The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Samuel — Section 76

Lou.f.1/ i11.<trmnents. The transiti?n fr?m the_ em1;>loyment of Eli, as the meBBenger ?f God to th~ people, ~o Samuel, brmg~ mto view important truths concerning the mstrnmentahty by winch God effects Ins purposes concerning man. I. God always has IN RESERVE AND TRAINING SUITABLE INS1"RUMENTS for promoting· the ends to be so~ght in connection with Christ's kingdom. Judged from the out- ward aspect of thmgs, all around appeared dark and hopeless. There was no one able to cope with the difficulties of the position. A similar condition of thino-s 0 has been found in cert.iin countries during the history of the Christian Church. Some. dcsp_onding minds ~ould find a correspondence in the prevailing unbelief and daring· atheism of modern tunes. There are also conditions of the individual spiritual life, when decay has apparently gone on to utter hopelessness. Missionaries have now and then felt almost the horror of despair in view of nameless barbarities. But two or three sa,,;- a little beneath the surface. Hannah was sure of coming deliverance. Elkanah in some degree ~hared her confidence, and Eli surmised a purpose of the Lord in the presence of the holy child of the sanctuary. And, answering to these· better spirits of a corrupt age, there are always a few-" a remnant "-who know and are comforted in the assurance that God has instruments in reserve. As in the case of Samuel, they are chosen, in training, and biding tlieir time. There are instances of this general truth-I. In the preparation of the earth for man; From· remote: times there were already chosen, and qualified, and retained in other forms till fit· season, the agencies by which, in spite of catastrophes of fire- and convulsion and deluge, the beautiful earth would come forth in material realisation of the thought and purpose of God. 2. In the infant Christian Cliurch. The end of Christ's· earthly life seemed most disastrous to his kingdom. The corruption and craft of the wicked were dominant, and the removal of the Saviour seemed to human judgment to be the climax of disaster. Yet God had chosen, wus training and holding in nserve, the men by whom the evils of the age were to be overcome, and truth and righteousc, ness and love asserted as never before. 3. In de.finite periods of the Church's history. The scholastic subtleties of the middle ages on the one side, the deplorable decay of morals and the prostitution of Church ordinances to gain on the other, caused the earth to mourn. Nevertheless, in the seraphic devotion of here and there a devout- monk, in the inquiring spirit of Erasmu~, the clear intelligence of Melancthon, and the courage and firm grip of truth by Luther, God had his chosen instruments for producing a wonderful advance in all that pertainH to freedom, purity, and Christian know ledge. 4. In the midst of the evils indicated by modern antagonism to Chris- tianity. Doubtless the principles advocated, logically wrought out, as they are sure to be when the mass embrace thEm, contain the seeds of immorality, anarchy, and decay of noblest sentimente ; and often there is an eagerness in adopting them which may well cause eome to tremble. But God is alive, not dead. He bus his agencies, fitted, and, so to speak, under restraint. They will be found to consist in the practical futility of all endeavour to get substitutes for a holy religion; the hopeless miseries into which individuals will be plunged ; the horror created by the very violence of vice; the natural, never-to-be-quenched instinct which compels man to "cry out f?r the living God ; " the calling forth of wise men of saintly life who are masters Ill secular knowledge ; tlie silent force of Christian lives in health, sickness, and sorrow; :ir,d the aroused prayerfulness of the Church. Men like Samuel are in existence- 5. In the conflict of tlie indi-i-iclual C!tristian bfe. The dire evils of latent sin, weak re6olutions, stains of earlv year~, seem to be a" body'of sin and de11th" from which ti1c,re is no escape. But Gori has in resen·e the truth, the afilictio1:s 1 tl1e tender1 ess, rn. lit. 1-21.] THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL. 71