness for Him, and we feel ever so unfitted in
ourselves, let us remember John 15:16; 1 Corinthians 1:27. (R. E.
Faulkner.)
The character of David
Men are apt to give their chief attention to certain moral
blemishes which disfigured the life of this extraordinary servant of God; and
either they deduce from them an excuse for their own intemperances, or they
assume that God does not hate sin so vehemently as Scripture elsewhere
represents; or else they fairly own themselves unable to reconcile the several
wicked acts of David’s life with that election and special favour which God was
pleased to bestow upon him. Now, the conclusion that the crimes of David can
ever justify similar acts of wickedness in others must be utterly delusive, if
we find that David never justified them in himself. I shall, therefore,
endeavour to examine the character of this very eminent person, and to account,
from a general view of the subject, for that title of affectionate
preference--“a man after God’s own heart”--by which the prophet was
commissioned to speak of him. In reviewing, therefore, these facts, and
comparing them with the privileges their author enjoyed, you may feel disposed
to assume that God makes an irrespective choice of His servants, and that their
moral worth does not weigh against His predetermined election. If such be the
judgment you are disposed to give, from a consideration of David’s career it is
very certain that you have very imperfectly studied his character, and that you
would strangely misinterpret the ways of our heavenly Father. For, without
reckoning many extenuating circumstances in our consideration of David’s evil
deeds--for instance, his power and temptations as a king--his ignorance of that
perfect morality which was unknown until the Gospel was preached--that
disregard, too, of human life and female virtue which has always obtained in
eastern countries--without, I say, reckoning any of these things in our final
estimate of David’s character, we may safely assert that neither in the Old or
the New Testament can be found repentance so deep, humility so sincere, faith
so unwavering, or generosity so noble, as the records of David’s life show; and
if these excellent virtues, united in the character of one person, are not
sufficient to account for the Divine preference, then indeed David’s privileges
ate a mystery, and God’s love for him is wholly unintelligible. Let us,
however, consider the several qualities which I have attributed to David, and,
if possible, trace in them the workings of that Spirit who alone can rescue our
nature from the dominion of evil.
1. First, his repentance. This we naturally look for after his fall
with Bathsheba, and the attendant conspiracy against her husband’s life.
Immersed for a time in guilty indulgence, David seems to have been in that
common state which sensuality produces, literally unaware of the extent of his
crime. Suddenly, and in the midst of this fancied security, the Prophet Nathan
stood before him, and, by a parable almost, unequalled for its truth and
tenderness, recalled the king to his senses. Now, if any one of you wish to
express his own repentance, or to test its reality, let him use such language
as this, and try how far his feelings accord with it. If you can repent in this
spirit, you know indeed what repentance is. In fact, the Bible affords no
language for the broken and contrite heart equal to this, and other penitential
Psalms by David.
2. Now, with regard to David’s unwavering faith in God, I may say at
once that it was the ruling principle of his life. Everything he deliberately undertook
was in simple reliance upon Divine support. Faith with David really was “the
substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen:” it supported
him through all the vicissitudes of a strangely chequered life, and spread a
halo of hope around his departing spirit. After making allowance for the minute
record of his human failings--a publicity which most men happily escape--and
for the partial revelations which visited the times in which he lived, we find
no character in Scripture so full, perhaps, of unwavering faith in the goodness
and promises of God as David!
3. The last point which I shall notice in the character of this
extraordinary person is his generous and noble feelings; and most, strikingly
were these displayed in David’s connections both with Saul and his son
Jonathan. The former regarded David as his deadliest enemy; the latter loved
him as his bosom friend. In the study of the life of David the lesson which has
struck me, and which I would inculcate upon you, is the extraordinary
difference betwixt David and mankind in general, in all the good points for
which he was eminent; for it would appear that, though we can imitate him in
his crimes, in his faith and humility we widely differ from him: and thus we
have a sort of prurient interest about all his weaknesses, fancying we see in
them some justification for our own; whilst with his excellencies we are
comparatively unacquainted, because they rebuke and cry shame to us at every
step in life. Why David was the favourite of God rather than any of us, is,
therefore, very clear: we partake the condemning sinfulness of his fallen
nature; but we do not join him in penitence, in humility, and in faith. Our
repentance is commonly mere shame and worldly discomfiture; no real change of mind,
and therefore requiring to be repented of, our trust we give to the world and
its trifles rather than to God. In business we are lively, earnest, and active;
but in prayer we are cold and doubting. The records of David’s piety are before
us in the Psalms--compare with these the remembrance of your best devotional
exercises, and you will see how we differ from him. If there be this difference
betwixt you and David which I have attempted to show you, still delude not
yourselves with the fancy that a higher standard of excellence was demanded
from him than is expected from you. As to this matter there is but one
rule--“Be ye perfect as your Father which is in Heaven is perfect,” and for
this every one of you must strive. The standard for all men is the highest
possible. Finally, remember one other thing, which the example of David has
taught us, with regard to progression upon the heavenly road: whatever be your
peculiar temptations, or your besetting sins, you must commence a spiritual
reformation--you must seek the renewing of your minds by prayer and spiritual
exercises, or you will seek to grow better in vain. Our Lord enjoined the
Pharisees to cleanse first the inside of the cup and the platter; and David,
with the same conviction, prayed--“Create in me a clean heart, and renew a
right spirit within me.” This, believe me, is the only way to become a
Christian here, or to inherit glory, immortality, and icy hereafter. (A.
Gatty, M. A.)
Was David a character after God’s Own heart-Yes or No?
Was the character of David after God’s own heart? Conventional
pietists will to a man say, Yes. The most thoughtful, independent, and critical
students of God’s Book will to a man say, No. We say, No, for the following
reasons:--
I. Because the
affirmative is a reflection of God’s holiness. Sin is the “abominable thing”
which the Almighty hates, hates everywhere, and in every form David had his
virtues, as most bad men have; but few men in history were guilty of more
heinous crimes. He was guilty of falsehood, cruelties, adulteries, murders His
whole nature at times seemed flooded and fired with the spirit of revenge. It
is blasphemy to assert that such a character was after the heart of infinite
purity We say, No.
II. Because the
affirmative is unsustained by the Word of God. The text which is the passage
quoted in its favour does not mean it. The expression, “after His own heart,”
does not mean after His own approval, but after His own counsel. “He worketh
all things after the counsel of His own will.” Indeed, when these words were
uttered David was not born. The Almighty used David as He used Cyrus,
Alexander, Caesar, etc., after His own “heart,” that is, after the counsel of
His own will. We say, No.
III. Because the
affirmative is fraught with mischief. The thoughtful worldling says, “All
right; if God approves of a man whose history is so full of meanness, revenge
deception, ungovernable lust, and bloodshed, we cannot be far wrong.” (Homilist.)
Verse 17
The spoilers came out of the camp of the Philistines in three
companies.
The spoilers
Saul is reproved for his haste, his presumption, and his
disobedience. Samuel then departs to Gibeah, and the nation are for a time,
notwithstanding Saul’s valour, reduced to great straits under the rule of the
Philistines. “The spoilers,” too, “came out of the camp of the Philistines in
three companies,” spreading desolation over the whole country. At last, by the
brilliant valour of Jonathan and his armour bearer, a portion of the Philistine
host was slain, and a sudden panic spreading throughout their camp, their
entire forces were routed. Thus the children of Israel regained once more their
freedom.
I. That it is when
men are unprepared that temptations come. When “there was neither sword nor
spear found in the hand of any of the people,” that was the time that the
spoilers came out. Temptations assail us on our weakest side, and at the most
unexpected moment. The sin that most easily besets us is the sin that comes
upon us when we are in idleness and ease, in no way prepared for a spiritual
conflict.
II. That
temptations, though very distinct, are often difficult to separate from each
other, and to individualise. These spoilers came out of the camp in three
companies, and they are not named nor individualised. Sins glide so into each
other that it is frequently difficult to analyse any particular offence amidst
so confused a mass. Lavish benefactions, for instance, may be given from
thoughtless generosity, from true charity, or from ostentation. Who can tell
which of these is the actuating motive in any particular case? Not even, often,
the doer himself. It is the same with our sins and vices. It is difficult to
assign the true place, and therefore the real guilt, of any particular one
amongst them.
III. That
temptations come from three main causes, the world, the flesh, and the devil.
The spoilers came out of the camp of the Philistines in three companies. “The
world is too much with us;” its pleasures and its pains continually affect us.
The lusts of the flesh unceasingly tend to drag us down. The temptations of
Satan, too, are craftily devised to overwhelm us.
IV. That these
temptations often arise from our superabundance of worldly riches. These spoilers
came out of the camp of the Philistines, and this camp was situated at
Michmash, which name means treasure. Money is useful if it be usefully
employed. Wealth is a great trust, which, if a man employs rightly, he may be a
benefactor to his fellow men, and may receive a blessing from God. But it is a
great snare, more especially if it has been acquired without much personal
merit or much personal exertion on the part of its possessor
V. That these
temptations have their starting point frequently from wilful and conceited
ignorance. The spoilers came out of the camp of the Philistines. A modern
author, Matt, hew Arnold, has taken the term Philistine as descriptive of
self-satisfied and offensive want of culture. From the fields of ignorance and
of thoughtlessness no harvest but a crop of tares can be expected. “Evil is
wrought from want of thought, as well as want of heart.”
VI. That obedience
is the garrison that keeps these companies of evil passions in check. The
spoilers did not come out of the camp of the Philistines to spread like
devouring grasshoppers over the land of the children of Israel until Saul had
disobeyed the Divine command given to him through Samuel. So, as long as we
follow the plain line of duty, and act in obedience to the strict letter as
well as to the real spirit of the law of God, we shall be little liable to the
assaults of sin. It is when we palter with truth, equivocate with conscience,
enter into dalliance with some evil passion, that we are ensnared by
temptation. In the “Pilgrim’s Progress,” as long as Christian kept on the
highway, he was safe; it was only when he strayed into the byways of error that
he fell into the power of Giant Despair, and was immured in the dungeons of
Doubting Castle. (R. Young, M. A.)
Verses 19-21
Now there was no smith found throughout all the land of Israel.
The blacksmith’s captivity
What a scalding subjugation for the Israelites! The Philistines
had carried off all the blacksmiths, and torn down all the blacksmith’s shops,
and abolished the blacksmith’s trade in the land of Israel. The farmers and the
mechanics having nothing to whet up the coulter, and the goad, and the
pick-axe, save a simple file, industry was hindered, and work practically
disgraced. The great idea of these Philistines was to keep the Israelites
disarmed.
I. I learn first
from this subject, how dangerous it is for the church of God to allow its
weapons to stay in the hands of its enemies. We are too willing to give up our
weapons to the enemy. The world boasts that it has gobbled up the schools, and
the colleges, and the arts, and the sciences, and the literature, and the
printing press. Infidelity is making a mighty attempt to get all our weapons in
its hand, and then to keep them. You know it is making this boast all the time;
and after a while, when the great battle between sin and righteousness has
opened, if we do not look out we will be as badly off as these Israelites,
without any swords to fight with, and without any sharpening instruments. I
call upon the superintendents of literary institutions to see to it that the
men who go into the class rooms to stand beside the Leyden jars and the
electric batteries, and the microscopes and telescopes, be children of God not
Philistines. We want to capture all the philosophical apparatus, and swing
around the telescopes on the swivel, until through them we can see the morning
star of the Redeemer, and with mineralogical hammer discover the “Rock of
Ages,” and amid the flora of all realms find the “Rose of Sharon and the lily
of the valley.” Recapture these weapons. Let men of God go out and take
possession of the platform. Let the debauched printing press of this country he
recaptured for Christ, and the reporters, and the type setters, and the
editors, and publishers be made to swear allegiance to the Lord God of Truth.
II. Again, I learn
from this subject what a large amount of the Church’s resources is actually
hidden, and buried, and undeveloped. The Bible intimates that that was a very
rich land--this land of Israel. It says: “The stones are iron, and out of the
bills thou shalt dig brass,” and yet hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of
this metal was kept, under the hills. Well, that is the difficulty with the
Church of God at this day. Its talent is not developed. The vast majority of
Christians in this day are useless. The most of the Lord’s battalion belong to
the reserve corps. The most of the crew are asleep in the hammocks. The most of
the metal is under the hills. O, is it not time for the Church of God to rouse
up and understand that we want all the energies, all the talent, and all the
wealth enlisted for Christ’s sake? I like the nickname that the English
soldiers gave to Blucher, the Commander. They called him “Old Forwards.” We
have had enough retreats in the Church of Christ; let us have a glorious
advance. And I say to you tonight, as the General said when his troops were
affrighted. Rising up in his stirrups, his hair flying in the wind, he lifted
up his voice until 20,000 troops heard him, crying out: “Forward, the whole
line!”
III. Again: I learn
from this subject, that we sometimes do well to take advantage of the world’s
sharpening instruments. Let us go over among sharp business men, and among
sharp literary men, and find out what their tact is, and then transfer it to
the cause of Christ. If they have science and art it will do us good to rub
against it. In other words, let us employ the world’s grindstones. We will
listen to their music, and we will watch their acumen, and we will use their
grindstones; and we will borrow their philosophical apparatus to make our
experiments, and we will borrow their printing presses to publish our Bibles,
and we will borrow their rail trains to carry our Christian literature, and we
will borrow their ships to transport our missionaries. That was what made Paul
such a master in his day. He not only got all the learning he could get of
Doctor Gamaliel, but afterward, standing on Mars Hill, and in crowded
thoroughfare, quoted their poetry, and grasped their logic, and wielded their
eloquence, and employed their mythology, until Dionysius the Areopagite,
learned in the schools of Athens and Heliopolis, went down under his tremendous
powers. That was what gave Thomas Chalmers his power in his day. He conquered
the world’s astronomy and compelled it to ring out the wisdom and greatness of
the Lord, until for the second time, the morning stars sang together and all
the sons of God shouted for joy.
IV. Again, my
subject teaches us on what a small allowance Philistine iniquity puts a man.
Yes; these Philistines shut up the mines, and then they took the spears and the
swords, then they took the blacksmiths, then they took the grindstones, and they
took everything but a file. O, that is the way sin works; it grabs everything.
It begins with robbery, and it ends with robbery. It despoils this faculty and
that faculty, and keeps on until the whole nature is gone. Was the man eloquent
before, it generally thickens his tongue. Was he fine in personal appearance,
it mars his visage. Was he affluent, it sends the sheriff to sell him out. Was
be influential, it destroys his popularity. Was be placid, and genial, and
loving, it makes him splenetic and cross; and so utterly is he changed that you
can see he is sarcastic and rasping, and that the Philistines have left him
nothing but a file. So it was with Voltaire, the most applauded man of his day.
Seized with hemorrhage of the lungs in Paris, where be had gone to be crowned
in the theatre as the idol of all France, he sends a messenger to get a priest,
that he may be reconciled to the Church before he dies A great terror falls
upon him. He makes the place all round about him so dismal that the nurse declares
that she would not for all the wealth of Europe see another infidel die.
Philistine iniquity had promised him all the world’s garlands, but in the last
hour of his life, when he needed solacing, sent tearing across his conscience
and his nerves a file, a file. So it was with Lord Byron. Is it not so, Herod?
Is it not so, Hildebrand? Is it not so, Robespierre? Aye! aye! it is so; it is
so. “The way of the wicked He turneth upside down.” History tells us that when
Rome was founded, on that day there were twelve vultures flying through the
air; but when a transgressor dies, the sky is black with whole flocks of them.
When I see sin robbing so many of my hearers, and I see them going down day by
day, and week by week, I must give a plain warning.
V. I learn from
this subject what a sad thing it is when the Church of God loses its metal.
These Philistines saw that if they could only get all the metallic weapons out
of the hands of the Israelites all would be well, and, therefore, they took the
swords and the spears. They did not want them to have a single metallic weapon.
When the metal of the Israelites was gone their strength was gone. This is the
trouble with the Church of God today. It is surrendering its courage It has not
got enough metal (T. De Witt Talmage.)
Philistinian policy
The care here taken by the Philistines to leave no smith in
Israel, who should make any arms for their defence, is an usual policy with
conquerors, in order to disarm and keep in subjection those whom they have
subdued. Our spiritual enemy, represented by these Philistines, never failed to
use the like stratagem. The souls which they hold in captivity they first
deprive of their arms, and prevent, as much as possible, the use of any weapons
which may rescue them from their tyranny and regain their liberty. These arms
are principally the word of God, and the use of the Holy Scriptures, which are
not only a light and lantern to our path, but a buckler of defence, and a sword
to smite and subdue our enemies. Thus the spirits of error and lies employ
their utmost efforts and craft to take away both the knowledge and means of
truth.
──《The Biblical Illustrator》