December 6

I Samuel xv. — 22. And Samuel said, Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt-offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.

23. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, he hath also rejected thee from being king.

24. And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned; for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord, and thy words; because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice.

25. Now therefore, I pray thee, pardon my sin, and turn again with me, that I may worship the Lord.

26. 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.

27. And, as Samuel turned about to go away, he laid hold upon the skirt of his mantle, and it rent.

28. And Samuel said unto him, The Lord hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day, and hath given it to a neighbor of thine that is better than thou.

29. And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent; for he is not a man that he should repent.

30. Then he said, I have sinned; yet honor me now, I pray thee, before the elders of my people,

and before Israel, and turn again with me, that I may worship the Lord thy God.

I Samuel xvi. — 14. But the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him.

15. And Saul's servants said unto him, Behold, now, an evil spirit from God troubleth thee.

16. Let our Lord now command thy servants which are before thee to seek out a man who is a cunning player on a harp; and it shall come to pass, when the evil spirit from God is upon thee, that he shall play with his hand, and thou shalt be well.

17. And Saul said unto his servants, Provide me now a man that can play well, and bring him to me.

18. Then answered one of the servants, and said, Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, that is cunning in playing, and a mighty valiant man, and a man of war, and prudent in matters, and a comely person; and the Lord is with him.

19. Wherefore Saul sent messengers unto Jesse, and said, Send me David thy son, which is with the sheep.

21. And David came to Saul, and stood before him; and he loved him greatly, and he became his armor-hearer.

23. And it came to pass, when the evil spirit from God was upon Saul, that David took a harp, and played with his hand: so Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him.

The people soon had cause to repent their choice of a king. Saul proved to be a moody, capricious, violent, arbitrary man, subject to fits of insanity, — in foreign wars, in domestic broils, in personal jealousies and feuds; a tyrant in his family, the terror of his friends, the grief and plague of Samuel's declining days. He stood in awe, however, of the prophet, and, after his paroxysms of rage and pride, would go to Samuel to assuage his renounce. At last, his wilfulness led him too far. He openly disregarded the command of Jehovah, and then was guilty of the further presumption of sacrificing in his own name by way of atonement. But men cannot thus compromise their misduings; and Jehovah took

away from Saul the hope of founding a dynasty. Samuel was sent secretly to anoint David as the future king of Israel.

Music has charms over madness. A celebrated singer once calmed the most violent lunatics in an asylum by the tones of her voice. The youthful David, who already had a reputation for improvising on the harp, was sent for to soothe the troubled mind of the king. Saul little dreamed that this ruddy and gifted shepherd would succeed to his throne; and David was too modest and too magnanimous to indulge the feeling of rivalry, and too pious to meditate evil toward one, who, like himself, had been anointed of the Lord.

APPROPRIATE HYMNS.]

Prayer.

[Nos. 89, 95, 104.

O God, the Author of our being, and the Preserver of our lives! we thank thee for the continuance of reason, and pray thee to impart unto us the spirit of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. Let the mind be in us which was in Christ Jesus. Suffer no temptation to overcome us; and, oh! deliver us from envy, pride, self-will, and every passion that would grieve thy Spirit, disturb our peace, and bring evil to those around us! Help us to use the world as not abusing it, and to derive a rational and wholesome pleasure from the good things thou hast provided for us.

May it please thee, O Lord! to prosper us in our daily occupations; to preside over this household with thy good Spirit; to preserve us from harm [to bless the children, and lead them in the right way]; to bless our friends, and number them all with thy chosen; to bless our land with plenty, with peace, and with the power of thy gospel; to bless and save a world that lieth in wickedness. These mercies we ask, humbly confessing our sins, through Jesus Christ our Lord; who, with thee and the Holy Spirit, liveth and reigneth, one God, world without end. Amen.