q11es(io!;, "Whose son is this stripling i" nnts;" This, an,l his being appointc,l one,( (.-h. xn1. 56) seems to imply that he had a San! s armour-bearers, happened only al'l,i,,1 s,wt of confused idea about him, without the lapse of some timo. The armour-bear.ii l,,•ing able exactlv to recall wl10 he was. like th~ csq nire in the middle ages, had c, The 'i1ltimate cons~qnenccs of this introduc- carry Ins lords lance, and sword, and shiel•\ tion to Saul, as well as its immediate effect, and was always a tried soldier ·and oue ;ire all narrated here after the usual manner whom the king trusted. It was ~ppe.rently of Old Testament history (see eh. vii. 13). after the combat with Goliath that Se.ul sent Yers. 19, 20.-Saul sent messengers to to Jesse, _and ~sked that D~vid_ might be frtch David, the description of him as a always with him ; and until his jealousy hra_vc soldier being even more to the king's burst forth David was very dee.r to him and hkmg (see eh. xiv. 52) than his skill in his music oxercised a soothing influence 'upon music. As a great man might not be ap- his m~lancl~oly. At first, probably, these 1woached without a present (eh. ix. 7; x. 4), fits of msamty came upon Saul only at dis- ~T esse Sends one consisting of produce from tant intervals, but afterwards more fre- his farm. It consisted ofan ass of bread-a quently, and with such loss of self-control that strange expression ; but there is little doubt he more than once tried to murder David and that a word has been omitted, and that we even Jonathan, his own son. We have, then, should read, Tiith the Syriac, "And Jesse here a summary of the relations of Saul to took an as~, and lacled it with bread, and a Davitl until the unfortunate day when the skin of wine, and a kid." It was not an ass king he~rd the "'.omen ascribe to the youth- laden with bread, as in the A. V., but all ful soldier the higher honour (eh. xviii. 7); three things were placed upon the animal. and thenceforward these friendly feelings Vers. 21 - 23. - David came to Saul, gave way to a growing dislike which deprived and stood before him. The latter phrase Saul of a faithful servant, and finally cost means, " became one of his regular attend- him his crown and life on Mount Gilboa.
HOMILETICS. Yers. 1-5.-The pro,qressitJn of Providence. The facts are-1. Samuel is aroused from his sorrow for San! by a command from God to anoint a son of Jesse. 2. Being in fear, he is directed to go and offer sacrifice and await further instrnc- iions. 3 . .Arriving at Bethlehem, he quiets the trembling elders and makes prepar- ation for the sacrifice. It was natural for Samuel in his retirement to cherish sorrow for Saul; and bis brooding over disappointment would become more habitual as no active measures were as yet taken to provide a successor. The section before us introduces a new phase in the development of God's purposeR. The part which -Samuel was called on to play, and the spirit in which he set about it, bring out some truths of general import. l. PROVIDENCE PROCEEDS IN ITS ORDERLY COURSE IRRESPECTIVE OD' PERSONAL 'DISAPPOINTMENTS AND FAILURES. Saul was a failure; Samuel was disappointed; and to human appearance a pause of very uncertain duration must be made in the pro- gress of events. The attitude of Samuel was one of sorrowful waiting. He could -only nurse bis grief_ To man it was as though a break had occurred in the con- tinuous unfolding of the Divine purposes in relation to the Messianic kingdom. But this was only in appearance. God will not have his great purpose in Christ arrested in realisation by the failure of one or the brooding grief of another. During the separation of Samuel from San] the unseen hand had been guarding and guiding a youth at Bethlehem, and now that his age and the circumstances of the family were ripening for action, the sorrowing prophet must rouse himself to share actively in the coming order of events. In every age God lias ltis purposes to fulfil, and they continue to unfold notwithstanding the unfaithfulness of some and the complaining voice of others. The changes experienced by men are only incidents of a moment ; the providence of God is one and continuous. In the process of establishing the Messianic kingdom, one by one men and kingdoms rose and disappeared,-the people raged and submitted, wept and rejoiced, were now trne and now false,-bnt all the while the one Will was working on to the setting of the true King in ~ion. In the llistory of the Christian Church, men of the type of Saul have been discarded and others of Samuel's spirit have wept in solitude; but neither tlie failure nor the pro- tracted sorrow have been allowed to arrest the ailent, sure progression towards the en. xvi. 1-23.] THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL. 299