The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Samuel — Section 256

HOMILETICS. Vere. 36-46.-Seeking counsel of God and keeping ones word. The facts are- 1. Saul, following his own impulse. desires to pursue the Philistines during the night, but is restrained by the priest advising to seek counsel of God. 2. No answer coming from God, Saul concludes that sin has been committed, and resolves that the sinner when discovered shall die. 3. A lot being taken, it falls on Jonathan, who admits having tasted honey, and submits to the sentence. 4. Saul, again solemnly consigning his son to death, is confronted by the people, who claim and rescue. Jonathan's life on the ground that he was doing God's work that day. Rash impulse was the besetting sin of Saul. Being by Divine arrangement more than a military leader, it was his duty to seek guidance from God in times of uncertainty. Men of cooler judgment doubted whether it was wise to urge on all through the night men who had been worn down by fasting all day, and were scarcely free from their evening meal. The priest evidently saw that Saul's haste and the unexpressed hesi- tation of the people could be best dealt with by consulting the Urim. The Divine silence at once indicated that po_mething was wrong, and according to precedent it was necessary to ascertain where it lay. The ceremonial wrong was Jonathan's, the moral Saul's. The moral degeneracy of Saul was not only seen in his impulsive neglect of God's counsel, but also in the self-complacent zeal with which he sought out the breach of his own rash command, and in the unnatural harshness of his sentence. People are sometimes better than their rulers, and hence the popular sense of justice demanded that in this instance royal authority and national custom should give way before the manifest will of God. Jonathan must not die, even though a king's word be broken. The three prominent matters of the narrative are seeking counsel, keeping one's word, and safety in God. I. SEEKING COUNSEL. It is the part of wisdom in life's affairs to seek counsel ot God ; and although sometimes no counsel is given, its absence is very instructive, and the causes of it are ascertainable. In the case of Saul both duty and privilege demanded a frequent appeal to God. On the occasion before us the need was real, the method was at hand, and response was possible, and a lack of response was itself of value. Our common human relation to God is not unlike that of Israel's king. 1. Tltere is for every one frequent need of .Divine coun&el. Life; even under the direction of the clearest reason and purest natural impulses, is not safe; for sin has disturbed the nature of the best of men. It is not always that that which at first seems good and safe turns out in the end to be so. What to do in private, domestic, and public affairs, and what proportion of time and strength to give to various -claims are questions pressing on every conscientious mind. In matters pertaining to reliiious belief, culture, and enterprise, we each, if life be not stagnant, requiro more than earthly wisdom. The heart of man is sensible that it is not in him infallibly and safely to "direct his steps," and hence in all lands it in~tinctively I f.rn. s 258 TIIE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL. [cH. XIV. 36-bl!.