SERMON III.
HE Israeiites seem to have asked for a king ri'oto an unthankful eapriee and waywardness. The iii eonduet, indeed, of Samuel's sons was the occasion of the sin, but « an evil heart of unbelief," to use Seripture language, was the real cause of it. They had ever been restless and dissatisfied, asking for flesh when they had manna, fretful for water, impatient of the wilderness, bent on returning to Egypt, fearing their enemies, murmuring against h[oses. They had miracles even to satiety; and then, for a elmnge, they wished a Nng like the nations. This was the ehief reason of their sinful demand. And fm'ther, they were dazzled with the pom t) and splendom of the heathen monarehs a.round t.heln, and they desired some one to f]ght their battles, some visible sueeour fo del)end on, instead of having to wait for an invisible Providence, whieh came in its own way and rime, by iittle and iittle, being dispensed silently, or tardily, or (as they mighi eonsider) unsuitably. Their earnal hearts did hot love the lmighbour- hood of heven; and, like fle in|mbians of ferwards, t.hey prayed flm hnighy Goal would par from heir coss. 8uch were some of fle feelings mder which hey desid a ldng like the nations; and God t len.h granted their reqnest.. To punish thcm, He gave them,n ldng aller tlci" own hcart, Saul, the son of Kish, a Bcnja.mite; of whom the text speaks in these terres, "I gave them a king in Nine anger, and t.ook him aw,ny in 5Iy wraI.h." There is, in true religion, a sameness, an absence of hue and hrillimmy, in the eyes of the natural man; a plainness, aust.ereness, and (what he eonsiders) sadness. It is like t.he heavenly mmma of whieh the Israelit.es eomplained, insipid, and at length wearisome, "like wafers ruade with honey." They eomplained that "t.heir soul was dried away:" "There is nothing at all," they said, "beside this manna, hefore out eyes.... We remember t.he fish, whieh we did eat iii Egypt freely; the eueumbers, and the melons, and t.he leeks, and the onions, and the garliek. '' Sueh were t.he dMnty meats in wlfieh their soul delighted; and for the same reason they desired a king. Samuel had too mueh of primitive simplieity al)out him to please them, they felt they were behind the world, and elamoured to be put on a level with the heathen. Saul, the king whom God gave t.hem, had mueh fo reeomnmnd him to minds t.hus geedy of t.he dust of the earth. IIe was brave, daring, resolute; gifted, too, Exod. xvi.; Numb. xi. 5.
vith strength of body as well as of mind—a circumstance which seems to bave attracted their admiration. He is described in person as if one of those sons of Anak, before whose giant-forms the spies of the Israelites in the wilderness were as 'asshoppers—"a choice young man, and a goodly; there was not among the children of Israel a goodlier person than he: from his shoulders and upward he was higher than any of the 1)eople. ''1:Both his vioEues and his faults were such as becmne an eastern monarch, and were adapted to secure the fear and submission of his subjects. Pride, haughtiness, obstinacy, reserve, jealousy, Cal,rice—these, in their way, were not unbecombg qualities in the king after hom their imaginations roved. On the other hand, the better parts of his character were of an excellence sufficient to engage the affection of Samuel himself. _As to Sanmel, his couduct is far above human praise. Though injm-iously treated by his countwmen, who cast him off after he had served them faithfully till he was "old and gray-headed, ''e and who resolved on setting over themselves a king against his earnest entreaties, still we find no trace of coldness or jealousy in his behaviour towards Saul. On his first meeting -ith him, he addressed him in the words of loyalty "On whom is all the desire of Israel? is it not on thee, and on ail thy father's house?" Afterwards, when he anointed him king, he "kissed him, and said, Is it hot because the Lord hath anointed thee to be captain over His inheritance?" When he annomced him to tire people as their king, he said, "See ye him vhom the 1 Sm. ix. 2—de 1 Sm. x. 23. - l S,m. xii. 2.
Lord hath chosen, that there is none like him among all the people?" And, some time affer, when,qaul had irrecoverably lost God's favour, we are told, "Samuel camc no more fo see Saul nntil the da)- of his death: nevcrlltelcss,S'am'cl noercd fo" 'a.tl." In the next chapter he is even rcbuked tbr immodcrate grief "]lov long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing ] have rejected ldm from reighing ovcr Israel?" Such sorrow spcaks favouraldy tbr Saul as well as for Samuel; if is hot on]y tire grief of a loyal subject and a zealous ],rol,hct, lmt, mc, reover, of an attached friend; and, indced, instmces are rccorded, in the first years of his rcign, of forl)carance, generosity, and neglect of self, which sufliciently account for the feelings with which Samuel regarded him. ])avid, under very different circumstances, seems to have felt for him a similar affection. The higher points of lfis character a.re brought out in instances such as the folloving:—The first announcement of his elevation came Ul)On him,uddenly, but alpa.rently without unsettling him. He kept it secret, leaving it fo Sanmel, who had ruade if to him, to publish it. "Saul said unto his uncle, He" (that is, Sa.muel) "told us 1)lainly that the asses 'ere found. ut of the marrer of the kingdom, whereof Samuel spake,/te toht lti.» ot." Nay, it would even seem he was averse fo the dignity intended for him; for when the:Divine lot fell upon him, he hid himself, and was hot discovered by the peot,le, without recourue to Divine assistance. The al)pointment w,s at first unpopular. "The chfldren 1 Sm. ix. 20; x. 1, 2l; xv. 35; xvi. 1.
Saul. 33 of eli said, How shall flis man save us? They despised him, and broughg him no resens, but he held his.pcace." 8oon le Ammonies invaded le country beyoud Jordan, wifl the avowed inention of sulugaiug it. The l?eople seng o Saul for relief a.lmos in despair; and the partie spread iii the interior as well as among those whose countl T was immediately threatened. The history proceeds:" chold,,çcttl came aller l]c hcrd out o2" thc ficld; and Saul said, they weep? and they told him the tidings of the men of gabesh. lld the Spirit of God Calae upon Saul, and his anger was kindled greafly." tIis order for an innnediate gathering throughout Israel was obeyed with the alacrity with which the multitude serve t.he srong-minded in rimes of danger. A decisive victory over the enemy followed; then the popular cry became, "Who is he that said, Shall Safl reign over us? bring the men, that we may put, them to death. And Saul said, There slall hot a na be put to dcath this day, for to-day the Lord bath wrought salvation in Israel" Thus personalJy qualified, Safl was, moreover, a prosperous king. He had been alpointed o subdue the enemies of Israel, and success attended his arms. At the end of the fourteenth chai)ter, we read, " So Saul took the kigdom over Israel, and fought against aH his enemies on every side, against h[oab, and against the children of Amlnon, and against ]doln, and against the kings of Zobah, and against the l'hilistines; and whithersoever he turned himself, he vexed them. And 1 Sure. xi. 12» 13. [III]
he gathered an host, and smote the Am,nlekites, and dclivered Irael out of the hands of thcm that spofled t]lenl." Such w,ns Saul's character and success; lais cha.racter t]tulty, yet hot without pronfise; his success in arnas as grcat as his carnal subjects could have desired. Yet, in sldte of Samuel's private liking for him, and in spire of the good fortune which actually attended hiln, ve find that froln the begilming the prophet's voice is raised both against people and king in warnings and rebukes, which are ornons of his destined destruction, according to the text, "I gave them a king in Mine anger, and took him away in My rath." At the very rime that,aul is pul,lic]y reeeived as ldng, Samuel wotests, "Ye have this day rejected your God, who I[imself saved you out of ail your adversities and your tribulations. '' In a subsequent assembly of the people, in which he testified his uprightness, he says, "Is if hot wheat-harvest to-day? I will e,nll unto the Lord, and t[e shall send thunder and rain; that ye nay_perccive and see lhal yoo" wic]««dness is grcat, in asking you a king." Again, "If ye shall still do wickedly, ye shall be consmned, both ye and your king. ''e And after this, on the flrst i»tance of disobedience, and at first sight no very heinous sin, the sentence of rejection is passed upon him: "Thy kingdom shall hot continue; the Lord hath sought Him a man after His own heart. '' Here, then, a question nmy be raisedVhy was Saul thus marked for vengeance from the beginning? Why these 1)resages of nfisfortune, which from the first hung a 1 Sain. x. 19. Ibid. xii. 17, 25. $ Ibid. xiii. 14.
over him, gathered, fell in storm and tempest, and at length overwhehned him? Is his churacter so essentially faulty that it nmst be thus distinguished for reprobation above all the anointed kings after him Why, while ])avid is called a man after God's own heart, should Saul be put aside as worthless? This question leads us to a deeper inspection of his character. Now, we know, the first duty of every man is the fear of God—a reverence for His word, a love of Him, and a desire fo obey t[im; and, besides, it was 13eculiurly incumbent ou the king of Isracl, as God's vicegerent, by virtue of his office, to promote His glory whom his subjects had rejected.:Now Saul "lacked this one thing." IIis character, indeed, is obscure, and we must be cautions while considering it; still, as Scriiture is given us for instruction, it is surely right fo nmke the most of what we find there, and fo form our judgment by such lights as we possess. It wofld appear, then, that Smfl was never under the abiding influence of religion, or, in Scripture language, "the fear of God," however he naight be af rimes moved and softened. Some men are inconsistent in their conduct, as Samson; or as Eli, in a different way; and yet may bave lived by faith, though a weak faith. Others bave sudden falls, as ïDavid had. Others are corrupted by prosperity, as Solomon.:But as fo Sad, there is no proof that he had any deep-seated religious principle at all; rather, it is to be feared, that his history is a lêsson fo us, that the "hea of unbelief" nmy exist in the very sight of God, may rule u man in spire of many nutural advanfages of character, in the midst of Inuch that is virtuous, amiable, and coinmendable. Saul, if woMd seem, was naturally brave, active, generous, and patient; and what nature Inade him, such he remained, that is, without improvement; with virtues which had no xalue, because they required no effort, and implied the influence of no princit,le. On the other hand, when we look for evidence of his faith, that is, his l,ractical sense of things unseen, we discover instead à deadness to all considerations not connected with the present world. It is his habit fo treat prophet and 1)'iest with a coldness, to say the lêast, which seeins to argue some great internal defect. It woMd hOt be inconsistent with the Scripture account of him, even should the real fact be, that (with soine general notions concerning the being and providence of God) he doubted of the divinity of the Dispensation of which he was an instnment. The circumstance which first introduces lrim to the inspired history is not in his favour. Whfle h search of his father's asses, which were lost, he caine to the city where Sainuel was; and though Sainuel was now an old man, and froin chfldhood known as the especial Ininister and t)rot)het of the Goal of Israel, Saul seeins to have considêred hiin as a Inere diviner, such as Inight be found among the heathen, who, for "the fourth part of a shekel of silver," would tell hiin his way. The narrative goes on to mention, that after his leaving Sainuel "God gave hiin another lleart," and on Ineeting a company of prophets, "the Spirit of God caine upon him, and he lrophesied ainong thein." Upon this, "'all that knew hiin beforetiIne" said,
"Xrhat is this that is corne unto the son of Kish: is Saul also among the prophets?..... therefore it became a proverb." From this narrative we gather, that his carelessness and coldness in religious matters were so notorious, that, in the eyes of his acquaintance, there was a certain strangeness and incongruity, which af once struck the mind, in his being associated with a school of the prophets.:Nor have we any reasor to believe, from the after history, that the divine gift., then first imparted, left any religious effect upon his mind. At a htter period of his life we find him suddenly brought under the saine sacred influence or his entering the school where Sanmel taught; but, instead of softening him, its effect upon his outward conduct did but testify the fruitlessness of divine grace when acting upon a will obstinately set upon evil. The immediate occasion of his rejection was his failing under a specific tr[al of his obedience, as set before him at the very time he was anointed. He had collected with difficulty an army against the Philistines: while waiting for Samuel fo offer the sacrifice, his people became dist)irited, and began fo fall off and return home. Here he was doubfless exposed fo the temptation of taking unlawful measures fo put a stop to their defection. But when we consider that the act fo which he was persuaded was no less than that of his offering sacrifice —he being neither priest nor prophet, nor having any commission thus fo interfere with the Mosaic ritual—it is plain "his forcing himseIf" to do so (as he tendefly described his sin) was a direct profaneness—a profaneness which implied that he was careless about forms, which in this world will ever be esseutial to things supernatural, and thought if mattered little whether he acted in God's way or in his own. After this, he seems to have separated himself from Samucl, vhom he found unwilliug to become his instrument, and to have had recourse to the priesthood instead. Ahijah or Ahimelech (as he is afterwards called), the high priest, followed his camp; and the ark too, in spire of the warning conveyed by the disasters which attended the 1)resuml)tuous use of it in the time of Eli. "And Saul said unto Ahijah, lring hither the ark of God;" while if was brought, a tu,mflt which was heard in the camp of the l'hilistines, increased. On this interrul)tio Saul irreverently put the ark aside, and went out to the batt.le. It will be observed, that there was no professed or intentional irreverence in Safl's conduct; he was still on the whole the saine he had ever been. He outwardly respected the Mosaic ritual about this time he built his ri,st altar to the Lord, and in a certain sense seemed to acknowledge God's authority. But nothing shows he considered that there was auy vast distinction between lsrael and the nations around them. IIe was indiffc«ent, and cared for none of these flfings. The chosen people desired a king like the nations, ad such a one they received. After this he was commanded to "go and snfite the simers, the Amalekites, and utterly destroy them.and their cattle." This was a judgraent on them which 1 Sain. xiv. 35.
God had long decreed, flough He had delayed it; and He now ruade Saul t.he lninister of IIis vengeance. But Satfl perfonned it so far only as fell in wit, h his own inclination and pro'poses. He smote, indeed, the Amalckites, and " destroycd all the 1)eople with the edge of the sword"—this exploit had its glory; t.he best of the floeks and herds he spared, aud vhy? to sacrifice t.herewith to the Lord. But since (lod had expressly told him to destroy them, what was this but to iml)ly, that divine iutilnations had nothing to do with such matters? wbat was it but fo consider that the established religion was but a useflfl institution, or a splendid pageant suit.able fo the dignit.y of monarchy, but resting on no unseen supernatural sanction? Certainly he in no sense acted in the fear of God, with the wish to please Him, and the conviction that he was in tIis sight. One might consider it mere pride and wflfulness in him, acting in his own way because it was his own (which doubtless it was in great measure), excel)t that he appears to bave had an eye to the feelings and opinions of men as to his conduct, though not fo God's judgment. He "feared the people and obeyed their voice." Aguin, he spared Ao'a« , the kiug of the Amulekites. Doubtless he considered Agag as "his brother," as Ahab afterwards called Ben-hadad. Agag was a king, and Saul observed towards him that courtesy and clemency which earthly lnonarchs observe one towards another, and rightly, when no divhe communal cornes in the way. But the God of Israel required a king after His own heurt, jealous of idolatry the peot)le had desired a king like the nations around them.
4o a««/. If is renark,nble, moreover, tlmt while he spared Agag, he atempted to exterminate the Gibeonites with the sword, who vere tolerated in Israel by virtue of an oath taken in their favour by Joshua and "the princes of the congregaton." TMs he did "in his zeal to the children of Israel and Judah." From the rime of his disobedience in the marrer of Amalek, Sa.nmel came no more to see Saul, whose season of probation was over. The evil slirit exerted a more visible influence upon him; and God sent Sanmel to anoint David 1)rivately, as the future king of lsr.nel. I need not trace further the course of moral degradton which is exemlflified in Saul's subsequent history, h[ere natural virtue wears, away, 'hen men neglect fo deepen it into religious principle. Saal appears in his youth tobe nnassuming and forbearing; in advanced life he is hot Çnly proud and gloomy (as he ever was in a degree), but cruel, resentful, and hardhearted, which he was hot in his youth. His injurious treatment of Da.vid is u long history; but his conduct to Ahimelech, the high loriest, admits of being mentioned here. Ahimelech assisted David in his escape. Suul resolved on the death of Ahimelech and al] his father's house, e On his guards refusing to execute his comnmnd, Doeg, a nmn of Edom, one of the nations which Saul was raised up to withstand, undertook the atroclous dee]. On tbat day, eighty-five priests were slaia. Afterwards hob, the city of the priests, 'as smitten 'ith the edge of the sword, and all destroyed, "men and women, children and sucklings, and oxen, and Josh. ix. 2; 2 Sm. xxi. 1- 1 Sm. xxii. 16.
asses, and sheep." That is, Saul executed more complete vengeance on the descendants of Levi, the sacred tribe, than on the sinners, the Amalekites, who laid wait for Israel in the way, on their going up from Egypt. Last of all, he finishes his bad history by an open act of apostasy from the God of Israel. His last act is like his first, but more significant. He began, as we saw, by consu]ting Samuel as a diviner; this showed the direction of his mind. It steadily persevered in ifs evil way—and he ends by consulting a proïessed sorceress at Endor. The Philistines had assembled their hosts; Sanl's heart trenlbled greatly—he had no advisers or comforters; Samuel was dead the priests he had himself slain with the svord, tte hoped, by rnagic rites, which he had formerly denounced, fo foresee the issue of the approaching battle. God meets him even in the cave of Satanic delusions—but as an Antagonist. The reprobate king receives, by the mouth of dead Samuel, who had once anointed him, the news that he is fo be "taken away in God's wrath" that the Lord would deliver Israel, with him, into the hands of the Philistines, and that on the morow he and his sons shonld be numbered with the dead2 The next day " the battle went sore against him, the archers hit him; and he was sore wounded of the archers. '' "Anguish came upon him, '' and he feared to fall into the hands of the uncircumcised. He desired his armour-bearer fo draw his sword and thrust him through therewith. On his refusing, he fell upon his own sword, and so came to his end. 1 1 Sain. xxviii. 19. 1 Sain. xxxL 3. 2 Sam. i. 9.
4 SauL Unbelief and wilfnlness are the wreched characeristics of Saul's hisoryan ear deaf o the plainest commands, heart hardened against the most gracious influences. 1)o hot sui,pose, my brethren, bec,use I speak thus srongly, I consider Saul's stae of mind fo be something very unusnal. God forbid it should exist in is fifll misery any where amoug us! bu surely there is hot any one soul here present but wlmt nmy trace in itself the elements of sins like his. Le us only reflect on our hardness of heart when attending religious ordinances, and we shall understand something of Saul's condition when he prophesied. We nmy be conscious fo ourselves of the truth of things sacred as entirely as if we saw them; we may bave no misgivings about the presence of God in Church, or about the grace of the Sacraments, and yet we off.en feel in as ordina W and as unconcerned a mood as if we were altogether mbelievers. Again, let us reflect on our callousness after mercies received, or after suffering. We are often in worse case even than this; for fo realize the unseen world in our imagination, and feel as if we saw if, may hot always be in our power. But what shall be said to wilfid transgression of God's coinnmndments, such as most of us, I fear, must recollect i ourselves, even as childrel, when our hearts were most tender, when we least doubted about religion, were least perplexed in matters of duty, and had all the while a full consciousness of what we were d oing? What, again, shall be said fo those, 1)erhal)S hot few in nulnber, who sin with the purpose beforehand of repenting afterwards?
What makes our insensibility still more alarming is, that it follows the grant of the highest privileges. Saul was hardened after the Spirit of God had eome on him; ours is a sin after P, apt.ism. There is SOlnething awful in this, if we understood it; as if that peeuliar hardness of heart whieh we exlerienee, in spire of whatever exeellenees of ehm'aeter we may otherwise possess, like Saul—in spire of the benevolence, or fairness, or eaudour, or eonsideration, whieh are t.he virtues of this age—was the eharaeterist, ie of a soul transgressing after it had "tasted the powers of the world corne," and an earnest of the second deat.h, l[ay t.his thought, through God's merey, rouse us to a deeper seriousness than we have at present, while Christ still continues to intereede for us, md grant.s us time for rel»entanee!