_Then Samuel took a vial of oil._ THE DISCIPLINE OF A PROMOTED LIFE Men are not usually taken from the valley of ordinary toil, and instantaneously placed, as by the flight of an angel, upon the cloud-wrapped peak of national greatness. There must be a climbing process; its accomplishment may be te... [ Continue Reading ]
_God gave him another heart._ ANOTHER HEART But not a better heart. He found himself suddenly fitted for the new place to which Providence had summoned him. In this there was nothing magical or extraordinary. It is indeed said that God gave him another heart, but we are not to understand the words... [ Continue Reading ]
_The spirit of God came upon him, and he prophesied among them._ SAUL AMONG THE PROPHETS Suppose, now, you had come to school, thinking only of being the child of a cottager, and of earning your bread by hard labour all your days, and one upon whose word you could firmly rely came in and told you y... [ Continue Reading ]
_Is Saul also among the prophets?_ A SAUL AMONG THE PROPHETS So they said in the wild irregular season of his obscure youth, before his accession to the throne, when the Spirit of the Lord, that bloweth where it listeth, suddenly arrested the young Saul, in the midst of his dissolute companions; t... [ Continue Reading ]
_He told him not._ AN INQUISITIVE MAN AND HOW TO TREAT HIM Saul has now reached his home, and is determined to conceal the history of the past few days from the knowledge of others. If the Prophet’s communications were to become generally known they would render Saul’s position most uncomfortable.... [ Continue Reading ]
_And Samuel called the people together unto the Lord to Mizpeh._ THE PUBLIC RECOGNITION OF INCIPIENT KINGSHIP Long enough had Saul been in the Divine studio, and fashioned by heavenly forces, his nature comes forth in power to enter upon life’s duty, and also to grapple with its difficulties. In t... [ Continue Reading ]
_He hath hid himself amongst the stuff._ RESPONSIBILITY When Auxentius, the Arian Bishop of Milan, had expired, there was much excitement among the Christians in that City. Both Catholics and Arians had assembled in the principal church for the purpose of electing a new bishop, and each party was e... [ Continue Reading ]
_There is none like him among the people._ THE CHOICE YOUNG MAN AND GOODLY There are two forms in which the man who is steering his vessel over the perilous ocean may ascertain the course which he should keep, and receive admonition of the dangers which he should avoid. There may be the well-known... [ Continue Reading ]
_And wrote it in a book._ VALUE OR A WRITTEN CONSTITUTION A written revelation is an incomparable blessing. Is not the cry of subjects everywhere for a constitution, something written, the fights and duties of sovereign and subject in black and white? The Bible is to us like a written constitution... [ Continue Reading ]
_And there went with him a band of men, whose hearts God had touched._ But the children of Belial said, How shall this man save us. PUBLIC OPINION IN REFERENCE TO THE NEW KING I. The sympathy of Saul’s friends. There are times in the life of man when the sympathy of a friend is of priceless value... [ Continue Reading ]
_But the children of Belial said._ THE SONS OF BELIAL The word Belial is found but once in the New Testament (2 Corinthians 6:15). In the Hebrew of the Old Testament it is found twenty-seven times. It is several times translated wicked (Deuteronomy 15:9; Job 34:18; Psalms 101:3; Nehemiah 1:11; Neh... [ Continue Reading ]