Conflict & Courage

And the Lord said unto Samuel, . . . fill thine horn with oil, and go, I will send thee to Jesse the Bethlehemite: for I have provided me a king among his sons. 1 Samuel 16:1.  {CC 160.1}        When the sacrifice was ended, and before partaking of the offering feast, Samuel began his prophetic inspection of the noble-appearing sons of Jesse. Eliab was the eldest, and more nearly resembled Saul fo...

And Samuel said unto Saul, I will not return with thee: for thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord hath rejected thee from being king over Israel. 1 Samuel 15:26.  {CC 159.1}        When Saul saw that Samuel came no more to instruct him, he knew that the Lord had rejected him for his wicked course, and his character seemed ever after to be marked with extremes. His servants . . . at...

Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, he hath also rejected thee from being king. 1 Samuel 15:23.  {CC 158.1}        Terrified by the denunciation of the prophet, Saul acknowledged his guilt, which he had before stubbornly denied; but he still persisted in casting blame upon the people, declaring that he had sinned through fear of them.  {CC 158.2}        It was not sorrow for sin, but...

It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king: for he is turned back from following me, and hath not performed my commandments. 1 Samuel 15:11.  {CC 157.1}        While Saul and his army were marching home in the flush of victory, there was deep anguish in the home of Samuel the prophet. He had received a message from the Lord denouncing the course of the king. . . . The prophet was deeply gr...

But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them. 1 Samuel 15:9.  {CC 156.1}        Since the defeat of the Philistines at Michmash, Saul had made war against Moab, Ammon, and Edom, and against the Amalekites and the Philistines; and wherever he turned his arms, he gained f...

Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not. 1 Samuel 15:3.  {CC 155.1}        The Lord sent His servant with another message to Saul. By obedience he might still prove his fidelity to God and his worthiness to walk before Israel. Samuel came to the king and delivered the word of the Lord. . . .  {CC 155.2}        The Amalekites had been the first to make wa...

With what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. Matthew 7:2.  {CC 154.1}        Saul could not but feel that his son was preferred before him, both by the people and by the Lord. Jonathan's deliverance was a severe reproof to the king's rashness. He felt a presentiment that his curses would return upon his own head. He did not long...

Cursed be the man that eateth any food until evening, that I may be avenged on mine enemies. 1 Samuel 14:24.  {CC 153.1}        The command to refrain from food was prompted by selfish ambition, and it showed the king to be indifferent to the needs of his people when these conflicted with his desire for self-exaltation. To confirm his prohibition by a solemn oath showed Saul to be both rash and pr...

And Jonathan said to the young man that bare his armour, Come, and let us go over unto the garrison of these uncircumcised: it may be that the Lord will work for us: for there is no restraint to the Lord to save by many or by few. 1 Samuel 14:6.  {CC 152.1}        Because of Saul's sin in his presumptuous offering, the Lord would not give him the honor of vanquishing the Philistines. Jonathan, the...

And it came to pass, that as soon as he had made an end of offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him, that he might salute him. 1 Samuel 13:10.  {CC 151.1}        God had directed that only those consecrated to the office should present sacrifices before Him. But Saul commanded, "Bring hither a burnt offering;" and, equipped as he was with armor and weapons of...

And he tarried seven days, according to the set time that Samuel had appointed: but Samuel came not to Gilgal; and the people were scattered from him. 1 Samuel 13:8.  {CC 150.1}        It was not until the second year of Saul's reign that an attempt was made to subdue the Philistines. The first blow was struck by Jonathan, the king's son, who attacked and overcame their garrison at Geba. The Phili...

There was not among the children of Israel a goodlier person than he. 1 Samuel 9:2.  {CC 149.1}        The personal qualities of the future monarch were such as to gratify that pride of heart which prompted the desire for a king. . . . Of noble and dignified bearing, in the prime of life, comely and tall, he appeared like one born to command. Yet with these external attractions, Saul was destitute...

Behold the king whom ye have chosen, and whom ye have desired. 1 Samuel 12:13.  {CC 148.1}        In Saul, God had given to Israel a king after their own heart. . . . Comely in person, of noble stature and princely bearing, his appearance accorded with their conceptions of royal dignity; and his personal valor and his ability in the conduct of armies were the qualities which they regarded as best...

And he said unto them, The Lord is witness against you, and his anointed is witness this day, that ye have not found ought in my hand. 1 Samuel 12:5.  {CC 147.1}        The dissatisfied longing for worldly power and display, is as difficult to cure now as in the days of Samuel. Christians seek to build as worldlings build, to dress as worldlings dress--to imitate...

Nay; but we will have a king over us; that we also may be like all the nations. 1 Samuel 8:19, 20.  {CC 146.1}        The Hebrews demanded a king of Samuel, like the nations around them. By preferring a despotic monarch to the wise and mild government of God Himself, by the jurisdiction of His prophets, they showed a great want of faith in God, and confidence in His providence to raise them up rul...

We have sinned against the Lord.... Cry unto the Lord our God for us. 1 Samuel 7:6, 8.  {CC 145.1}        Samuel visited the cities and villages throughout the land, seeking to turn the hearts of the people to the God of their fathers; and his efforts were not without good results. After suffering the oppression of their enemies for twenty years, the Israelites "mourned after the Lord." Samuel cou...

And the child Samuel ministered unto the Lord before Eli. 1 Samuel 3:1.  {CC 144.1}        Young as he was when brought to minister in the tabernacle, Samuel had even then duties to perform in the service of God, according to his capacity. These were at first very humble, and not always pleasant; but they were performed to the best of his ability, and with a willing heart. . . .  {CC 144.2}       ...

The iniquity of Eli's house shall not be purged with sacrifice nor offering for ever. 1 Samuel 3:14.  {CC 143.1}        Eli did not manage his household according to God's rules for family government. He followed his own judgment. . . . Many are now making a similar mistake. They think they know a better way of training their children than that which God has given in His word. They foster wrong te...

In that day I will perform against Eli all things which I have spoken concerning his house: when I begin, I will also make an end. 1 Samuel 3:12.  {CC 142.1}        Eli had greatly erred in permitting his sons to minister in holy office. By excusing their course, on one pretext and another, he became blinded to their sins; but at last they reached a pass where he could no longer hide his eyes from...

I will judge his house for ever for the iniquity which he knoweth; because his sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not. 1 Samuel 3:13.  {CC 141.1}       Eli was a good man, pure in morals; but he has too indulgent. He incurred the displeasure of God because he did not strengthen the weak points in his character. He did not want to hurt the feelings of anyone and had not the moral cou...

 They hearkened not unto the voice of their father. 1 Samuel 2:25.  {CC 140.1}        Eli was priest and judge in Israel. He held the highest and most responsible positions among the people of God. As a man divinely chosen for the sacred duties of the priesthood, and set over the land as the highest judicial authority, he was looked up to as an example, and he wielded a great influence over the tr...

My son, keep your father's commandment, and forsake not your mother's teaching. Proverbs 6:20, R.S.V.  {CC 139.1}        What the parents are, that, to a great extent, the children will be. The physical conditions of the parents, their dispositions and appetites, their mental and moral tendencies, are, to a greater or less degree, reproduced in their children.  {CC 139.2}        The nobler the aim...

I have lent him to the Lord. 1 Samuel 1:28.  {CC 138.1}        From Shiloh, Hannah quietly returned to her home at Ramah, leaving the child Samuel to be trained for service in the house of God, under the instruction of the high priest. From the earliest dawn of intellect she had taught her son to love and reverence God and to regard himself as the Lord's. By every familiar object surrounding him s...

Chap. 131 - She Kept Her Promise      I will give him unto the Lord all the days of his life. 1 Samuel 1:11.  {CC 137.1}        Elkanah, a Levite of Mount Ephraim, was a man of wealth and influence, and one who loved and feared the Lord. His wife, Hannah, was a woman of fervent piety. Gentle and unassuming, her character was marked with deep earnestness and a lofty faith.  {CC 137.2}        The bl...

Chap. 130 - God Remembered      And Samson called unto the Lord, and said, O Lord God, Remember me. Judges 16:28.  {CC 136.1}        In suffering and humiliation, a sport for the Philistines, Samson learned more of his own weakness than he had ever known before; and his afflictions led him to repentance. As his hair grew, his power gradually returned; but his enemies, regarding him as a fettered a...