notwithstanding these fair speeches, the king stood self-condemned; the very sight of the good old man, invested as he was with sacred authority, must of itself have alarmed him; he must have felt that the attempt to deceive a person so commissioned was nearly hopeless: he must have been conscious that his sophistries deserved no reply; and accordingly the prophet, instead of reasoning on the subject, appeals to him with a question, which must have sunk into his soul, Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt-offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord? behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.* Thus was the whole web of his sophistry swept away in a moment, and further vindication he had none to offer.

The dissimulation of Saul is abundantly obvious; but is not this the sort of reasoning by which a deceived heart frequently draws us aside from the path of duty? Are we not too apt to indulge the idea that, if by any means we can quiet our own consciences, we shall also stand acquitted in the sight of God? "No person," we are inclined to argue, " can strictly keep the commandments: with respect to our* Verse 22.

selves, we have a great reverence for them; but in such a world as this, where there are so many temptations to seduce us, so many interests to be consulted, so many embarrassing duties to be discharged, we must sometimes be contented to do things which we cannot precisely and altogether approve: our intentions however are good; we are always desirous to honour God, and it is well that He looks to the heart; He cannot be ignorant of the motives of our conduct; and, all things considered, we hope that, if we are less strict than His precepts seem to require, every allowance will be made for our infirmities, and that we shall not come into condemnation. It is impossible for any man to be perfect; and surely a moderate conformity to the world, and a reasonable kind of regard to our own interests, will never be visited with severity by a gracious and merciful God." But what, my brethren, is the act of disobedience which may not be vindicated by such reasoning as this? Where is the worldly spirit which cannot find shelter under such a plea? And will it avail with Him who requires obedience? the unqualified and unreserved obedience of the heart and life?

Consider, what will such excuses be

worth in the hour of death, and at the day of judgment.

(3.) A third circumstance to be noticed in the character of Saul is the insincerity of his repentance.

So long as there was the slightest hope of deceiving the prophet, the king flew from one evasion to another without any expression of remorse but when he perceived how decisive was the man of God in reproving him for his disobedience, and especially when he heard the awful sentence, Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, He hath also rejected thee from being king;* then he began to show symptoms of regret.

I have sinned, he re

plies, for I have transgressed the commandments of the Lord and thy words. If this had really been the language of his heart, if he had indeed felt his transgressions and had uttered these humiliating acknowledgments in a right spirit, the prophet would then probably have consoled him with the assurance the Lord also hath put away thy sin; but it is too evident, from all the circumstances of the case, that the feeling of his mind did not correspond with his declarations.

* Verse 23.

For, in the first place, instead of doing that which true penitence would have suggested, instead of casting all the blame upon himself, acknowledging his transgression without reserve, he seems in the very act of confession to seek some palliation of his sin: Because, said he, I feared the people and obeyed their voice: * "I should never have fallen into this sin if I had not in some measure been overcome by others: the people could see no reason for the literal fulfilment of the command; and although I confess that I ought to have withstood their solicitations, yet I cannot but feel myself to be exonerated from a great part of the guilt." Is this the language of a true penitent? Is it in this way that a sinner is to come to the fountain of mercy? Is he to palliate his transgressions, to vindicate himself in the eyes of his Maker, to urge it as a circumstance in his favour, that others were partners in his delinquency? The man who is truly penitent will be willing to take the shame entirely to himself; he will feel that he is a sinner; and instead of seeking for excuses he will seek for pardon only; his prayer will correspond with that of the Psalmist, Have mercy upon me, O God, ac

* Verse 24.

w.w

cording to Thy loving-kindness, according unto the multitude of Thy tender mercies, blot out my transgressions; wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.*

2. The insincerity of the repentance of Saul appears, secondly, in his wish to obtain chiefly or exclusively forgiveness from the prophet.

Now, therefore, I pray thee pardon my sin.† Instead of being sensible that he had sinned against God, he looks no higher than the minister of God.. Forgetting that Samuel was only the bearer of the message, Saul appears chiefly alive to the consequences of his displeasure. We have in this also an evidence of his worldly mind: Samuel had declared that God had rejected Saul from being king; Saul entertains some hope that Samuel had power to mitigate the sentence; and, thinking only of his crown, applies for reconciliation merely to a fellow-creature. How different from this is the language of true contrition! The words of the real penitent are those of the Psalmist, Against Thee, Thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Thy sight. In the instance of David, an irreparable injury had been done to one of † Verse 25.

* Ps. li. 1, 2.

Ps. li. 4.