gilded chariot; what insatiable hatred or inappeasable remorse sits down to the sump- tuous meal? Who knows in what black clouds of calamity the sun of human c,reatness will set? Who can tell whether the end will not, like Saul's, be such an end that a.II the brightness and the excellency that went before will be utterly eclipsed and that all men will join to say, "What a miserable man was he!" ' II. THAT ONE MAN'S BIN mvoLVES MANY MEN'S BUFFERING. Because San! had sinned," the men of Israel fled,, .. and fell down slain" (ver. 1). Because their faulty king had fallen, "the men of Israel , , . forsook their cities . . . and the Philistines came and dwelt in them" (ver. 7). Sinful sovereigns have entailed heavy penalties on suffering nations. But it is not kings only that cause human hearts to bleed, and that fill human lives with trouble and distress. How many thousands of homes a.re the abodes of sorrow, of keen disappointment, of cruel suffering, of dark foreboding, because one soul has forsaken God and made shipwreck of a good conscience! Ill. THAT OUTWARD FORTUNE IS NO SAFE CRITERION OF HUMA~ CHARACTER. Jonathan perished on the same field with Saul; the brave and generous son with his jealous and murderous father! "Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment" (John vii. 24). IV. THAT MEN SOMETIMES TACITLY CONFESS THEIR OWN FOLLY. "They sent ... to carry tidings unto their idols" (ver. 9)-to inform their gods! Surely they were thus condemning their own idolatry, How often do we condemn ourselves 1-C. Vers. 11-14.-The moral of misfortune. The setting of the sun of the first King oflsrael in such dark clouds has its truth to tell ail well lLll its shadows to throw. We may lea.m- l. THAT OUR WORST MISFORTUNES BRING OUT THE DEST FEELINGS OF OUR FRIENDS. "When all Jabesh-gilead heard," etc. (vers. 11, 12). Saul, in his earlier and better days, had risen to the height of a noble opportunity and delivered this city from impending ruin by an act of great energy and courage (1 Sam. xi.). And when the last misfortune had befallen their deliverer, and the worst indignities were practised on his dead body, the men of Jabesh-gilead remembered what they owed him, gave free play to their gratitude, summoned up their courage, and rescued hi8 dishonoured remains from the hands of the insolent enemy. It was worthily done; their best traits were drawn out by the dire calamity of their friend. So it is always and everywhere. It is one of the mitigations of our misery that the kindest and most generous feelings are then displayed toward us by those who love us. Sickness, loss, disappointment, bereave- ment, the larger and deeper sorrows of human life, evoke all that is most tender, gracious, and Christ-like in the human soul. In truth, we do not know the depth of the affection with which our kindred and our friends are loving us until some saddening experience calls out all the latent sympathy that lies within their hearts, Better things as well as worse things than we ordinarily suppose reside within us; when the occasion comes they rise to the surface and show themselves to the eyos of men. The crushing blow which strikes us to the ground is one of these occasions. 'l'hen human love comes forth to render its truest and choicest ministry. II. THAT TRANSGRESSION WILL CERTAINLY BE OVERTAKEN BY PENALTY IN DUE TIME. "Saul died for his transgression" (ver.13). Retribution may have seemed tardy; it may have seemed to Saul as if he would "escape the judgment of God." Days, months, years, passed by and the blow fell not. The thought of his heart may have been," I am safe now; the wrath of God would have descended if it were coming; I am secure; my mountain stands stron~." But if he thus thought he was mistaken. Penalty was on its way, "leaden-footed but iron-handed,'' slow of step but sure of stroke, and the days of his life and of his power were numbered. His transgression was twofold. 1. Disobedience: he "kept not the word of the Lord" (ver. 13). 2. Departure from God: he "inquired not of the Lord," but he "asked counsel of one that had a familiar spirit" (vers. 13, 14). Instead of resorting to God through his prophet, " as he did aforetime," he had recourse to the forbidden and dangerous arts of necromancy, thus forsaking the Lord, and putting his trust in a miserable and delusive system of imposture. His punishment, like hi.a sin, was twofold. 1. His own death: the Lord "slew him." 2. The overthrow of all his hopes and plans: "ho turned the kingdom unto David" (ver, 14). Our transgression and our penalty often take 132 THE FinST DOOK OF THE CllilON lCLES. [cu. x.1-14,
these two forms. (1) First come disobedience and departure. We do not the thincre ~·hich God enjoins; neglecting that which, above all things, is his will concerning ~s (John vi. 39, 40). We depart from his side and his service, seeking our well-being in oth~r ~ources of joy (Jer. ii.13). (2) Then come death and overthrow. Our soul dies· its finer feelings disappear, its truer thoughts give place to false irnaginincrs, its bette: hopes die down, its wiser aspirations sink and are lost; the shadows of sph-itual death fall upon us. And with our own destruction comes the dispersion of our plans and expectations: the "kingdom is turned away;" the "wood, hay, and stubble" of a false life are consumed in the fires of God. Our life-work is overthrown and lost. The tower we took so long to build is in the dust.-C.