Part 4

Her husband was dead. But Ruth was devoted to her mother-in-law, and when Naomi wished to return to the land of Israel, though all Ruth's friends lived in Moab, she entreated to be allowed to take that long journey with Naomi, and to stay with her always.

And as you can read for yourselves in the Book of Ruth, she was wonderfully blessed through her goodness to her mother-in-law. God watched her sweet and dutiful behaviour, and He gave her the great honour of being one of the ancestors of King David, and then, through him, of the Lord Jesus Christ, who was born at David's city, Bethlehem, thirteen hundred years afterwards.

Thus the Commandment that contained a promise of blessing was fulfilled.

_VI. "Thou shalt do no murder."_

What is murder? It is hatred in the heart, cherished and unpardoned, unconfessed to God, which ends in a cruel deed.

If we find in our own hearts an unforgiving spirit—a grudge against any one—a wish, perhaps, to do them harm or pay them back—let us beware!

Our Lord says: "When ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have aught against any one!"

Now I am going to tell you about a murder, which was a very sad one.

David, as you know, loved God very much; but he had grown very rich and powerful, and he had begun to value earthly things more than God's Commandments.

He wanted to get rid of one of his soldiers, who was at the war fighting for him. Why did he want to get rid of him? Because David had taken from him something which that soldier valued beyond all other things! I will tell you what that thing was afterwards.

So David told his great captain, Joab, to set this soldier, called Uriah, in the forefront of the battle, and then to retire from him, so that he should get killed. So Joab, who was an unscrupulous, untrustworthy man, did as the king commanded him. Then he sent back word to David at Jerusalem about the great battle, and mentioned that Uriah was killed.

"But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord."

The precious possession which David had taken for himself, while Uriah was at the war, was Uriah's dearly loved wife: and David had broken two of God's direct commands—one was, "Thou shalt do no murder," the other was:

_VII. "Thou shalt not commit adultery."_

—Which is taking another man's wife away from him.

Then there came another messenger to David. Not from the battlefield, where Uriah lay dead, but a message from God Himself, sent by the Prophet Nathan to the king.

And the Prophet told David this story: "There were two men in one city: one was rich, and the other poor."

"The rich man had exceeding many flocks and herds: the poor man had only one little ewe lamb, that he had brought up at home, and that played with his children and drank out of his own cup."

"And a traveller came to see that rich man; and the rich man grudged to take any out of his own flocks to feed the traveller, but took the poor man's ewe lamb!"

When David heard this story he was very angry with the rich man, and told Nathan he ought to be punished.

And then Nathan said to the king: "Thou art the man!"

"Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the Lord, to do evil in His sight? Thou hast killed Uriah with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife."

"Therefore the sword shall never depart from thy house."

Then David was dreadfully sorry. He saw his great sin in the sight of the Lord, and he earnestly asked to be forgiven.

If you read the fifty-first Psalm you will see how sorry he was.

And the Lord did forgive him; but David had to bear the effects of his sin the whole of his life afterwards.

XV. THREE COMMANDMENTS ABOUT OUR HANDS—OUR TONGUES—AND OUR HEARTS

_VIII. "Thou shalt not steal."_

PERHAPS you draw back, and say, "Steal! Surely no one would think I would steal!"

But when we come to think it over, there are a good many ways of stealing; or being tempted to steal. There are little unfairnesses that many practise, without in the least realizing that they lead to dishonesty. A boy who cheats over his lessons goes very near the mark! A girl who borrows from her class-mate a sixpence to buy a hair ribbon, and does not return it, goes very near the mark too!

Satan is so wary, and we are so un-wary!

I heard of a dear, good woman the other day.

She had a very hard life to make both ends meet. And one day, the person who was lodging with her left her purse on the table.

The woman would never have thought of opening the purse and taking out her neighbour's money! Oh no!

Satan was too wary to suggest that!

The dear woman went to move the purse to a place of safety, and it was very full of money, and fell open, and the contents in a moment lay scattered on the floor: shillings, sixpences, half-crowns!

Then Satan saw his opportunity. As the dear woman stooped to gather the money, the thought crossed her heart: "She would never miss one of these coins! And I do need them so—"

And then the dreadfulness of the temptation came upon her, and she fell on her knees.

"Dear Lord, forgive me!" she murmured, and hurried to gather up the money, and to restore the purse to its owner. God had helped her to be brave!

What made Judas betray his Lord?

Was it not that he was a thief, and had the bag, and carried about with him what was in it?

He thought if the chief priests would give him those thirty pieces of silver, he would be a rich man all his days instead of a poor man!

Did he ever enjoy those thirty pieces of silver?

There was a boy I heard of lately, who was tempted: and he took an orange from a greengrocer's shop. But his heart smote him; and that evening he wrote this letter to the greengrocer's wife in a round, boyish hand:—

"Dear Madam,—I am very sorry for stealing an orange from you yesterday, while in your shop. I must apologize as I am a Christian, but was tempted."

Signed . . .

"I enclose a penny stamp for the cost of same."

That confession must have cost that boy a great deal to do! But he was "more than conqueror through Him who loved him!"

_IX. "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour."_

How did the wicked queen Jezebel manage to get Naboth's vineyard for her husband? It was by means of false witnesses!

She sent letters sealed with the king's seal to the nobles and elders who were in the city where Naboth lived, and ordered them to proclaim a fast, to set him up on high where all the people could see him, and to get two wicked men to give false witness against him, to accuse him of blaspheming God and the king. Then he was to be carried out of the city and stoned.

So the elders did as Jezebel told them, and poor Naboth, who had done no wrong, was cruelly killed.

And now I am going to tell you the story of the sin which brought this about.

God said in His Tenth Commandment—

_X. "Thou shall not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shall not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is his."_

Covetousness is one of the sins that hides deep in a man's heart, and if given way to may spoil all his happiness.

King Ahab had a palace at Jezreel; and near to the palace was Naboth's vineyard, which was his family possession.

As the king passed to and fro, he began to covet the vineyard of Naboth in order to make himself a garden; and at length he asked Naboth to exchange his vineyard with him for another better one, or offered to buy it from Naboth for money.

This seemed at first sight a reasonable offer; but Ahab knew perfectly well that no Jew would sell his father's inheritance, and that he valued it almost like his own life.

So Naboth refused, and the king went back to his palace heavy and displeased, and went and lay upon his bed and would not eat.

When Jezebel found out what was the matter, she begged Ahab to get up and eat; and she promised that she would get the vineyard for him!

And this was how it came to pass that those false witnesses swore away Naboth's life!

When Ahab knew that Naboth was dead, he went down to take possession of the vineyard.

But the Lord sent this message to the king by Elijah, His Prophet—

"Thus saith the Lord: Hast thou killed, and also taken possession? Thus saith the Lord: In the Place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth, shall dogs lick thy blood, even thine."

It is a very solemn thing to break God's commands. Shall we not pray, as we think of them: "With my whole heart have I sought Thee: O let me not wander from Thy Commandments!"

XVI. TAKEN FROM THE BROOK

I SAMUEL 17.12-52

A GREAT Giant had come out of the land of the Philistines to fight against the Israelites.

He was about 11 feet high-that is higher than a tall doorway, and no ordinary man could attempt to fight with him, with any hope of victory, be he ever so brave.

This Giant, Goliath of Gath, appeared every day for forty days, defying the Armies of Israel, and challenging them to send out a man to fight with him.

The Giant struck terror into the hearts of the Armies of Israel.

Now there was a youth named David, ruddy and beautiful, who was on the Mountains of Palestine, tending his father's flocks.

As he sat watching the sheep, the Holy Spirit taught him many of the Psalms we all love, such as, "The Lord is my Shepherd."

One day a lion came out of his lair and took a lamb of the flock, and David, knowing that God was his strong Helper, went out after the lion, and smote him and got the lamb out of his mouth, and when the lion turned on him, David caught him by the beard and killed him. And a bear came in the same way, and he killed him too.

One day David's father, Jesse, sent him to see how his brothers, who were at the war, were getting on; and when he reached the Camp, the first thing that he heard was the news of this dreadful Giant, who was defying the Israelites every morning and every evening.

And David said, "Who is this heathen Philistine, that he should defy the Armies of the Living God?"

David's eldest brother was angry with him for what he said; but David's words were heard by the other soldiers, and they repeated them to King Saul.

And Saul sent for him, and when David came into his presence, he said to the King, "Let no man's heart fail him because of the Giant, I will go and fight with him!"

But Saul looked at David and said, "You are not able to fight with the Giant."

Then David told the King about the lion and bear, and he said, "The Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, He will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine."

So Saul agreed to his going, and put some armour on him; but David told the King he could not go with these, for he was not used to armour.

Then David took his staff in his hand, and went to the brook and chose out five smooth stones, and he put them in his shepherd's bag that hung at his side.

Before we go on to what David did with those stones, there are two or three interesting things in this story which we shall do well to notice; for they will be, if we think of them, a great help to us in our own lives.

We all have, like David, a tremendous enemy to face. This is Satan; and he comes to us every day, like the Giant Goliath, and he tries to make us afraid. He wants us to live without thinking about God; he wants us to forget that there is a great Helper for us in every time of need.

But David truly loved God with his whole heart, and he was very brave; but it was in God's strength that he had determined to meet the Giant.

So he went to the brook, and chose some of the smooth stones that he was accustomed to use.

It was a very simple weapon; and doubtless he had often practised slinging stones, as he sat watching his sheep, and knew how to aim well.

And, if we want to conquer Satan when he tempts us to do wrong, we must take the weapon God has given us to use—which is His own word. Just say, "Lord, help me!" or "Lord, save me!" and Satan will be driven away.

I shall never forget being called to comfort a dear dying girl, who was much worried by Satan's suggestions. I stood by her bedside and quietly repeated these words of God to her, from Isaiah 59.19: "When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him."

In a moment the cloud of sorrow and fear passed from her face; and God never let Satan worry her again!

So you will find God's words will be just like David's smooth stones, when he went up to meet the Giant!

And Goliath said, "Am I a dog that thou comest to me with staves? Come to me, and I will give thy flesh to the fowls of the air, and to the beasts of the field!"

Then David answered, "Thou comest to me with a sword and with a shield, but I come to thee in the Name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel whom thou hast defied. This day will the Lord deliver thee into my hand . . . and I will smite thee, and take thy head from thee. For the battle is the Lord's."

So, as the Giant came forward towards David, David ran to meet him, and put his hand into his bag and took a stone, and slang it, and it hit the Giant on his forehead, so that he sank down on the ground on his face. Then David ran, and took Goliath's own sword, and cut off his head with it.

And when the Philistines saw that their Champion was dead, they fled, and the Israelites followed after them and the Victory was won.

XVII. THE FIRST AND SECOND COMMANDMENTS: AND HOW THEY WERE BROKEN

"I am the Lord thy God, Which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage."

_I. "Thou shalt have no other gods before Me."_

_II. "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God."_

THE Children of Israel had left Egypt. God had brought them out with a strong hand. They had left their enemies the Egyptians, some of them dead in their houses, for all the firstborn were dead; and some of them overwhelmed in the Red Sea, where they had attempted to follow the Israelites, for whom God had made a way on dry ground, through the midst of the waters.

And now God had led them about in the wilderness, for they were obstinate and disobedient, and He could not let them go into the Promised Land of Blessing, because their hearts were too hard to learn His great lessons.

In the third month after leaving Egypt, they came into the wilderness of Sinai, and the whole congregation camped before the mount.

Then God called Moses to come to Him to the top of the mountain; and here God spoke to him, and sent him down to repeat to the congregation all the words which He had told him.

And God told Moses that it was a very solemn thing for Him to speak in their hearing, so they were to set bounds round the mount, that no one should come too close.

God said that He would come to Moses in a thick cloud; but that the people should hear His Voice when He spoke, and should believe Moses for ever.

While God was telling Moses all these Commandments, on the top of the mountain, there were thunderings and lightnings, and the voice of a trumpet exceeding loud, so that all the people in the camp trembled.

Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the Lord Jehovah descended upon it in fire; and even the mountain trembled at the Presence of the Holy God.

And this was the First Commandment—

"Thou shalt have no other gods before ME!"

Nothing else in the world nearer and dearer to us than God!

I heard the other day of a terribly injured soldier, who sent this message to one who had written to sympathize in his great deprivation: "Don't pity me; the sacrifice has been worth it; for I have found God!"

Oh! What it is to learn that!

Now we come to the Second Commandment—"Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image."

When the Children of Israel stood round that mount, and heard God say that, if they would obey His voice, they should be a peculiar treasure to Him, they promised that they would faithfully keep all that the Lord said.

But I am sorry to tell you that they soon forgot their promises, and did the very thing God had told them not to do. And this was how it all happened.

Moses was up on the mount with God for forty days and forty nights, and God gave Moses the two Tablets of stone, on which God Himself had written His Ten Commandments.

But forty days and forty nights seemed a long time to the thousands of people waiting below on the plains; and they "gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said, Up! make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him!"

Then Aaron bade them bring him gold from their ornaments, and he cast the gold into the fire, and it melted down into a great piece of gold, which looked like a calf.

Aaron took a tool and moulded it, and the people said, "These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt!"

Then they offered sacrifices to the golden calf, and feasted, and rose up to dance.

"And the Lord said unto Moses, Go, get thee down; for the people have turned aside quickly out of the way that I commanded them. Now, therefore . . . let Me alone, that I may consume them!"

But Moses besought the Lord most earnestly to turn from His anger, and asked Him to remember His servants, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; and begged Him to forgive the sin of His people.

So Moses went down the mountain with God's Law in his hands. But when he and Joshua, who was with him, saw from the mount what had happened, and that the people had already broken God's two first commandments, Moses cast down the two Tablets which God had written with His own Hand, and they fell beneath the mountain and were broken to pieces.

And the Lord sent a sore punishment to the people who had sinned, and three thousand of them died.

The next day Moses went up to the Lord again, and his words of entreaty are most touching—

"Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold. Yet now, if Thou wilt forgive their sin—; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of Thy Book which Thou hast written."

"And the Lord said unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned against Me, him will I blot out of My Book."

This is an awfully solemn story. We do not read that the people themselves repented—if they had, the Holy God would have forgiven them out and out.

For He says in the 55th of Isaiah—

"Let him return unto the Lord, and He will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon."

XVIII. THE NEXT TWO COMMANDMENTS: AND HOW THEY MAY BE KEPT

_III. "Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord My God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh His Name in vain."_

THINK of the name of the person whom you love the best in the world, and then think how you would feel if you heard any one speak against that name. Would not you feel grieved? Would you not turn away from the one who spoke against that loved name? And say: "I cannot hear you speak like that—I love that name above any on earth."

Yes; if you think of it, you will see that it is so.

And if we feel so about an earthly love, and an earthly name, what ought we to feel about that "Name which is above every name"?

No wonder God says in His Holy Law: "Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord thy God in vain!"

And our Lord, in the Prayer which He has told us all to use, says—

"Our Father, which art in Heaven, Hallowed be Thy Name!" It is the first request of that wonderful prayer.

Do you see the baby boy in your home? He has hurt himself, or got into some difficulty. He can just say one single word, and that word is the only name he knows; and you hear him calling out in his distress, "Mother! Mother!" Over and over, till she comes running in, and in a moment he is in her arms!

And this brings me to a text I am very very fond of: "The Name of the Lord is a Strong Tower! The righteous runneth into it and is safe."

A few years ago a sister of mine was walking on a lonely road, and just as she was crossing a railway bridge between two brick walls a man sprang out and seized her watch and chain.

No one was in sight, and she knew she was utterly helpless, and that the man's strength would soon wrench the watch away.

Then she bethought herself of the Name of Jesus! And she called to Him aloud, "Lord, help me!"

In an instant the man relaxed his hold, dropped the watch and chain, and made off as fast as he could, and she saw him no more! Surely to her the Name of the Lord had been a strong tower, she had run into it and was safe!

And this is only one instance of very many that I have known, when the Holy Name of our God, or of our dear Saviour, is all-powerful to help us in our greatest need.

If we hallow the Name of our God in our lives now, there will be a time when we shall see His Face, and His Name shall be in our foreheads, as a token that we are His for ever.

And now we come to another thought, about another Commandment—

_IV. "Remember the sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God . . . For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth . . . and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it."_

You will see it begins with the one word—

"REMEMBER!"

What are we to remember? A father goes out in the morning, and as he turns away, he says, "Remember, children, what I have told you to do!"

So our Heavenly Father says to each one of us, about the Sundays that come every week: "Remember! This is My Day—it is the Sunday of the Lord thy God!"

Then let us rejoice that such a day is given us. A rest from our lessons; a rest from our work; a time when we can read a nice book in which we find something to help us about pleasing God.

Sunday is given us to do good in. Think how our Lord, when He was on earth, went about healing and comforting on the Sabbath Day! And He told the people "it was lawful to do good on the Sabbath Day."

If we look out for opportunities, we can think of things to do that will help others. We can paint texts to send to invalids or to cottages; we can put sacred pictures, if we have any, into scrap-books for the Children's Hospital, or we can paste some white paper on a used picture post-card, and write neatly a verse or two of a hymn, and send the cards, when done, to cheer the wounded soldiers! Such a hymn as "Fight the good fight," or "Jesu, Lover of my soul," or "I heard the voice of Jesus say."

An elder sister, perhaps, can show the little ones a Bible picture-book, and tell them some simple stories about Little Samuel or Joseph. Or she can read aloud a Sunday story-book to the others, while they paint or chalk some outlined texts.

In a large family I know, this was a very favourite occupation.

Then singing hymns! Oh, how children love hymns!

As you begin to "remember" to make God's Day a holy, happy one, you will find that there are things to do in it, for His sake, that will make you happy, too.

It is a day for worship, for rest, for peace, and for loving ministrations for others, and you will find that "in keeping His Commandments there is great reward."

XIX. THE POTTER'S VESSEL

THOSE who have visited the East tell us that even to-day the potter still sits at his work, making jars and jugs to carry the precious water from the wells.