When we very much wish for a thing not proper for us to have, how frequently, when we come to possess it, does it prove very troublesome to us: this was the case with the Israelites, who would have been much happier without a king.

At length, Samuel was so grieved with Saul for disobeying the commandments of the Lord, that he foretold that his kingdom should be taken from him, and given to another this much afflicted Saul. They then parted, and Samuel came to see the king no more until the day of his death.

ABOUT DAVID.

SOON after Samuel had parted with Saul, the Lord told him to go to a man named Jesse, a Bethlehemite, for one of his sons should be king. Now Jesse appears to have lived very quietly and peacefully in the country, and perhaps little thought that any one of his family would ever become a prince in the land.

After seven of his sons had passed before Samuel, God told him it was none of these: then Samuel asked Jesse if he had any more children, and was told that he had not yet seen David, the youngest, who was out keeping sheep:

upon this, the prophet wished him to be called, and his father sent and brought him in.

He was quite young, and goodly to look upon, and the Lord said, ‘Arise, anoint him, for this is he.' Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren. And the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward.

Thus we see that, when it is the will of God, he does not always choose for his wise purposes those who are greatest in the world, or the most learned. In this case, doubtless, there were many in the land as fair, many more learned, many greater, who might have been chosen by Samuel, had not the Lord guided his hand to anoint whom He would. It is the Lord alone who raiseth up and putteth down even princes at His pleasure.

After this the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and he became very restless and unhappy; for the Lord was not with him to bless his ways, and, without his blessing upon our actions, we can never hope to prosper.

We read that an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him, and he asked his servants to bring some one to him who could play on the harp; thinking that, when his evil thoughts came upon him, music would drive them away. The people about him had heard of David, that he was a

player upon the harp, and a valiant man of war, very prudent, and, above all, that the Lord was with him.

Upon this, Saul sent and asked his father to let him come, and be with him; which he did, and Saul loved him much, and, when he was troubled in his mind, David took his harp, and his music was very pleasant to the king. • We should look upon this misfortune of Saul's as a lesson to teach us how fearful a thing it is to disobey the commands of the living God. Unless we keep His laws, and try to walk in His ways, and pray to Him that we may have a clear conscience both towards God and man, we cannot be happy.

Conscience, which is the spirit of God implanted in all our hearts, will be heard. If we do ill, it will trouble us, and make us very unhappy; but if we try to do well, and obey God, then we shall feel happy and light-hearted, and have no cause, like Saul, to shun ourselves, or to seek for any earthly thing to cheer us.

You should always bear in mind, that one way of gaining good from the Bible is to take notice of the different people we there read of, and observe how much happier were those who set the Lord before them, and followed Him in all their steps; and how sad was the lot of many who did what was wise in their own eyes, and walked in their own evil ways.

We should endeavor to follow the good examples there held up to us, and shun the evil: always remembering that we can do no good thing of ourselves, and it is only as we pray to God to teach us what is right, and entreat Him to help us to do it, that we can hope to become His children.

ABOUT DAVID AND GOLIATH.

DAVID staid with Saul until they again made war with the Philistines, when the king went to lead his troops, and David was sent back to keep his father's sheep; for his three eldest brothers had joined the battle.

The armies met front to front. The Philistines stood on a mountain on the one side, and Israel on a mountain on the other side, and there was a valley between them.

Then a giant, named Goliath of Gath, came towards Israel, from the army of the Philistines, and told them to send out a man to fight with him, saying, If he be able to fight with me, and kill me, then will we be your servants; but if I kill him, then ye shall serve us. I defy the armies of Israel this day. Give me a man, that we may fight

together.

When the children of Israel heard these words, they were greatly afraid, for they had not a man whom they