WILFULIESS OF ISRAEL IN REJECTING SAMUEL.
T was a lesson continually set before the Israelites, that they were never to presume to act of themselves, but to wait till God wrought for them, fo look on reverently, and then follow IIis guidance. God was their All-wise King: it was their duty to bave no wili of their own, distinct from His will, to form no plan of their own, to attempt no work of their own. "Be still, and know tht I ara God." Move hot, speak hot— look to the pillar of the cloud, see how it mo'es—the follow. Such was the command. For instance—when the E,yptians pursued the Israelites to the coast of the Red Sea, Moses said to the people, "Fear ye not, st(od still, and see the salvation of the Lord; the Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace." Wheu they came to the borders of Canaan, and were frightened af the strenh of its inhabitants, they were exho'ted, "I)read not, neither be afraid of them. The Lord your God shall fight for
IFi«l«css of 2r«md i tc.jccii Sa»cl. 7 you." To the smne effeet was the dying injunetion of Joshua, « Be very eourageous to keep and to do all tha is writ.ten in the book of the law of Moses, tlmt ye turn hOt aside therefroln to the rigtit hand or to the left." And iii a later a.ge, when the Moabites and Amlnonites ruade war against Jdoslm.1)hat, tire prophet Jalmziel was inspired to encourage the peol,le in these words: "Be hot afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great lnultitudc; tbr the l,attle is hOt yours, l,ut tod's.. Ye shall hot need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, statut y« still, and see the salvation of the Lord with you, 0 Judah and Jerusalem." Once moreWhen lsnml and Syria emne against Judah, fle prolhet Isaid was direeted to meet Ahaz, and to say to him, "Take heed, and bc ç,i«t; fear hot, neither be fainthem'ted." 1 l'resumltionthat is, the determhation to aet of thelnselves, or seltZwillwas 1,1aeed in the humber of the lnOSt heilious shIs. "The ll!tll that wfll do presumptuou@, and w hot hem'ken unto the 1,riest that standeth to minister there belote the Lord thy God, or unto the judge, even that man shall die, and thou shalt put away the evil from Israel." Whfle, however, this entire surrender of themselves to their Ahnighty Creator was an espeeial duty enjoined on the chosen people, a deliberate and obstinate transgression of that duty is one of the espeeial chm'aeteristies of their histol T. They Niled lifOSt conspieuously in that very point which obedienee was mot strietly enjoined flem. They were told never fo act of them- Ex. xiv. 13, 1t; DeuX. i. 9, 30; Josh. xxi. 6; 2 Chmn. xx. 15, 11; Isa. v. 4. eu. xv. 1.
selves, and (as if ont of mere perverseness)they were for ever acting of themselves; and, if we look through the series of their punishments, we shall find (hem inflicted, no( for mere indolent disobedience, or for frailty undcr temptation, but for deliberate, shameless presuml)tion, running forward just in that very direction in which the providcnce of God did hot lead (hem, and from which it even prohibited thenl. First, they ruade a mol(en image to worship, and this just af(er receiving the command to nlake to themselves o cml)lcms of the Divine Majesty, and while:Moses was still in the:Mount. Then they would take to themselves a cap(aih, and return to Egypt, instead of proceeding into the land of promise. When forbidden to go forward, then they at once attempted to do so. At last, wheu they had entered it, instead Of following God's gui(lance,,and destroying the guilty inhabitants, they adopted a plan of their own, and Imt their conquered enemies under tribu(e.:Next followed their self-willed purpose of having a king like the nations around (hem. It is observable, moreover, that they were the most perveely disobedicnt at those rimes when Divine mercy had aided them in some remarkable way. For instance, in the lifetime of:Moses. Again, when Sanmel was raised up to bring back the age of Moses, and to coml»lete what he had begun, then they tan cou,ter to God's design most signally; at the very rime, I say, when God was visiting (hem in their low es(are, and renewing His mercies, their very first act, on gaining a litfle strength, and recovering from their despair, was to reject God's government over them, and ask a king like other nations. This is the part of their history to which I wish now particularly to draw your attention, the rimes of Samuel; the main circumstances to he considered being these— the renewal of God's mercies to them after their backslidings; His single demand in rehml, that they should submit themselves to His guidance; and, lastly, their plain refusal to do so, or rather their impetuous and deliberate mOVelnent in another direction. When Moses was nigh his death, he foretold that a prophet was one day to arise like unto hiln in his place, a promise whieh was propefly ïulfilled in Christ's eoming, but whieh had a prior aeeolnplishment in the line of prophets froln Salnllel down to the eaptivity. A period, however, of four hundred years ntervened between [oses' age and this first fiflfihnent of the prediction. The people were at first nùed by judges. At length, in the midst of the distress whieh their sins had brought upon theln, when the Philistines had overmn the country, God visited them aeeording to the promise. He raised up Samuel as His first prophet, and him hot as a solitary messenger of His purposes, but as the first of many lnmdreds iii succession. Now, let us eonsider the eireumstanees under whieh Samuel, the first of the prophets, vas raised up. We shall find that his elevation was owing simply to God's will and power. He, like Moses, was hot a wardor, yet by his prayers he saved his people from their enemies, and estab]ished them in a settled government. "Be still, and -lmow that I ara God." The prineiple of
o IUilfulzcss of Israel his command had been illustmed in the giving of he Lw, nnd nov i was enforced in he beginning of the PropheieaI Dispenstion, s lso in la,er ages, afer the eaptivity, and when Christ came, according o he words of Zcchariah, "ot 1,y nfight, nor by power, but by Iy Spirit, saith thc Lord of lIots. ''1 Observe, Samuel was born, in answer to his mother's tan,est prayer fl,r a son. l[annah, "in bitterness of sorti, had prayed unto tire Ltwd, and wcpt sore, and vowed a vow," viz.that if God would give her a son, he should be dcdicated to] Iim. This shotfld be noticed, for Smuel was thus markcd from his birth as altogether an instrument of the Lord's proding. A simflar providence is observable in the case of other favoured objccts and ministers of (lod's nmrc5 in order to show tlmt that lnercy is entirely of grace. Isaac w the child of Divine power, so was John the Baptist; and Ioses, again, was almost miracflously saved from the murderous Eptians h his infancy. According to his mother's vow, Samuel was taken into the service of the temple from his earliest years; and, while yet a child, was ruade the organ of God's sentence of cvfl upon Eli the high priest. God caed him, in the sacred rime, bctween night and morning, "Stmuel, Stunuel," and pronounced through him a judgment against Eli, for his sinfal indtflgence towards his sos. IIcre, again, was a lessun to the Israelites, how entirely the prophetic spirit, with which the nation was henceforth to be favotu'ed, was from God. IIad Samuel grown to manhood before he was insired, it wotfld hot a Zech. iv. 6.
bave cleafly appeared how far the work was immediately Divine; but v]len ail untaught child was ruade to prophesy against Eli, the aged high priest, the 1)eople were reminded, as in the case of Moses, who was slow of speech, that it was the Lord who "ruade man's mouth, the dumb, or deaf, the seeing, or the blind;,,1 and that age and youth were the saine with Him when His pul]mses required an instrument. Sanmel thus grew up to ma.nhood, with the presages of greatlmss on him froln fim first. Itis written, "Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground. And all Israel, from Dan even to Beersheb," (i.e., from oue end of the land to the other), "knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of the Lord. And the Lord appeared again in Shiloh; for the Lord revealed Himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the Lord."e After this, when he was about thirty years old, the battle took place with the Philistines, in which thirty thousand Israelites fell. The ark of God was taken, and Eli, on hearing the news, fell from off his seat back- vard, and was killed. Thus Samuel vas raised to the supreme power, in his country's greatest affliction. Stilh even in his elevation, he was hot allowed to do any eat action himself. The ark of God was taken, yet he was hOt to rescue it. God so ordered it that His naine "should be exalted among the heathen, and should be exalted in the earth." The Philistines took the ark to Ashdod, and lfiaced :Exod. iv. 11. 1 Sain. iii. 19-21.
it in the temple of their idol, Dagon. Next morning, Dagon was found fallcn on its ïace to the eaoEh before it. They set it up again, and the next morning it was found broken into pieces;1 and soon after the men of Ashdod and its neighbourhood were smitten with a I)ivine judgment. In consequence, they resolved to rid thcmselves of wht they rightly considered the cause of it, and transportcd the ark fo Gath. The men of Gath were smitten with God's a.nger in their turn, and in their turn sent away thc ark to Ekron. The Ekronites, in their terror, hardly suffered it to approach them. But the mysterious plante still attended it; and the Ekronites, as they had justly feared, were smitten with a "deadly destruction throughout all the city." The lhi]istines now determined to send their spoil, as they had at first ïancied it, back to Israel; but in order to t T fitrther, as it seems, the power of the God of Israel, they did as follows: They took two mflch-kine, which had never been under the yoke, and shutting up their calves at home, harnessed them to the ca¢ on which they had placed the ark. Should the kine, in spire of theix natural affection hr their young, go towards the Israelitish border, then, they argued, they might be sure that it was the God of Israel who had smitten them, in pmishment for their cal)turc of His holy habitation. It is written, "The kine took the straight way" towards the territo D" of Israel, " lowiig as they went, and turncd hot asidc fo the 'ight hand or to tire lcft." All this vas a lesson to the l'hilistines; but the Israelites had yet theirs to learn. They had taken the 1 Sain. v. 3, 4. 1 Sure. ri. 12.
ark to the battle, not lu revereuce, but as if it were a sort of charm, with virtue in itself, ad without any command from God, prcsumptuously. They were first punished by losing it. When thcy saw thc ark returning to tlmm, they rejoied; and the Levites took it down and offercd sacrifice. So far was well, but presently, "The men of P, ethshemesh.... looked into it;" this evidcnced a want of reverence towards God's sacred dwclling-place. And Goal "smote of the peolde fifty thousand threscore and ten men; and the pcot)le lamntcd," and said, "Who is,blc to stand beI:ore this IIoly Lord God?" Thus, whcn Ahnighty God, four hundrcd years aftcr the agc of Moses, again visited IIis leot)lc, IIe showed Himsclf in various ways tobe the sole Author of the blessings they rcceived. The child Samucl, the ark of wood, thc brute cattlc—these wcre the instruments through which Ho manifestcd that He was a living God;,nd having thus bared His mighty an, and bid all men "be still, and know that He was God," then at ]ength He sent His first 1)rophct ibvaM to teach and rec]aim the pcople. "Samuel sl»ake unto all the house of Isr,el, saying, If ye do return unto the Lord with all your hcarts, then put,way the stange gods and Ashtaroth from among you, and prel)are your hearts unto the Lord, and serve Him only: and He will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines. Then the children of Israel did 1)ut away Baalim and Ashtaroth, and served the Lord only." The period during which this reibrmation was carried on seelnS to have been the greater 1)art of twenty yem's, which was more or less a
4 tlid«css of sracl rime of captivity. Toward. the end of i, he gathered lhe lsraelites togehev a Iizpeh, fo hold a fas fir their pas sine; and flaen "he judged he children of lrael in [izpeh." This seems fo imply a more open assumpIion )f power than any he had been hiI, herto direcIed fo make. In cousequence, the l'hilistines were a.larln(.,l, thiukitg perhals the subjuga.ted peol,le were ou the point of recoverilg their independence; an,l, assenlling lheir fi,rces, they marehed against them. '" And the childrcn of Isl'ael said to Samuel, Cease not fo cry uni,, thc Lord for us, that I[e will save us out of the hand ç,f the l'hilistines. 2lid Samuel took a sucking lamb, aud offered if for a burnt-offering whoHy lllltO the Lord: and Salnuel cried unto the Lord for Israel, and the Lord heard hilu." The Philistines drew near fo battle, while the sacrifice was offering; "but the Lord thnn,lered with a great thunder on that day upon the Philistines, and discomfited them, and they were smitten hefore Israel...... Then Samuel took a stone and set if between Mizpeh and Shen, and called file naine of if Ebenezer, saying, HitheloEO hath the Lord hclped us." This wh,_,le t.ransaction is a fresh illustration (f the text. If is added, "So the Philistines were subdued, and came no more ino the coast of Israel, and the hand of the Lord was @ainst the Philistines al1 the days of Samuel. And the cities which they had taken froln Israel were restored." "And Samuel judged Israel ail the days of his life," making circuits year by year t.hrough the land. And now we have arrived af the point in t.he histoLv, which evidences, more than any other, the perverse ingratitude of the Isra.elites. Just wheu God had rescued them frein their enemies, given them peace, and by a fresh act of bounty established the prophets in the land as mi.nisters,»f I[is word and will, when the heavenly system was just coming lute operation, this was the very rime they chose te rebel and run counter te t[is l»urposes. They asked for themselves a king like the lmtions. The immediate occasion of this request was the. faulty conduct of 8amucl's sons, who assi.sted their father in his o]d age, "but walked net his ways, but turued aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted judgment. ''1 This, however, though doubtless a grievance, surely was no excuse for them. XXqile the Lord nas their king, no lasting harm cotùd happen te theln; yet even "the elders of Israel came te 8alnuel, and said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk net in thy ways: new make us a king judge us like all the nations." They added a reasol which still more clearly evidenced their obstinate unbelief—" te judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles." By what strange infa.tuation was if that they sought for a king te "figlt tlci" bc«ltlcs," when, through the whole course of Sanmd's government, it was se evident that God's power alerte had subdued their enenvies? There was one additional ag'gravation of their sin; they had really been promised a king, at seine future rime undetermined, by lX[oses himself;'-' and hence, indeed, they probably defended their asking for one. But, in truth, that very cia'cumstance gave te their self-will its distinctive nmrk ah'eady insisted on, t 1 Sain. viii. 3.: Deut. xvii. 14-20.
viz., the desire of doing things in their own way instead of waiting God's rime. The fact that God had promised what they clamoured for, and merely claimed to choose the time, surely ought to bave satisfied then But they were head.troug; and He answered them according to their wilfuhmss. He "gave them a king in His anger." David, iudeed, succeeded, but the corruption and degradation of the people quickly ibllowed his death. The kingdom was divided int( two; idolatry was introduced; and at len¢h captivity came upon them, the loss of their cotmtry, and the dispersion, or rather annihilation if the gTeater part of the tribes. In conclusion, I will make one remaa'k by way of at,plying their history to ourselves at this day. Certainly we have not, at the present time, learned the duty of waiting and being still. Great perils, just now, encompass oto" branch of the Chm'ch; here the question cornes upon us, as a body and as individuals, what ought we to do? Doubtless to meet them with all the wisdom and prudence in ottr power, to use all allowable means to avert them; but, after all, is not ottr main duty this: to o on quietly and steadfastly in oto" old ways, as if nothing was the matter? "When Daniel knew that the writing was signed," which.condemned him to the lions' den, if he did what was his plain duty, he did hot look about to see whether he might not lwfully suspend it for a time, or whether there were hot other ways of serving God hot interdicted by the civil power, but "he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gve thanks before his Goal, as he is Rf/ectin, Sa»uel. . 7 did aforetime." 1 It is a very paiuful subject, but itis hot right to shug out eyes o lm fact., glm friends of the Church are fr more disposed go look oug for seculr aud unaughorized ways of defending lmr, tlmn o proceed quiefly in heir ordinary dugies, and grus o God o save her. Wha is tire use of flmse feverish exerions, on aH sides of us, to soohe out enemies, concate the suspicious or wavering and attach to us men of naine aud power? Rather let our resolve be, if we re to perish, if slmll be at our post «f duty. We wiH be iund in thc circle of out sacred services, in prayer and praise, in fsting and ahns-doing, "in qdetness and confidence." the great deliverances of the Church have beeu thus gained. Isracl stood st and saw the Egyptians ovcrwhelmcd fi the sea. Hezckiah went up unto the house of the Lord, and prayed to lIim who dwelt between the Cherubim, and Sennacherib's army was destroyed. "l'rayer was ruade without ceasing of the Church unto God for" St. PeUr, and the Apostle w delivered out of prison by an Angel. The course of Providence is hOt materially different now. God's arm is hot sllortelmd, lmy, nor so restrailmd that He cnnot save without miracles us weH as with them. He can save sflently and suddenly, whfle things seem to g'o on as usual. The hearts of H re in His hand, the issues of life and death, the rise and fart of mighty men, nd the distribution of gifts. y, then, shotfld we fear, or cast about for means of defence, who h;tve the Lord for our God? He may hdeed, if it so llappen, make us His instrmnents, He may put arms Dan. . 10.
into our ]ronds; but even if ][e gives us no tokens what He is mcdittting, what tllen? At length our deliverance ill corne, when we expect it not; whereas we shall lose our own hope, and disorder the Church greatly, if we presume fo form lJlans of our own by way of protecting if. Jeroboam thought he acted "wisely" when he set up the c,lves of g,ld at Dan and Bethel. Our wisdom is like his, if we vcnture fo relax one jot or tittle tf Christ's perfect law, one article of the Creed, one holy ordinancc, one ancient usage, with the hol0e of placing oursclves in a more advantageous or less irksomc position. "Our strength is to sit still;" and till we lcarn this fitr more than we seem at present to understand it, surely the hol)es of the true Irael among us muet be low, and with prayers for the Church's safety they will havc fo mingle confessions a.nd intercessions in behalï of those who believe themselves its prudent friends and effective dcfenders, and are hot.