III.

9. Hide thy face from my sins,

And blot out all my iniquities.
10. Create in me a clean heart, O God;
And renew a right spirit within me.
II. Cast me not away from thy presence;
And take not thy holy spirit from me.

12. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation;
And uphold me with thy free spirit.

for God to forgive us without going back on his hatred for sin or his promise to punish it.

"A home question was whether forgiveness makes a sin all right. . . . He said he supposed so. It made us happy again. It didn't stop David's baby from dying,' spoke up one boy, and David must have always hated to remember about it.' "So teacher explained that forgiveness removes God's wrath from being any longer directed at sinners, but it does not stop all the evil consequences. Sometimes we need the lesson of suffering so we won't do it again. Sometimes our sin has set in motion a string of consequences that nothing can stop. If in our sin we have broken the laws of nature and contracted some disease, like consumption, forgiveness does not usually heal the disease.

"Then a sin always gives us sad memories that we can't ever quite forget. To illustrate this he dropped a blot of ink from his fountain pen on a sheet of writing paper. He called it a sin. As soon as it was dry he rubbed it out with an eraser, and said the sin was forgiven. Then he asked us if the paper was just the same as before. Of course we could see that it was not, and he declared that every sin against God, no matter how quickly forgiven, leaves its mark on our brains, and sometimes on our bodies.". Rev. William O. Rogers, in Sunday School Times.

10. Create in me a clean heart, O God. What David wanted was the change Christ called a new birth (John 3:3, 5). Forgiveness is of comparatively small account unless it results in a new nature, so that the succeeding life shall not repeat the sins of the past. We need to be freed from the love of sin.

Moody's Old Lantern. One day he brought over to Mount Hermon Boys' School an old lantern that he had found down at the barn an old, dirt-smeared lantern. He brought it with him to the platform and placed it directly on the pulpit. The boys looked at it, then wondered, and then laughed. Then he spoke to them right away about the lantern; asked them what it was good for. They laughed again; of course it was good for nothing. And then he asked them what was the matter with it, and of course the lantern needed to be cleaned, and it needed to have a light put in it, and then, how he just brought that home to the boys! It could not clean itself. Somebody must put a light into it. He said that a man with a dirty life is good for nothing, useless, and then he asked them if they would not let God take charge of them and clean them up, and put the light of love in their hearts so that they could be of use. The lesson went home to those boys. They never forgot it." From Robert E. Speer.

"God, give me the chance to try again,
(I, who have missed the goal),

Let me, as flint, set my face again
To shape, to build up the whole.

Give unto me the coveted chance
To make of myself a Man,

To battle once more with a new-forged lance,
To lift from my soul the ban!

Selected.

"God, give me the chance to march again In the Vanguard of the race, What matter the clouds, the shifting vane, The blasts that wrinkle my face! Let me endure both hardship and pain As I scale the heights to You; And hoping, loving, striving again, To fashion my life anew." VI. FOURTH STANZA: THE NATURAL EXPRESSION OF THE NEW LIFE, VS. 1317. Then (and not till then) will I teach. "None instruct others so well as those who have been experimentally taught of God themselves.". - Spurgeon. Remember, for an illustration, the return of some of our soldiers from the front to serve as teachers of the newer recruits, even though they themselves were not theoretically so skilled in war as many an older officer still remaining in this country.

14. My tongue shall sing aloud, so that others shall hear the joy of my heart. I cannot then keep it to myself. Of thy righteousness, both in punishing and in showing mercy.

IV.

13. Then will I teach transgressors thy ways;

And sinners shall be converted unto thee.

14. Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation; And my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.

15. O Lord, open thou my lips;

And my mouth shall show forth thy praise.

16. For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it; Thou delightest not in burnt offering.

17.

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit:

A broken and contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.

16. Thou desirest not sacrifice, that is sacrifice alone, without the repentance which it signifies. Better the true repentance without the form of worship in common use, than the form of worship without the true repentance from the heart.

17. The sacrifices of God, those which he desires most, those which give their value and significance to all outward sacrifices, are a broken spirit, where pride and self-sufficiency are broken down, and the heart is contrite, humble and penitent before God.

VII. WHAT TO DO WHEN WE HAVE DONE WRONG. First, Repent. Look at the sin in the true light, the light of God's righteousness, and be sorry for it; not sorry for the results of the sin, but sorry for the sin itself, and determined to forsake it altogether.

Second, Confess, to the one against whom we have sinned, to the fellow man whom we have injured, and always to God himself. Let the confession be as

public as the sin.

Third, Make Restitution, so far as it is possible to do so.

Then will come the Fourth Step to holiness, the joy of the forgiven, and the mouth filled with praise to God.

As Christians we can never forget the central fact of our religion, the wonderful Love of God, who sent his own Son into the world to die for us upon the Cross, that we might be forgiven, justified, and glorified in him.

BEGINNINGS OF SOLOMON'S REIGN. 1 Kings 1: 1-3: 15.

PRINT 1 Kings 3:4-15.

GOLDEN TEXT. The fear of the Lord, that is wisdom;

And to depart from evil is understanding. — JOB 28:28.

Devotional Reading: Psalm гoi.

Primary Topic: SOLOMON'S CHOICE.

Lesson Material: 1 Kings 3:4-15.

Memory Verse: Wisdom is better than rubies.

Junior Topic: SOLOMON'S WISE BEGINNING.

Lesson Material: 1 Kings 3:4-15.

Memory Verse: 1 Kings 39.

Prov. 8 II.

Intermediate and Senior Topic: CHOOSING THE BEST THINGS.

Topic for Young People and Adults: TRUE WISDOM AND HOW TO GET IT.
Additional Material: Prov. 4 : 1-8;

THE TEACHER AND HIS CLASS.
This is a splendid lesson for a Decision
Day.

James 1:5-8; 3: 13-18.

be taught to every grade, for every child must make choices, either between two things equally good, or between doing right and doing wrong. And every choice makes a similar choice easier the

The practical side of this lesson can

next time it must be made. Show the at second-hand book stores, and in pupils how Solomon's choice was a good libraries). one, and how riches and power would have been of little value to him without wisdom.

Place. The events of the first part of the lesson took place in Jerusalem. The choice of wisdom by Solomon was made at Gibeon, a high hill six miles north of Jerusalem, now called El Jib. III. Here was the ancient tabernacle constructed by Moses (2 Chron. 1 : 3).

I. THE LAST DAYS OF KING DAVID, 1 Kings I : 1-4;

2 I-II. After the defeat and death of Absalom, David returned to Jerusalem and reigned there the remaining months or years of his life, continuing his preparations for the building of

the Temple, and making arrangements for his successor. David had accomplished nearly all of his heart's desire for his kingdom. "As we open the historic page we find the Hebrew nation in the acme of its magnificence. It is the growth of centuries. It embodies the living of the grandest men of time.. It is the expression of God's matchless love, and God's fidelity in covenant-keeping, and God's forbearance and forgiveness." Dr. David Gregg.

The Choice of a Successor. David at the age of seventy was an old man, grown feeble under the weight of his cares and troubles. The trouble with Absalom had doubtless aged him greatly. The question of a successor was in every one's thoughts. His elder sons, some one of whom would naturally succeed to the throne," were men of fierce passions and haughty temperament, and would be singularly unfitted to carry out the peaceful and religious designs which David wished to bequeath to his successor." — - Farrar. Hence under divine direction he had selected Solomon as his heir. He had probably been training him as a boy and young man for this end, showing him his plans, breathing his spirit into him, making him acquainted with the organizations and the treasures of the kingdom. It is a wise father who thus prepares his sons to be his successors, and wise children who accept the training with loving and energetic hearts.

M

II. THE CORONATION OF SOLOMON, 1 Kings 1:5-53. Knowing the great feebleness of his father and his probable choice of Solomon as heir, Adonijah, who had become, by the death of Absalom, the heir to the throne if the succession were to be determined by strict descent, decided to take measures to secure it. He had been born during David's reign at Hebron, and was therefore a man between thirty and forty years of age. He, like Absalom, was famous at once for his manly beauty and by showing no fitness for the throne, intellectually or otherwise. Following his ex- The black line outlines the Kingdom when Saul ample, he had for some time affected regal state in chariots, horses, and running foot- 1. Hebrews. men; but his father, always weakly blind 2. Philistines. 3. Syrians. to the faults of his children, shut his eyes 4. Phoenicia. to these dangerous assumptions." - Geikie.

The Empire of David and Solomon.

and David became King.

5. Hittites.

6. Edomites. A. Red Sea. J. Jerusalem.

D. Damascus. M. Moabites.

H. Hamath.

When Adonijah thought his project ripe he invited his adherents, with all the king's sons (except Solomon), who seemed to have shared his jealousy, to a great banquet at the rock of Zoheleth near Enrogel, a fountain close to Jerusalem. Here, amid the mirth of the feast, the cry was raised, "Long live King Adonijah." Joab, the mighty warrior, and the chief of David's army, and Abiathar, one of the high priests, were among his abetters.

Nathan the prophet, learning of the proceedings of Adonijah, immediately set to work to defeat the plan. He informed Bathsheba of what was going on, and she went to David and told him; while she was yet speaking Nathan himself came in and confirmed her report. Measures were at once taken to proclaim Solomon king, and the attempt of Adonijah failed.

Solomon's Early Life and Training. 1. He was born about B.C. 1035 or 1034 in Jerusalem, and must have been about 19 or 20 years old when he became king.

2. His father was David, in the maturity of his age; and his mother was Bathsheba, the granddaughter of the wise Ahithophel. Solomon was their first son after their legal marriage (2 Sam. 12: 24), and he had three younger brothers (1 Chron. 3:5).

3.

"He inherited from his mother and the counsellor Ahithophel, sagacity, quickness of judgment, judicial insight, and perhaps some measure of sensual weakness; from his father, thoughtfulness, literary tastes, the skill of ruling, and an interest in religion. His bodily form and countenance must have borne the graceful characteristics of all David's children; and, if we may follow the descriptions given in the Canticles, he was fair, with bushy locks, dark as the raven's wing, yet not without a golden glow,' tall and imposing."- Tuck.

4. He was placed under the care and training of the prophet Nathan, a faithful, pure, and wise teacher. He would be brought up thus in the religion and learning of the Jews. He developed a great taste for science and literature (1 Kings 4:32-34). He had the advantages of being the child of David's later years and the subdued piety which characterized those years. His mother, too, doubtless joined with David in his penitential piety, for she had great influence over him to the last.

5. On the other hand he was "born to the purple"; he was brought up in luxury and wealth, and knew nothing of the hardships which developed much of

the character of his father. The influences of the court were as bad around him as around Absalom, and he had to resist all the temptations of a beautiful and flattered youth.

III. THE FIRST MOVEMENTS OF THE YOUNG KING, 1 Kings 2: 12-3: 3. It was necessary first to become firmly established in his kingdom. Because of this

First. The whole nation gave him their allegiance (1 Chron. 29: 23-25). Second. He kept Adonijah, who had tried to seize the throne, under surveillance, on his good behavior; but when he made an underhanded attempt to become king, Solomon had him executed, since alive he would be a perpetual menace (1 Kings 2: 13-25).

Third. Abiathar, the high priest who had joined in the plot with Adonijah, was degraded from his office, and Zadok, another descendant of Aaron, who had always been faithful to David, was made sole high priest (1 Kings 2: 26, 27, 35).

Fourth. Joab, David's nephew, and the head of his army, had treacherously murdered his rival generals, Abner and Amasa, and had become insolent in his power, since for several reasons David could not depose him. Lastly he had joined in the rebellion of Adonijah. He was executed, and the mighty Benaiah became general in his place (1 Kings 2: 28-35).

Fifth. Shimei, who had deserted David, joined with his enemies, and bitterly cursed him as he fled from Jerusalem, was first confined to Jerusalem on parole, and when he broke his parole and went among his nation's enemies, was executed (1 Kings 2:36-46).

Sixth. Solomon made an alliance with Egypt, the most powerful nation on his borders, whose enmity would endanger the peace of Israel, by marrying the daughter of Pharaoh. This marriage, while politically wise, did Solomon great harm in later years, by winning him away from a whole-hearted service of Jehovah (1 Kings 3: 1-3).