Ver. 23.-1'/ie good man's weapons. There was a vein of misgivi11g evirlent in the words of Samuel. Perhaps the new king and his triumphant soldiers ascribed it to the timorousness of old age; but the seer looked further into the future than they, and if he felt bound to warn them of the danger they would incur by rebelling against thP commandment of the Lord, he gave t!iem at the same time an assurance that he would do all in his power to preserve them from such wickedness and its in- evitable conseG_uences. The man of God could never forget Israel. But what could he do in old age for this intractable people? The reins of government had been taken out of his hands; and it had never been his duty, now less than ever, to go out to battle. What remained for him to do? Must he not Ic:t king and people take their own course-sow as they pleased, and then reap what they sowed? Nay. Samuel would not, under a plea of helplessness, withdraw himself from all care for Israel's future. There remained to him the two greatest weapons for moral e:ffee:t- pr,1yer and teaching. The one points to God in heaven, the other to men on the earth. Such are a prophet's weapons, and they are mightier than a king's sceptre or a warrior's sword. That the intellectual and the moral are the highest forms of greatness and usefulness is a truth which has established itself throughout all history. The most illustrious and influential of the Hebrew race were the prophets. Jl,fos.;s, Samuel, Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, none of the kings compare with these, except David and Solomon, and they because they had qualities resem- bling those of the prophets-the one of them a poet, and the other a sage. In like manner the greatest of the Greeks were not their warriors or rulers, but such as Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle-the men who thought and who taught. That unique and ancient people, the Chinese, regard as by far their most important man the sage Confucius. Their most powerful emperors have been comparatively little men. Our modern nations too have had their characters moulded by their thinkers and teachers far more than by their princes and sok.. iers; and a nation's character makes its history as much as its history shapes its character. There is a supreme illustration of this truth. Unspeakably the greatest effect ever produced by one personality on the human race has been exerted by the man Christ Jesus. The widest, deepest, and most beneficial influence has issued from him ; and he began that mighty movement, which bas outlasted many governments, and shows no symptom of weakness or decay, by the very instruments or weapons which were named and used by the prophet Samuel, viz., prayer and instruction. Jesus prayed; ,Jesus taught. How weak in comparison were the men of the sword-Herod, and Pontius Pilate, and Pilate·s imperial master at Rome I Jesus had no worldly title, and used no carnal weapon. If he was a king, it was to bear witness to the truth. The weapons by which he overcame were these-he prayed, and so prevailed with God ; he taught, and so pre- vailed with men. In the same manner he continues to animate and strengthen the Church. He makes continual intercession in heaven ; and by the abiding of his words and the living guidance of his Spirit he g-ives continual instruction on earth. In the very beginning of the Church the apostles showed their deep appreciation of this truth, and refused to be drawn aside from that way of highest usefulness which their Master had shown to them. They would concentrate their energies on moral and spiritual work. "We will give ourselves to the word of God and to prayer." Paul was of the same mind in his apostolate. He relied on weapons "not carnal, but mighty through God." He foresaw, and it is evident from the writings of Peter and John that they too in old age foreboded, evil days, as Samuel did in bis cleclining years; lrnt those apostles knew no better course to recommend to the faithful than that which Samuel followed-to pray always, and to teach sound doctrine. Evil might come, even apostasy might ensue ; but the elect would be proved and purified, and nfter troubled days the kingdom would ultimately be set up in "the sure mercies oE David," and the confusion of the time of Saul would be past for ever. No emphasis is laid on rite or ceremony. Samuel was a priest, and lived in a dispensation of religion which gave great scope for ritual. But we are left to assume that the rites prescribed through Moses were observed at this period. We hear wonderfully little about them. Samuel wus intent on teachi11g that" to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams." How weak and puerile to lay the stress of our religion on the observance of ritual, or the performances of a priesthood I T e way to make and tu~ Q 22G THE FlHST DOOK 01" SAMUEL. [en. xm. 1-23.
KeC'p a pcopl_e Christian is Jlot to sing lllasscs for them, or multiply altar ceremonies alld celehratI<:ms, but to pray, :11:d ;o "teach the good _and the right way," of obedi- C'll<'e to conscience and to God. \\ hoso would serve Ins own generation well let him ,,.ray, and let him by exm;1ple, and persuasive speech or writing, preach righte~usness. lhese are the good man s 1n•ap~ns, and these through God are mighty., Mischief m~y go on, as Saul went _on ~o distress the people of God; but prayer and teaching qmetly counternct the nnsclnef, and urepare the way for u. revival of piety and the rcii:·n of the "King of kings and Lora of lords."-F.
EXPOSITION. SAUL'S PROBATION AND FAILURE (CHS. xm.-xv.).