The Divine Wisdom of the Word of God
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ROBERT K. SUTHERLAND, l’RINTER, EDINBURGH. THE DIVINE WISDOM OF THE WORD OF GOD AS SEEN IN THE SPIRITUAL SENSE OF THE tHMorlcs of Samuel, Saul, Davit), Solomon, <51 Daniel BY THE REV. J. BAYLEY, A.M., Ph.D. AUTHOR OF “THE DIVINE WORD OPENED;” “FROM EGYPT TO CANAAN,” ETC., ETC. JAMES SPEIRS 36 BLOOMSBURY STREET, LONDON 1892 [Second $Lditioii\ PREFACE. * HESE discourses have been issued to illustrate T the principle enunciated by the Apostle respect- ing the history of Abraham, “Which things are an allegory.” The Divine Word is an exhaustless fountain, and we have endeavoured to illustrate the method by which devout souls may draw with joy from the historic por- tions as well as the preceptive. Happy, indeed, shall we be, if we shall enable thoughtful readers of the .Book of books to exclaim, when they perceive spiritual beauty in portions that were closed before, “ When I found Thy words I did eat them, and they were the joy and rejoic- !” ing of my heart J. BAYLEY. CONTENTS. 1. l\\vj 11 The Birth of Samuel, I II. Hophni and Phinehas—Bad and Good Priests, 9 III. Samuel and Eli, IV. The Ark taken by the Philistines, . 2 5 V. Dagon Fallen before the Ark, o •> VI. Saul Anointed by Samuel to be King, VII. Saul’s Victory over the Ammonites, 49 - VIII. Samuel’s Charge in his Old Age, 57- IX. Saul sparing Agag, 65 X. David chosen by Samuel, . 73 x XI. Goliath Slain by David, Si XII. Saul’s Attempts to destroy David, . 89 - ’ XIII. Saul attempting to Kill Jonathan, . 97 ' XIV. Saul and the Witch of Endor, 105 . XV. David’s Victory over the Amalekilos. XVI. The Death of Saul, 121 > XVII. David made King at Hebron, 129 v XVIII. The House of David waxing Stronger, and the House of Saul Weaker, 1 37> XIX. The Stronghold of the Jebusites at Jerusalem taken, and turned into the City of David, i 45 XX. The Sound of a Going in the tops of the Mulberry Trees the sign for the overcoming Philistines, J 53 XXI. David’s Kindness to Jonathan’s Lame Son, 1 61 XXII. Nathan’s Parable, 1C9 XXIII. The Death of David’s Child, 177 XXIV. David driven out of Jerusalem by the Rebellion of Absalom, - ^ 1 85 Vlll CONTI- NTS. PAGE XXV. 1 he Death of Absalom, 193 XXVI. The Sin of David in Numbering the People, 201 XXVII. David’s Death, and Solomon’s Reign, 2og^c XX Vlll. Solomon’s Prayer, .... 217 XXIX. The Judgment of Solomon respecting the Dead and the Living Child, .... 225 XXX. Solomon’s Temple 1 ini 1 1 without Axe or Hammer, or any tool of iron, 233 V XXXI. The Queen of Sheba’s Visit to Solomon, 241 XXXII. 1 he Abundance of Cold in the Reign of Solomon, 249 XXXIII. Solomon’s Wives and Concubines, 2 57..c XXXIV. Solomon’s Old Age, Declension from Cod, and Death, 265 v XXXV. Rehoboam’s Bad Reign, o ' • • 273 XXXVL The Kingdom divided into Judah and Israel, 281 XXXVII. The Sun going back on the dial of Ahaz, 289 XXXVIII. Hezekiah’s Sickness and Recovery, 297 XXXIX. The Destruction of S ennacherib’s Army, 305 XL. The Burning of the Temple and City of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, . 3i3 XLI. Ezekiel’s Vision of the Wheels, • J • • 321 XLII. Jonah s Order to go to Nineveh, and his Disobedience, 329 XLIII. Jonah’s Penitence in the Fish, . 337 XLIV. The Repentance of Nineveh, 345 XLV. Jonah and the Gourd, . 353 XLVI. Daniel and his three Companions in the Palace of Babylon, 361 XLVII. Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream, 369 XLVIII. Nebuchadnezzar’s Golden Image, 377 XLIX. The Three Faithful Ones in the Fiery Furnace, 335 L. Nebuchadnezzar’s Vision of the Cheat 'Tree, 393 LI. Belshazzar’s Feast and Death, 401 LI I. Restoration The of Jerusalem. 409 SERMON I. THE BIRTH OF SAMUEL. 41 Wherefore it came to pass, when the time was come about, after Hannah had con- ceived, that she bare a son, and called his name Samuel, saying, Because I have asked him of the Lord.”—i Sam. i. 20. Samuel was one of the great leaders of the Jewish nation. His life was long. His virtue was true and courageous. His influence was pure and powerful. His death was honoured with his nation’s tears. All the Israelites were gathered together, and lamented him, and buried him at his house in Ramah. The glory of the Word of God is that it discloses lessons of wisdom and importance in its outer, as well as in its inner meaning. The Bible, as that name implies, is the Book above all other books. “ Thou hast magnified thy Word, above all thy name,” is true of the literal sense, when devoutly and thoughtfully considered, as well as of the spirit : and tends to make a man who loves and meditates upon it, “ thoroughly furnished to every good work.” The period to which the divine history before us applies, was about three hundred years after the death of Joshua. The nation had passed through a long series of declensions, and sunk at last into a condition of lawless anarchy, division and impurity, but little better than that of the more ancient Sodom. The weakness of some judges, the wickedness of others, and the turbulence, of the people, had brought the twelve tribes, for- merly so wonderfully led from Egypt, to the brink of ruin ; and a man was needed, who could once more introduce divine government among them, and be to them as the preserving “salt of the earth.” God gave them such a man in answer to the pious Hannah’s’ prayer. This gift of God was Samuel. The sacred narrative, in portraying the deep feeling of Hannah, —a prayer too deep for words—places strongly before us A 2 THE BIRTH OF SAMUEL. the inestimable value of a child. She was “ in bitterness, and prayed unto the Lord, and wept sore,” because she had no child. She vowed that if she were blessed by her heart’s deep petition being granted, she would dedicate the child to the service of the Lord in the ministry and in due time peculiar ; her prayer was granted. The birth of a child is so common an event that, like all our greatest blessings, which are common to all, it arrests but little attention. In parents and immediate friends a babe awakens feelings tender and affectionate, yet often much less deep than the wondrous occasion requires. What a lovely, what a mysterious, what an awful nature exists in that immortal little being ! An unending life has begun ! The germs of heaven, of earth, and of hell, are enclosed in its astonishing person. The power of increasingly enjoying the two worlds of sense and spirit is there, but the power also of perverting both ! Humanity is a God-formed lyre to be played upon by the universe without, and the universe within, until every string thrills with the music of intelligence, wisdom, love, gratitude, beauty, and joy. A child is an image of God Himself. All his infinite quali- ties are finitely shown in miniature, in the “ heir of immortality.” And the universe, the Deity’s grander image, responds to humanity, even infantine humanity, because it issued from His Divine Humanity of love, justice, truth, order, use, and happi- ness. A wondrous, glorious thing is a child ! After man fell, and the promise was given that the seed of the woman should bruise the serpent’s head, an expectation filled the mothers of the Eastern world in that most ancient time that the child redeemer might be born of them. This surrounded babyhood with a peculiar glory, besides its intrinsic worth. This preva- lent feeling is described by Virgil in his magnificent poem, “Pollio,” and far more anciently still in the words of Eve respect- “ ing Cain : I have gotten a man—the Lord.” The wordfrom in our translation is not in the original language. All over the East, the belief was spread and perpetuated that a divine child was to be bom. That belief is referred to in the utterance by Zacharias, the father of the Baptist, when inspired by the Holy Spirit, and referring to the infant Redeemer, he said, “ Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for He hath visited and redeemed His people, and hath raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, as He spake by the mouth of His holy prophets, which have been since the world began.” The expectation thus cherished and transmitted from generation to THE BIRTH OF SAMUEL. 3 generation, gave rise to the allegories of Egypt, India, Babylon, and Greece, in which the incarnations of Deity hold a distin- guished place, and at the same time, it imparted a holiness and depth to the desire for children, which is worthily cherished by the newly-married of our race, until the Babe of Bethlehem was born, and men could truly say, “ Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, and the Prince of Peace.” A child is a wondrous thing ! Who knows what is wrapped up in its mysterious being? God helps men through men. When the infant Moses lay in his little ark, who could have surmised that in helpless innocence the deliverer of his people was there, the lawgiver, who would receive the laws of love afresh from heaven, and transmit them to untold myriads of the human race.