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INTERNATIONAL LESSON COM¬
MENTS FOR AUGUST 2;5.
Subject: Friendship of David anil Jon¬
athan, 1 Sam. 20—Golden Text,
Pro v. 17:17—Commit Verse 42—
Read 1 Sam. 18:1-5, 10:1-7.
TIME.—1062 B. C. PLACE.—
Gibeah.
EXPOSITION.—I. Saul's rage at
David and Jonathan, vs. 80-33. There
is something singularly beautiful in
the mutual love of David and Jona¬
than. The worldly interests of the
two were opposed (v. 31). Jonathan
was heir-apparent to the throne, but
David w r as the divinely chosen king,
yet each quite lost, sight of selfish am¬
bition in his love for the other. Jon¬
athan loved David as his own soul (v.
17; ch. 18:3) and at the peril of his
own life protected him from the
anger of Saul (vs. 32, 33). In doing
this he voluntarily renounced his own
aspirations to the throne. David on
his part bitterly lamented the death
of Jonathan, though that death clears
his own way to the throne (2 Sam.
1:17-27). David had been perfectly
safe in Naioth. Saul had sent three
companies to take him, but the Spirit
of God had come upon them and
hindered them from carrying out
Saul’s awful designs. Then Squl him¬
self had been humbled (ch.-19:20-
24). There seems to have been little
need for David’s fleeing from such a
place cf security as that (v. 1; cf. Ps.
91:1). Jonathan, it is true, was a
true and mighty friend, but it was
better to lean upon the arm of God
than upon any arm of flesh. Jona¬
than covenanted to find out for David
just what his father’s attitude toward
him might be. lie was to tell him
the exact facts, whether they were
good or evil. How often we see
moral or spiritual peril confronting
those to whom we profess to be
friends and yet do not w r arn them.
Jonathan had been very confident at
first that his father plotted no evil (v.
2), but David had shown him that be
might be mistaken. Evidently his
confidence in his father was not very
deep. It is an appalling thing when a
father’s character is such that even
his own son, a son of so trustful a
nature as Jonathan, is forced to dis¬
trust hita. Jonathan soon discovered
how deep his father’s hatred of David
was fv. 39). Saul, in his wrath at
Jonathan because of his friendship
to David, insults Jonathan’s mother.
He no longer regards Jonathan as his
own son (v. 30). His wrath at David
will be satisfied with nothing short
of David’s death. At any cost David
must die. Jonathan sought to arouse
his father to the baselessness of his
wrath at David (v. 32). This only
intensifies Saul’s anger. He will even
murder his own son who seeks to de¬
fend the one he so intensely hates (v.
33). There had oeen a time when
Jehovah had been with Saul (v. 13).
But He was with him no longer (cf.
oh. 18:12). The change in Saul’s
experience was apparent to all who
knew him at all intimately. So muen
of the Bible record of Saul’s history
is taken up with the dark picture cf
his last days, the days of his disobedi¬
ence and apostacy, that we forget
there was a better time in his history
* when God was with him (ch. 10:7),
when the Spirit of God was upon him
(ch. 11:6), when he went out to do
battle for Jehovah, when he was
humble, brave, generous, large-heart¬
ed and obedient to God. It is this
bright beginning of his public life
that makes the dark ending so un¬
speakably sad. This awful change all
came because he rejected the Word
of the Lord (ch. 15:23). The saddest
men on earth are those who are
forced to say, “I once knew what it
meant to have the Lord with me,
but He is not with me now.” There
are many of whom this is true. Jon¬
athan gave up at last his attempt to
reconcile Saul to David (v. 34). His
anger and grief were not so much for
his father’s treatment of himself as
for his treatment of David whom he
loved.
n. The Parting of David and Jon
athsTi, vs. 33-42. It would not do for
anyone to see Jonathan with David,
for that would imperil his own life;
so they had arranged a very simple
plan so that Jonathan could let David
know whether it was safe for him to
come out of hiding and at the same
time not let anyone else know there
had been $ny communication between
David and Jonathan (vs. 18-21).
Whatever ‘.the perils might be, they
must meet-at least once more. David
did not for a moment distrust Jona¬
than’s fidelity. Jonathan might have
good reason to play him false, but he
knew he would not do it. Jonathan
ought to have gone a step further and
have come out of the camp of David’s
enemies and cast in his lot with him
he knew was God’s chosen man (cf.
ch. 23:16-18). There are many to-,
day who are willing to help David
but who are not willing to go to Him
without the cam;) bearing His re¬
proach (Heb. 13:13). The parting of
David and Jonathan was exceedingly
touching. There were demonstrations
of affection on the side of each such
as was rarely seen. David seems to
have been the one who was most over¬
come (v. 41). Though they went dif¬
ferent ways they were to be united by
an everlasting covenant (v. 42; cf. vs.
13-17). David remembered the cov¬
enant when he came into power (2
Sam. 9:3). As it was an everlasting
covenant that Jonathan wished David
to make with him, so it is an evarlist¬
ing covenant that our David makes
with us, and our David also makes a
■covenant, not with us alone, but with
«ur seed as well (Acts 16:31; 2:3 9).
VTbePuOo/Tl
A SERMON'
8 Y tAe re\4- Hr
Subject: Foes of the Flag.
Brooklyn, N. Y.—Preaching at
the Irving Square Presbyterian
Church, Hamburg avenue and Weir
field street, the Rev. Ira Wemmell
Henderson, pastor, took as his text
Psalms 2 0:5: “In the name of our
God we will set up our banners. M
He said:
The flag of America is the symbol
of her conception and of her pro¬
gress. Its stars and stripes and
field of blue bear eloquent though
silent testimony to the method of
her making, the character of her
sons and the influences that have
militated for all that is best in her
national life. Whether we be de¬
scended from the long line of the
forefathers who laid the foundations
of America deep and broad and
strong in the everlasting rock of the
truth of the living God or are but
lately naturalized citizens of the
land we love, the flutter of the na¬
tion’s ensign finds responsive pulse
within our hearts. For the flag
typefies the soul of the people, the
hope of the nation, the sacrifice of
the host who, living and dead, have
poured out unon the altar of a true
devotion to this land of promise a
meed of service, for the welfare; of
the country and the glory of Al¬
mighty God.
Ho true patriot is he who can
gaze upon the beauty of “Old Glory”
without pride and a warming heart.
For every star has a history and tells
a mighty story; every ruddy stripe
is dyed in the runnifig fountain of
a loyalty and willing sacrifice the
like of which history cannot sur¬
pass: every bar of white reveals the
purity of the limpid, true ideals that
run, though often hidden, at the core
and centre of our nation’s life. Blue
as the arching heavens her star
strewn field is redolent with a hope
as vast as the profundity of zenithal
skies. Bathed in a nation’s suffer¬
ings and dedicated .to a nation’s lib¬
erty, the flag, of our country has
gained its power and will wield a
future strength because it was set,
up in the name of God and will be
upheld by the efficiency of His
mightiness. ,-Ever remembering the
consecration for which it stands, the
services of which it speaks, the suf¬
fering; to which it bears mute tribute,
the h.orre eternal which its proud folds
counsel, we sha|l never stray afar or
trail its beauty: in the dirt of indi¬
vidual impurity or of. national dis¬
honor. '
,, history v : of
.But glorious* as is the
the flag and’, magnificent as is the
progress and • achievement over
which it wav.es, euSftRft.’dangers Ifemust be sedulously
guarded froth if we
are to preserve fmrapss for the wel
fare of posterity heritage
we have received. No nation has
a greater, a more auspicious, a more
logically magnificent future than
America. The deeds of yesterday
bespeak larger capacities and oppor¬
tunities as yet unused. The sun of
our national greatness is just aris¬
ing, the glow of our flag has but
begun. What the limits of the fu
ture may be no man may mark, We
are entering the sublime age of hu¬
man history. And America stands in
the vanguard of progression. Of our
coming eminence we may but dream.
No prophecy is to be ignored, for
no proohecy can tell the half of the
glory God will reveal in and through
America in the coming days if we
guard our hearts from evil, our
minds from wilful error, and our
flag f4om shame.
The dangers to our national great¬
ness and to the spotless integrity of
our flag as the embodiment of our
national life and aspiration are sub¬
tle dangers. They are not so much
overt as abstract, not so much ma¬
terial as intellectual and spiritual,
not so much objective as subjective,
not so much outward as internal.
No sane man would underestimate
the heinousness of the material sin
v/hich threatens our flag to-day, no
one has any delusions as to the size
'and the determination of the organ¬
ized and defiant forces for eVil which
afflict this land. But, after all, the
forces for evil that are allied and
aggressive and overt, that are de¬
termined to rule or ruin, to gain
their ends by foul means or fair,
are not half so- danger'ous to the pub¬
lic welfare and tq the - destiny of
America, as the more subtle and ab¬
stract dangers thatvare resident in
the hearts and minds.. of people who
want to maintain the glory of the
flag, the integrity ofjtbe nation and
the glory of Jehovah in our midst.
When all is said and done there are
mora people whose faces are set for
heavfen than toward hell. The great
host of the people want the right;
they do love God, they long to see
the beauty of His glory in the land
of the living. And the danger is
that these good people, seeing the
size of the enemy and taking the
measure of his power, may too
often and too long accept evil con¬
ditions as necessary simply because
they are ancient or fixed; that they
shall be too careless and indifferent
concerning the value of a stern fight
for the right in the face of in¬
trenched iniquity; that they shall be
slovenly and inexact and dishonest in
their thinking; and heedless of the
claims of the spirit of the living God
in the individual and national life.
The flag of America, as the ban¬
ners cf the psa.lmist, is set up in the
name and to the glory of Almighty
God. We may leave it off our coins
or place it thereupon, it matters
little, but in our heart of hearts “In
Gcd we put our trust.” Over against
that flag and opposed to the laws of
Deity we have in our midst to-day
organized and aggressive dangers
that threaten the vitality of the na¬
tion. They are strong, they are
armed, they are entrenched, they do
not care to die. But they arenot Anal,
their length of days may be great but
they are not eternal. They make for
death and not for life. And they
will go, as they must. The danger
lies not so much in the fact that they
are d’esperate and determined as in
the disposition of good men and
true, -who love the land as they love
their God, to despair and todoubtand
to disperse. A greater danger to tho
flag than all the sins that assail it
is the weak-heartedness of the peo
pie of God. A bad thing is of no
effect for long against the efforts of
the organized militant armies of God
Almighty, if they will take heart and
keep it, and keep the fight everlast¬
ingly up. What of Valley Forge and
the first Bull Run? Remember
Yorktown and Appomattox and keep
on! Such spirit and such hope are
invincible as they are unquenchable.
Without them the very fabric of our
national civilization is endangered as
no other foe can harm.
No sin has a longer mortgage up¬
on the future than we care, under
the grace and empowerment of the
living God, to allow. We may not
see the breath leave sin as we have
planned, but if we will struggle sin
will die. It is for us to labor. It
is for God to direct. It is for us to
follow. He shall lead. However
insurmountable the obstacle or
time-honored the grievous sin, God
will enable us to overcome through
the might of His power if we will
but serve with steadfastness and
fidelity. But God Himself cannot
bring the victory to an army that
will not follow, or success to a pious
host that is afraid of a long fight
and a hard one. No, my friends,
weak-kneed and weak-hearted piety
is a more subtle and dangerous foe
to the nation than all the forces of
wickedness combined.
Another danger is the danger of
indifference. Men do not care about
the public good, they are too busy
or too lazy or too seif-consumed and
centered to think about the public
weal. When sin stalks the street
they stay at home with an easy chair
and a cosy nook for comfort, saying
to themselves, “I have enough. What
can I do? Let others battle; I am
content.” It is as though the hand
said to the foot, as Paul declared,
“I have no need of thee.” Such
men are enemies, twofold enemies,
to the republic.
A still more subtle danger is that
of loose, careless, slovenly, dishon¬
est thinking. The glory of our
schools is that they fit men to think.
But how few of our citizenship take
the time or the trouble to think
deeply, thoroughly, conclusively,
with a real and painstaking effort
not to justify a theory or a precon¬
ception, but to ascertain the facts
and to comprehend the truth. In
the press and in the pulpit, at the
bar and in the business world, dG
honest and lazy intellectual effort is
a s rife as it is appalling. Jesus said
4 ' Ye shall know the truth and the
truth shall make you free.” Jesus
never dignified thought as a means
to force facts, to justify preconcep¬
tions or as a means to stultify the
truth. Jesus was a clear thinker, a
close thinker, an honest thinker. He
wanted the truth. He was not ic
terested in supporting theories. He
gave His life to the revelation and
the comprehension of the eternal
truth of God. But to-day how other
wise it is, even after centuries of ex
ample of the unwisderri of dishonest
thought, among even the very fol
lowers of the Christ who was the em
bodiment of the truth. The pre ?3
twists fact and truth to justify the
lie, too often, for the public good.
The pulpit descants with scant wis
dom, too often, upon the errors and
inconsistencies of movements and
principles that bid fair to challenge
or to overthrow, not religion, but
the ecclesiastical status quo. The
lawyer defeats justice by the maze
of unhealthy and obnoxious techir
calities and oerversions of the spirit
of the law. The business man glosses
sin for a consideration. And so
it goes. Close thinking is too hard,
clear thinking is uncomfortable, hon
est thinking is unprofitable. There
fore, let us think loosely; let us
think good is bad—for profit: let
us clothe the ancient lie anrl call it
truth, that the status quo may be
preserved. The danger is evident.
May the God of truth protect us
Another danger is the prevalent
inclination to forget and, to dismiss
religion. No theory of
no system of economies, no discio
line of philosophy, method of life,
can endure wholesomely and vigor
onsly_ except there be foundations
laid in the religious consciousness
„t man. Without tho saving, con
serving, transforming and inspiring
presence and power of the spirit of
the living God as a resident fact and
force in the individual and national
life we cannot maintain the mteg
rlty of our flag or tho health of the
people. No nation can rea ize its
greatness, as can no individual, with
out God. In Him we live and move
so n urre £ of alight'and progress. fJ
clesiasticism may misrepresent Him
as it has aforetime done. But let
us never forget Him. I' or He is
inescapable. He is giea .er and ■
,h«rie“ ahou? fflm guide, Ho *
our shield, oar defense, our
our love and our friend. We can i
do nothing without Him. With Him |
we may do anything. This is ele- i
mental it is simnle It is infinite
ami confuse everlasting dieaffections truth. with Let us churches never j
and ministers and creeds with :
atheism. However unsatisfactorily
and faltaringly God’s children may I
reveal Him to their fellows, let us ,
♦ ANTHOINES’ MACHINE WORKS *
We have put in the latest
m improved
O-V * Turning & Block Machine
m and at e fitted up to get out
round, square and octagon
Balusters, Porch Spindles,
j - ; v « Base and Corner Blocks.
8 We also have, a first-class
A- \ji Lathe
r ood for all kinds of
» hand turning.
BB owf
t IS ■V We are prepared to get out all
-.4 if kinds of Dressed Lumber for
N;- f; buildings. Rough and Dress¬
I V ed Lumber, Flooring, Ceiling
* •* ?. <>4 and Shingles on hand at all
$ '1 times.
Don’t forget that we are still in
m ■■v\
I®## HI u '1 the Repair Business of Engines,
♦I » M *t> Boilers and other Machinery.
ANTHOINE S MACHINE WORKS.
For.t Valley, Ga.
Everything to Build With.
We have recently purchased the Harris Manufacturing
Company’s lumber plant and stock and will devote our
exclusive attention to the builders supply busines in tho
future.
Our very complete stock includes
Brick, Lime, Sand, Cement, Fiber Wall Plaster, Paris
Plaster, Laths, Framing—rough or sized to order;
Weatherboarding—several grades; Sheeting. Shingles,
Prepared Roofing, Kiln Dried Flooring and Ceiling, the
kind that don’t crack open—several grades; Doors—
plain, and fancy glass front doors; Sash and Blinds—
in usual sizes; Window Cords, Weights and Pulleys;
Mantels, Columns, Balusters, Brackets, Mouldings,
Wainscoting, Corner and Plinth Blocks; Turned and
Sawed Work Made to Order; Door and Window
Frames; Sherwin-Williams Paint, Oils and Varnishes;
Guaranteed Roof Paint.
IN FACT 4
;4<,
-*-Sv/'! ♦ Ulith
Bring us a list of-the material that you want, or a plan of •
the house yon anticipate building, and let us convince you
that our prices are right.
IFort % Lumber
j VALLEy Company.
SAM LOO,
FI1SKLASS LAUNDRY
FORT VALLEY, GA.
PRICE LIST.
Shirts, plain.............. 10c
Shirts, plain or puffed with
r-nllnr ' ‘ ......... J2 l-2e
| c . Cleaned....... . 50 & $1
Pants pressed,. . ^. - i . .25c
Collars................ 2 1-2
n. £ „„ S ’ ,-nllor cu ‘ iar nr or f-inr-v Idncy 5c
Lulls each per pail* 5c
Chemise........... 10c
Drawers........... 5c
Hridpr-shirts* ........ 5 c
oocks, „ , per pair . .. 5c
Handkerchiefs..... 2 1-2
Handkerchiefs, silk 5c
flin Chirte ts, nio-ht, night,* nloin plain. 10c
Lqats...... ...........lutO-OC
Vests..................15to20c
ow.L’........... Pants.................25 ’ * W \ to 85c
1* 9 f 7° r . £
r table p , , Cloths............IU i ’ V.......... to ^3
Sheets....................7 1-2
Pillow cases, plain..........5c
•vr papains.. .- ...a 9 i--.o 9
...........
Bed spreads. .........Jo to 2 DC
Blankets,./.-..........25 to 50c
Lace Curtains.... v .... 20 to 25 c
Ladies shirt -... *•%}.:> to 2 dC
Skirts... 2%, tjtxr.;.$£C
?*T®! ^Him .__nc'rfoW dangfiyL *»«««
J The chS&mn that mil
£ L ^ 0 ^ 4 t ^ WSaS?
» . , . ‘“"“f of the
^ rcae --> \ r til*;/'shall lose the
vision 10 rionv
, •
^ )st . could be
™°‘ fl e dangerous Gai £p to America than
..
£«• ^“f . f S
a f mast For in His truth
.
her greatness g J and in nation the appro- lies
f Him by the
the hope of the ages that are yet to
come -
.
.
. ____—,
What is Life?
odr business ”SS5 is «pSu not V to build id*- quick
lr. but right Is
turn and In a right spirit Lile
more than a mere competition as
tween man and man; it_ is-not \h
can done first, but w’ho can *
best; not wno can rise highest, but
who is working most patiently and
lovingly in accordance with the do
signs of God.- Joseph Parcel.
fou are not likely to set ?. rBsi
by searching your mirror.
W. H. HAFER,
DENTIST.
Fort Valley, Georgia
Office over First National Bank.
C. Z. McArthur,
Dentist
FORT VALLEY, GA.
.'-Office over Slappey’s Drug Store.
A. C. RILEY,
ATTORNEY-AT-LAW,
WRIGHT BUILDING,
Fort Valley, Qa.
Practice in all the courts. Money
loaned. Titles abstracted.
Tire $1 Cife Insurance
K D. Skellic.
Office Phone No. 54.
FORT VALLEY, GA.
r
C. L. SHEPARD,
\ ATTORNEY-AT-LAW,
'
j *
*' Fort Valley, Ga.
'
Flr»t Nntfynal Bank,
T
TONSORIAL ARTIST
For anything in the tonsorial line
don’t fail to call on
WILLIAMS
' Next Door to Post feffice.
Experienced workmen and courteous at*
s tention to all. Everything up-to-dato.
- ^ -
j Of Course.
| j “M a dear'”
“What is it, pet?”
! "This paper speaks of a receiving
! teller who has lun away. What is a
,evolving toller • < phonograph."
j nvhv-lliat means a
. Clt\-land Ltcdei.
j | Knows,
pa
;
i “Pa, whaj is this here Prussian
j Diet anyhow . •
1 believe, my son, tha- it consists .
principally of sauer kraut, sausages
and pretzels. Anything else?”—Kan
! sas City Times.
i
