ite; for I have provided me a king among his sons. 2 And Samuel said, How can I go? if Saul hear it, he will kill me. PARALLEL PASSAGES. -1Ps. 78: 70; 89: 19, 20. Is. 55: 4. - servient tool to him which he had calculated on finding him, let them consider his manifest reluctance at every step he was constrained to take. So far from the act of deposition being his, it is clear that it was grievous in his eyes. He liked the man, though compelled to reprove the king. Kitto.- God reproves him for continuing so long to mourn the rejection of Saul. He does not blame him for mourning, but for exceeding in his sorrow. Henry. Our most reasonable and disinterested sorrow may be so excessive as to imply rebellion against the righteous will of God. And he will then rebuke us as well as encour age us under our distresses. Scott. - Thine horn with oil. It is the custom of Iberia, Cholchis, and the adjacent country, where the arts are little practised, to keep liquors in horns, and to drink out of them. Hewlett. - - A flask or vessel made of horn, containing oil, or used as a kind of toilet-bottle, filled with the preparation of antimony with which women tinged their eye-lashes. (Keren-Happuch, painthorn, name of one of Job's daughters.) Brown.-Jesse. The only one of his name who appears in the sacred records. Jesse was the son of Obed, who again was the fruit of the union of Boaz and Ruth. Nor was Ruth's the only foreign blood that ran in his veins; for his great-grandmother was no less a person than Rahab the Canaanite, of Jericho. According to ancient Jewish tradition, recorded in the Targum, on 2 Sam. 21: 19, he was a weaver of the veils of the sanctuary. Grove. The family of Jesse consisted of eight sons and three daughters. David was the youngest child; and so great a difference was there between his age and those of some of the elder ones that the sons of his sister Zeruiah seem to have been brought up as boys along with him, and were through life associated with him, not always to his advantage. Of his mother we know almost nothing; her name has nowhere been preserved for us in sacred history. David in his Psalms styles himself, on more than one occasion, "the son of God's handmaid"; and this leads us to believe that she had a holy influence upon him, and that it was most likely from her lips that he first heard the wondrous story of God's former dealings with his people, as well as the simple, pathetic pastoral of Ruth. Taylor.-Beth-lehemite. The town to which Samuel was now sent was but a little one among the thousands of Judah, and up to this time had not come into any great prominence in the history of the tribe. It is about five miles south of Jerusalem, a little to the east of the road that leads to Hebron. It stands upon the summit and slopes of a narrow ridge, which projects eastward from the central chain of the Judean mountains. The sides of the hill below the village are carefully terraced, and even in modern times they are occupied with fertile vine. yards; while in the valleys beneath, and on a little plain that lies to the eastward, there are some cornfields, whose produce, perhaps, gave the name Bethlehem, or house of bread, to the town with which they were connected. Beyond these fields is the wilderness of Judea, the chief features of which are white limestone hills, thrown confusedly together, with deep ravines winding in and out among them. The place never was of any great political importance in the land, but around it cluster associations which, throughout eternity, will make its name illustrious. In the immediate neighborhood, memorial of the tenderest sorrow of Jacob's life, was the tomb of Rachel. In yonder corn-fields Ruth gleaned after the reapers of Boaz, on those never-to-be-forgotten harvest-days which so materially changed the circumstances of the alien woman, and made her the ancestress of a royal line, whose representative sits now at God's right hand. On the slopes of these hills David was watching his father's flocks on the occasion before us; and here, too, was announced to shepherds, as they tended their charge by night, the glad tidings of the birth of him who "has brought life and immortality to light." Taylor.—I have provided a king. Jehovah here gives proof that he still retained, and was disposed to exercise the right of appointing the ruler under him. Jahn. 2. If Saul hear it. Samuel's faith was not so strong as one would have expected, else he had not thus feared Saul. But the best men are not perfect in their faith, nor will fear be wholly cast out any where on this side heaven. But this may be understood as Samuel's desire to manage this matter pru. dently. Henry. The most] eminent believers are not entirely superior to the fear of man. But the Lord will inwardly strengthen and outwardly protect them; and he can by his Word and Spirit show them, step by step, what they ought to do. Scott. - Say, I am come to sacrifice. God's method of avoiding this danger throws light on a nice question of casuistry, viz. whether it is right to conceal a part of the truth from those whose known character and purpose make it certain that they would use this knowledge for evil. In this case Saul had no claim to know what God was doing in regard to the anointing of David. It was certain that the knowledge, if he had it, would fire up his selfish jealousy to mad fury and involve him in awful sin. It was therefore right and kind towards him to withhold from him this knowledge. The proposed method of concealing it involved no falsehood; it merely withheld part of the truth, and this from one who had no claim to know it, and who could not safely be trusted And the LORD said, Take a heifer with thee, and say, I am come to sacrifice1 to the LORD. 3 And call Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will shew thee what thou shalt do: and thou shalt anoint unto me him2 whom I name unto thee. 4 And Samuel did that which the LORD spake, and came to Beth-lehem. And the elders of the town trembled at his coming, and said, Comest thou peaceably ?3 5 And he said, Peaceably: I am come to sacrifice unto the LORD: sanctify yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice. And he sanctified Jesse and his sons, and called them to the sacrifice. 6 And it came to pass, when they were come, that he looked on Eliab,5 and said, Surely the LORD'S anointed is before him. 7 But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.9 PARALLEL PASSAGES.-1Ch. 9:12; 20:29. 2Deut. 17:15. 81 Kings 2: 13. Ex. 19: 10. Numb. 11:18. Josh. 3: 5. Job 1:5. 1 Cor. 11:28. 5Ch. 17:13. Ps. 147: 10. Is. 55:8, 9. 82 Cor. 10:7. 91 Kings 8:39. 1 Chron. 28: 9. Ps. 7:9. Jer. 17:10. Rev. 2:23. with the knowledge. The sacrifice was not a sham, but was an honest transaction, demanded by the solemnities of the occasion. Cowles. -No man in any circumstances should ever tell a lie. Yet in all circumstances he is not obliged to tell the whole truth; though in all circumstances he must tell nothing but the truth; and in every case, so tell the truth that the hearer shall not believe a lie by it. Adam Clarke. - Probably Samuel sacrificed from time to time in many different places. Scott. - If any surprise be felt at the offering of sacrifice in a place other than that appointed in the Mosaic law, the explanation is to be found in the fact that the ark of the covenant of the Lord was not at this time in the Tabernacle, but in the city of Kirjath-jearim, and so the Tabernacle had ceased for the present to be the only place of the nation's worship. Taylor. 4. The elders trembled. They suspected that the purpose of his coming might be to reprove them for some misdemeanor, or to pronounce some judgment on them for it. Pyle.-The guilty con. science trembles at a message from heaven; yet the ministers of Christ come peaceably, proposing salvation through the sacrifice of a Redeemer, and speaking terror to none except to those who neglect so great salvation. Scott.-That the elders of Bethlehem trembled at Samuel's coming shows that the people were by no means at ease under the administration of Saul. Society was unrestful, as under some terrible despotism, where no man can know that his head is safe upon his shoulders. Cowles. 5. And he sanctified Jesse. By praying with them and instructing them. It was a devout and religious family. Samuel assisted them in their family preparations for the public sacrifice. HenryCaused them to purify their persons by legal washings, but more especially to put them into a suitable frame of mind to appear before God and submit to the divine scrutiny. Bush. 6. When they were come. Into some private place where Jesse brought his sons before Samuel, one after another. Assembly's Annotation. It is evident the Lord revealed himself to Samuel on this and other occasions by direct and immediate suggestion. Scott. 7. Look not on his countenance. Israel's second king was to be chosen on the ground of qualities pleasing to God, and not of those that were popular with men. In the case of the first king, the people had a man to their notion,- of tall and commanding presence, who, in these points, might compare with the champion monarchs of the nations around about them. Samuel very naturally assumed that the first-born would be the man, and the more so for his lofty stature and imposing mien. But the Lord soon set him right, coupling this correction with the statement of the grand principle, “The Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart." Somewhat broader still was the doctrine taught by our Lord (Luke 16: 15), God knoweth your hearts. For that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God. Cowles. There are many things esteemed among men which are not abomination in the sight of God, as truth, parental affection, industry, etc. But many things, much sought and admired, are hateful in his sight; external acts, that appear well while the heart is evil, are abominable in the sight of God, and should be in the sight of men. Barnes.-When God would please the people with a king, he chose a handsome man; but when he would have one after his own heart, he would not choose him by the outside. God looks at the heart. Henry.-God looketh on the heart. It makes little matter, therefore, what 8 Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, Neither hath the LORD chosen this. 9 Then Jesse made Shammah to pass by. And he said, Neither hath the LORD chosen this. 10 Again, Jesse made seven of his sons to pass before Samuel. And Samuel said unto Jesse, The LORD hath not chosen these. 11 And Samuel said unto Jesse, Are here all thy children? And he said, There remaineth yet the youngest, and, behold, he keepeth the said sheep. And Samuel unto Jesse, Send and fetch him: for we will not sit down till he come hither. 12 And he sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy,1 and withal of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to. And the LORD said, Arise, anoint him: for this is he. 13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brethren; and the Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up and went to Ramah. PARALLEL PASSAGES.- -1Ch. 17:42. Cant. 5:10. 2Ch. 10: 6, 9, 10. Judg. 11:29; 14: 6. the outward appearance is, while, if the heart be wrong, nothing can be right. There is much, no doubt, in the bodily development to attract the eye, and I would not undervalue attention to the symmetrical discipline of the physical frame; yet muscularity is not Christianity, and bodily beauty is not holiness, The character, therefore, ought to be the principal object of your attention. Not how you look, but what you are, ought to be the first care of your lives; for if you have a selfish disposition, a sordid soul, or a sinful life, your outward beauty will be like "a jewel in a swine's snout," and your bodily vigor will only be like the strength of a safe in which nothing worth preserving is locked up. Let your aim be to be holy; and if you will only turn in faith to Jesus and follow in the footsteps of His example, your soul will become beautiful in Jehovah's eyes, and your life will become, even in the view of your fellow. men, bright with a glory which is not of earth. Taylor. 11. Are here all? David being young (not more than eighteen or twenty years of age), and being of a contemplative disposition, was, perhaps, thought by Jesse to be less capable of public business than his other sons, and so was not kept at home on this occasion. Scott.-Many a great genius lies buried in obscurity and contempt, and God often exalts those whom men despise. The Son of David was He whom men despised. We should think a military life, but God saw a pastoral life (which gives advantage for contemplation and communion with heaven), the best preparative for kingly power. Henry. 12. He was ruddy. The brief notice of his personnel makes no allusion to his stature. He was ruddy in complexion (red-haired, like Esau, some of the critics think), but beautiful, of pleasing countenance. The prophet anointed him, and the Spirit of God endorsed this anointing by coming upon him from that day forward. Cowles. - Anoint him. Anointing with oil was a rite of inauguration into each of the three typical offices of the Jewish commonwealth, whose tenants, as anointed, were types of the Anointed One. (1.) Prophets were occasionally anointed to their office. (2.) Priests, at the first institution of the Levitical priesthood, were all anointed to their offices; but afterwards, anointing seems to have been especially reserved for the high priest. (3.) Kings. Anointing was the divinely appointed ceremony in the inauguration of their own kings; indeed, so pre-eminently did it belong to the kingly office that "the Lord's Anointed" was a common designation of the theocratic king. Perowne. 13. In the midst of his brethren. It should have been translated from the midst of his brethren; i.e. he singled him out from the rest and privately anointed him. For it is manifest that Samuel was afraid to have it known, and therefore did not anoint him publicly in the midst of his brethren. And by Eliab's treatment of David after this (ch. 17:28) it plainly enough appears that he did not know him to be the king elect of God's people. Patrick.-Samuel, then, did anoint him, but whether in the presence of his brethren or of Jesse only does not appear. The latter is most probable, for the brethren of David do not subsequently evince any recognition of his high destination; and it is little likely that Samuel, who anointed Saul secretly when there was no direct danger to apprehend, should have anointed David in the presence of several persons when there was much to be apprehended from the wrath of Saul. Had the transaction been in any way public, it could scarcely, under the circumstances, have been kept from the knowledge of the king at a time when, had a word been breathed to that effect, it had been death both to David and to Samuel. There were those at Saul's court who were well acquainted with David and his family, and he at length came to have at that court enemies not a few; yet no one seems to have been aware of the fact of this anointing. The conviction that David was the man appointed to succeed him seems to have gradually dawned upon the mind of Saul from circumstances, and to have been confirmed beyond question when David eventually fled to Samuel. At that time the fact of the anointing may have become known to him, but then Samuel was on the borders of the grave and David beyond his reach. It may be doubtful that David himself clearly understood the purport of the act. It does not appear that Samuel declared its object, and prophets were anointed as well as kings. We rather think, however, that a young man of so quick apprehension could not but have understood what was meant by this anointing; and we ascribe the apparent unconsciousness of the destinies awaiting im which his earlier history exhibits, and his declared and often acknowledged loyalty to Saul, simply to that excellent disposition which enabled him to see that it ill became him to take any steps to hasten the purposes of God, but that it rather behooved him to pursue the even path of his duty, leaving Him whose choice had fallen upon him to accomplish, in His own good time, the purposes of His will. Kitto. The spirit of the Lord came upon David. Note the happy effect of this anointing. The anointing was not an empty ceremony, but a divine power went along with it; so that David found himself inwardly advanced in wisdom and courage and concern for the public, with all the qualifications of a prince, though not at all advanced in outward circumstances. This would abundantly satisfy him that his election was of God. The best evidence of our being predestined to the kingdom of glory is our being sealed with the spirit of promise and the experience of a work of grace in our hearts. Henry.→ This second and spiritual anointing gave him special qualifications for his new and coming responsibili ties, in acordance with which the Apostle John wrote, "Ye have received an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things. The same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth" (1 John 2:20, 27). Cowles. - A divine sign is not a mere ceremony. It would be deceitful and insincere if there were not a present blessing denoted by it, the communication of an actual power to fit the man for tasks to which he has not hitherto been appointed. Yet, with this new calling, with the consciousness of this new power, he still returned to his old work. It had not lost its sacredness; it could still impart wisdom to one who sought wisdom. There is a time in men's lives, before they enter upon some great work to which they have been consecrated, a time when they are permitted to look back upon the years which they have already passed, to see them no longer as fragments, but as linked together, as having a divine purpose running through them, which makes even their incoherences and discords intelligible. . . . The Spirit of God, which had taken possession of David, may have been teaching him these lessons, and inspiring the song which was the utterance of them, before he was prepared to come forth as the actual deliverer. . . . He led the sheep to their pastures, he took them to the streams, he followed them into thickets and ravines, where they had lost themselves. These poor silly creatures were worthy of David's diligence. And then the answer came, "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside the still waters. He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for Thou art with me. Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me." What a revelation to the soul of a youth! A Guide near him, with him, at every moment; a guide as he was to the sheep. Maurice. ... LESSON III. JANUARY 16, 1876. DAVID AND GOLIATH. 1 SAMUEL 17: 38-51. [B. C. 1063.] CONNECTION. After the anointing recorded in the last lesson David continued for a time to feed his father's sheep, till he was sent for to the court of Saul at Gibeah. The mind of this prince, not in his best fortunes strong, gradually gave way beneath the terror of these thoughts, -the certainty of his doom and the uncertain shapes in which it appeared. He sunk into a deep melancholy, which being regarded as a divine judgment, it is said that "an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him." After many other remedies had no doubt been tried, it was suggested that something might yet be hoped from music. This was the cause which led Saul to summon David to his presence. The distance was not great, about ten miles; and the youth reached Gibeah the same day that he left his home. By degrees the intervals of his frenzy became more distant, and eventually he seemed to have been altogether cured. The services of David being then no longer required, he went home to his father, and again resumed the care of the sheep. By this it would seem that the king's affection towards his healer cooled as soon as the cure had been effected. Kitto.- An interval of two or three years passed, and David is again called into notice under the following circumstances: The Philistines. - Coming, as the ablest critics have generally agreed, from Egypt, they occupied the strip of country lying along the southeast coast of Palestine, and comprising a confederacy of five united yet indépendent towns - Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron. When the children of Israel took possession of the land, this territory was given, by lot, to the tribe of Judah; but it was not until the days of David that they could be said actually to possess it; and, indeed, all through the history of the Jews there was danger of collision between them and this fierce nation. They had early attained to great skill in the arts alike of war and peace; they probably possessed a navy, for they had harbors at Gath and Ashkelon; they were eminent as smiths and armorers; and their images of golden mice and emerods, referred to in one of the early chapters of the first book of Samuel, imply an acquaintance with the work of the founder and the goldsmith. We are told, in the first chapter of the book of Judges, that Judah took Gaza, Ashkelon, and Ekron, with their coasts; but the resources of the Philistines were such that they speedily regained their territory and asserted their supremacy. In the days of Shamgar, Jephthah, and Samson, they held the Jews in hard and cruel bondage; and it was only under Samuel that the chosen people had been able in any serious degree to break their power. Even after that, however, they reasserted their dominion, and were able successfully to dispute with Saul the ownership of the soil, and so to cripple the tribes that there was no proper implement of war to be found among them, save only in the hands of Saul and Jonathan. Taylor. — -The land of the Philistines lay within the limits of the Promised Land. It was assigned to Judah and Dan. Saul had to contend with them during his whole reign. Whitney.-Probably they had heard how Samuel had fallen out with Saul, and no longer assisted and advised him, and how Saul was grown melancholy and unfit for business; and this encouraged them to make this attempt to retrieve their lately lost credit. Henry. Location of the Armies.-"The valley," says Dr. Porter, "is now called Wady-es-sumpt, because it abounds in acacias. It is a remarkable fact, and tends to throw light on the origin of the ancient name, that one of the largest terebinths in Palestine may be seen in a branch of the valley, only a few miles distant from the scene of the battle." The valley itself, according to the same authority, "runs in a northwesterly direction, from the mountains of Judah, through the low hills at their hase, into the plain of Philistia, which it enters a little north of the site of Gaza. The ruins of Shochoh, now called Shuweikeh, cover a natural terrace on the left bank of the valley; and Azekah appears to have stood on a conical hill some two miles distant on the same bank. Between them, on the slope of the ridge, the Philistines encamped; and opposite them, on the right bank, were the Israelites. The distance between the armies was about a mile; and the vale beneath is flat and rich. Through the centre winds a torrent-bed, the banks fringed with shrubbery of acacia and the bottom covered with smooth stones.' The ridges on each side rise to the height of about five hundred feet, and have a uniform slope, so that the armies ranged along them could see the combat in the valley." The place was about twelve miles southwest of Jerusalem, and therefore probably not more than seven or eight miles from Bethlehem. Taylor. Goliath. Goliath's personnel and armor are fully described, -his height about nine feet, the weight of his coat of mail five thousand shekels of brass (proximately, one hundred and sixty pounds avoirdupois). One of the survivors of the old Anakim race, clad with defensive armor so ponderous, complete, and strong that it might be expected to shield him perfectly from the missiles of ancient warfare, and with offensive weapons deemed sufficient to annihilate any ordinary antagonist, his confidence of victory in single combat was unbounded. All Philistia felt safe in committing their nation's destiny to his single arm as against any warrior whom the Israelites might bring out against him. Cowles. — With regard to what has been said concerning his great size and the weight of his armor, it is not at all necessary to suppose that the statements have been exaggerated by tradition; persons six ells and one span high (i. e. according to Thenius,. nine feet two inches, Paris measure) have existed elsewhere. Goliath wore a brazen helmet, and a coat of mail weighing one hundred and forty-two pounds (Dresden weight), and the head of his spear weighed seventeen pounds. Rüetschi. — According to Pliny (h. n. vii, 16), the giant Pusio and the giantess Secundilla, who lived in the time of Augustus, were ten feet three inches (Roman) in height. And a Jew is mentioned by Josephus (Ant. xviii, 4, 5) who was seven cubits in height, i. e. ten Parisian feet, or if the cubits are Roman, nine and a half. His (Goliath's) height was about nine feet two inches, - a great height no doubt, though not altogether unparalleled, and hardly greater than that of the great-uncle of Iren, who came to Berlin in the year 1857. Keil. · -Goliath's "coat of mail" was, like his helmet, of brass. The Philistines, as represented in the Egyptian sculptures, wore in war "a kind of corselet, quilted with leather or plates of metal, reaching only to the chest, and supported by shoulder-straps, leaving the shoulders and arms at full liberty." The terms describing the giant's coat of mail, however, literally mean "harness of scales," denoting a scaled coat of mail, consisting of small plates like scales. An excellent authority thinks it to express armor in which the pieces of metal were sewed upon cloth. The " spear" of the Philistines and other people |