Now therefore behold the king whom ye have chosen, and whom ye have desired! and, behold, the LORD hath set a king over you.

If ye will fear the LORD, and serve him, and obey his voice, and not rebel against the commandment of the LORD, then shall both ye and also the king that reigneth over you continue following the LORD your God:

But if ye will not obey the voice of the LORD, but rebel against the commandment of the LORD, then shall the hand of the LORD be against you, as it was against your fathers.

Now therefore stand and see this great thing, which the LORD will do before your eyes.

Is it not wheat harvest to-day? I will call unto the LORD, and he shall send thunder and rain; that ye may perceive and see that your wickedness is great, which ye have done in the sight of the LORD, in asking you a king.

So Samuel called unto the LORD; and the LORD sent thunder and rain that day: and all the people greatly feared the LORD and Samuel.

And all the people said unto Samuel, Pray for thy servants unto the LORD thy God, that we die not: for we have added unto all our sins this evil, to ask us a king.

And Samuel said unto the people, Fear not ye have done all this wickedness: yet turn not aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart;

And turn ye not aside for then should ye go after vain things, which cannot profit nor deliver; for they are vain.

For the LORD will not forsake his people for his great name's sake: because it hath pleased the LORD to make you his people.

Moreover as for me, God forbid that I should sin against the LORD in ceasing to pray for you: but I will teach you the good and the right way: Only fear the LORD, and serve him in truth with all your heart: for consider how great things he hath done for you.

But if ye shall still do wickedly, ye shall be consumed, both ye and your king.

COMMENT. In the flush of joy at Saul's great victory the people unanimously proclaimed him king at Gilgal, the place of assembly on the banks of the Jordan, where he would cross on his way back from the rescue of Jabesh-gilead. They would have put to death those who opposed him, but his generous spirit forbade any one to suffer.

Then Samuel stood forth. We may picture to ourselves the great old Levite, his long unshorn Nazarene hair flowing white far below his shoulders, and his linen ephod girding him, as he rose up among all the loud acclamations to speak his solemn warning to Israel and their king. He had not so spoken when Saul was afraid of his great office, and when Israel would not acknowledge

him, but now, in the time of exultation, he spoke. First, both as one about to resign his government and also that they might see that nothing he said came of self-interest, he called on any man in the whole assembly who could accuse him of oppression or injustice to come forward and declare it, in the presence of the Lord and His anointed, the special title of the king.

When no one had any misdeed to allege against the Judge who had ruled them for at least twenty-two years, he bade them stand still and listen, while he recounted to them the story of their nation. He went through all that had befallen them from the first, how every stage in their history was the work of the Lord, how he had appointed Moses and Aaron, and all the Judges one after another, and how the safety of the nation had always depended on its obedience. Now, by way of getting, as it were, farther off from this immediate hand of God, the Israelites had asked for a king, and the victory their king had gained made them think that in him they had at last the charm that would give success to their arms. But Samuel tells them, they were just as dependent on the Lord their God as ever they were before. If they and their king were obedient and faithful, then they would prosper; if not, their king would not save them. Then, by way of showing them how close to them was God's power, and how little they or their king could resist it, at the word of Samuel thunder and rain were sent. It was the time of wheat harvest, namely, the space between the Passover and the Feast of Weeks. Rain never fell except at the two regular rainy seasons, the former rain after the sowing, and the latter rain before the ripening, so that the sight and sound of rain and thunder were very terrible to the congregation of Gilgal, and completely proved to them that not the most regular course of nature can resist His will for a moment. They cowered in fear, and could only entreat Samuel, whom they had cast off, to pray for them. His answer encouraged them. All they had to do, whether with kings or without, was to be obedient and serve God; and for his own part, he would have deemed it an absolute sin against God to cease to pray for the people for whom he had toiled so long, and whom indeed he had brought back to be a nation again instead of a collection of tribes fast falling apart. How like the

Israelites we are, when we fancy that in other circumstances we should do better! Perhaps they come, and then we find that the change must be, not in things around, but in ourselves.

Thus it was that, long after, God spoke by the mouth of the prophet Hosea, "I gave them a king in mine anger "-(Hosea xiii. 13)-a king such as they asked for themselves-like the men who ruled other nations, brave and showy, but proud, jealous, and headstrong.

LESSON LVI.

SAUL'S First DISOBEDIENCE.

B.C. 1093.—I SAM. xiii. 1—14.

Saul reigned one year; and when he had reigned two years over Israel,

*

Saul chose him three thousand men of Israel; whereof two thousand were with Saul in Michmash and in mount Beth-el, and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin: and the rest of the people he sent every man to his tent.

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.

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.

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 seashore in multitude: and they came up, and pitched in Michmash, eastward from Beth-aven.

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.

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.

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.

And Saul said, Bring hither a burnt offering to me, and peace offerings. And he offered the burnt offering.

And it came to pass, that as soon as he had made an end of offering the

* Probably in the second year of his reign.

+ In difficulty.

burnt offering, behold, Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him, that he might salute him.

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;

Therefore said 1, 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.

:

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.

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.

COMMENT.-Though Samuel had delivered Israel from the Philistines, still they had garrisons, or parties of soldiers, stationed in rocky fortresses, especially in the tribes of Judah and Benjamin ; and, in the second year after his election, Saul resolved to endeavour to clear the land of them. So he collected a troop of three thousand men, and took the command of two thousand himself, giving the other thousand to his brave young son Jonathan.

With these thousand Jonathan suddenly attacked and drove out the Philistines who held the fort in Geba, not far from his home at Gibeah. This beginning of a war greatly enraged the Philistines, and they began to collect a huge army to put down the new king and his presumption. Saul and Samuel upon this called upon the whole of the fighting men to meet them at Gilgal, which, being on the Jordan, was the most convenient rallying-point for those on both sides. There Saul was to collect his men, and in a week's time Samuel would come, celebrate a sacrifice, and send him forth with the blessing and direction of the Lord. As Samuel had told him at his anointing, “Thou shalt go down before me to Gilgal, and, behold, I will come down unto thee, to offer burnt offerings and peace offerings. Seven days shalt thou tarry, till I come to thee, and shew thee what thou shalt do." (1 Sam. x. 8.) It is not clear whether this original command was the one in force, or whether Samuel had freshly made the appointment.

But Saul's waiting at Gilgal was a great trial of patience. The Philistines, fierce and angry, were in his own late camp at Michmash, and in such numbers that the Israelites had been seized with deadly terror; his three thousand men were dwindling fast away; and of the others, some fled across the river to the land of Gad and Gilead, some hid in the caves of the mountains, the few who were with him followed him trembling, and still Samuel came not. He waited the seven days, and still there was no Samuel! An impetuous, eager man, Saul felt delay intolerable, and expected the enemy to advance upon his army thinned by desertion. It was the very trial that his temper could least brook. Other kings, in other nations, were the chief sacrificers. Why should not he shake himself free of the old man who ruled over him, and be a king indeed, rallying his people round him, and acting as their head in religion as well as in war? So he called for the sacrifices and offered them with his own presumptuous hand—though (as afterwards appears) he might have had the aid of the hereditary high priest. Even as he finished the sacrifice, Samuel appeared, and called him to account. Saul did not deny that he had done wrong, but he excused it. "I forced myself," he said, as one driven by necessity, almost throwing the blame on Samuel himself. The answer was grave and sad. Saul had not kept those conditions of strict obedience on which his reign depended. He had shown himself wanting in patience, and hasty to intrude into the offices of religion. He and his line were not the right kings for Israel, and therefore his dominion should not be lasting; the rule should not pass to his heirs, but the Lord had already sought Him a man after His own heart to be the father of a line of kings. There was, in truth, a family at Bethlehem, among whom should arise one with the patience, faith, and obedience that Saul failed in.