The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Samuel — Section 232

the most imp~rtant thing. An? the command to wait £or the spiritual guide and rnl('r ''.·as eminently fitted to impress Saul and the people with the undiminished :rnthonty and nine of the spiritual head. There is no evidence that the end of the se,·en days had come, only that it was nigh. Even had it come, the Author of the command was responsible for _consequences, not Saul. The first duty of a subject is to obey_ law. Saul had no n~rl~t to breal~ the ~ommandment o~ l(is King. The assumption of the control of spmtual functions v10lated a great prmc1ple in the eyes of the people. It would mean, the prophet of God can be dispensed with • the kino- can inYent ways other than God's of meeting pressing dangers; rio·id ob~d1ence t~ God's command is not expedient at all times; the religious arra~JO"ements in the recent.settlement of the kingdom, impeding as th~y do the military ~ovements, are defective ; all must, by pressure of events, come mto the monarch's hands. Thus the very essence of the constitution, as approved by Goel and explained in act and word by Samuel ( eh. ix. 26, 27 ; x. 1, 8, 25; xii. 13, 14 ), was set aside. I. LIFE INEVITABLY BRINGS WITH IT TEMPTATIONS TO SACRIFICE CLEAR DUTY TO SINFUL EXPEDIENCY. The difficulties surrounding Saul seemed to rise from the natural course of events. The defection of many of his followers was as readily accounted for, by the o,erwhelming force of the enemy and the inactivity enforced by the nbsence of Samuel, as it was, from a heathen point of view, pregnant with disaster. The military power of the nation, in being thus. subject. to spiritual arrangements, was less an arm of strength than a monarch rmght desire. The first operation of the subordination of man's skill and force to the religious element of the national life was by no means promising. Was it not expedient to act without the spiritual authority as at present constituted? Now this temptation was no" strange_ thing." It was just an early and sharply-defined form of what Saul would be liable to all his days; for events and his own imperfect nature would constantly conspire to raise the question as to whether he would not better hold his own in war if he were not troubled by non-military considerations. The spiritual character of the kingdom would continually test his loyalty to God. His case was not singular. 1. Moral life on earth involves trial. Created moral existence is not possible apart from liability to the rival claims of duty to God and regard for self, in some form sup- posed to be more or less expedient. Temptation grows out of the conditions under which we li,e. 2. Every spedal course of life i,s attended with temptations peculiar to its nature. Saul as king would feel the pressure of what, as a man living in obscurity, he would not have known. Israel chosen of God to traverse the desert and attain to freedom and rest in Canaan were open to trials of faith which, as hondmen in Egypt, would not have come to them. Our Saviour himself endured temptations in virtue of his uni,que position as Founder of a spiritual kingdom. II. It is A MERCIFUL PROVIDENCE WHEN REPRESENTATIVE TEMPTATIONS COMING EARLY JN LIFE'S CAREER ARE UNDER CIRCUMSTANCES MOST FAVOURABLE TO RESISTANCE. Ti..e circumstances 0f a temptation tell wonderfully in the act of resisting. Should it find tl.ie mind predisposed by dallying with evil, or should it come in the absence of clear and recent indications of duty, with a sudden impulse, or insinuating itself into intricate considerations and engagements, the chances of its success would be increased as compared with opposite conditions. This temptation to sin came on Saul when lie was free from the entanglements of a court and domestic politics; it was in sharp contrast with a most explicit command; it was counter to the recent instance of God's help in presence of a great danger ( eh. xi. 4--14); anrl it came when his moral sense was at its best. Inasmuch as during coming years Saul would inevitably feel tlie for<'e of temptations to assert his own methods and will as being apparently better than those indicated by the spiritual requirements of the kingdom, it was really a merC?J that this representative temptation came when it did, and in a (urm most easy to resi~t. If resisted, a principle would assume an incipient form of habit. The moral strength of the man would be. deyeloped by exerci~e •. Succes.s over the foe, consequent on the first triumph of faith in God and submission to Ins ,'}1iritual order, would be a memorial for future inspiration. We liave liere a clue to the so~ution of other trials. It is too often imagined that the trial of A;dam, of the Israelites at the Red Sea, of Christ in the desert, and of the apostles du~mg the dark ,'lnys of the crucifixion and death, were arbitrary, severe, and, at least, without a clear en. XIII. 1-23. J THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL. 23,i