erman preached in the Bubbling Well Chapel, Shanghai, by the Rev. A. C. S. Trivett on Ssu day Evening, November 28
"Speak: Lord for thy servant heaver 1 Sam.
The Book of Judges closes with the significant remark, "In those days there wes no King in Israel: very man did that which was right in his own eyes," The Book of Samuel opens with the birth of one who under the providence of God was destined to usher in a new régine which should reduce this chaos to order.
The Books of Samuel might ale most be called the story of the Birth of a nation, The two book originally one, are called afta name of Samuel, not because he ling lips teaching him the first words wrote them of any part of them, he knew. It is impossible to over-but doubtless because his life occupies the principal part of the early chapters, and he is the outstanding character of the age,—Beginning during the judgeship of Eli the books narrate the story of God's dealings with the Israelites under the leadership of Samuel, Saul and David ending with the close of ife, a period of about 100 years.
At the beginning Israel the collection of scattered tribes which we read in the Book of Jude, a, the clone it is an ime The curtain rises in the ant nation, story, upon Israel under Eli, Po and morally Israel is very prosperous. For a long time Eli has een both priest and judge, Though pious and well meaning, he was fatally weak, He had no influence over his sons, who, although atroeiously evil, apparently were acting as priests. Nor could he effect any reform in Israel.
The times wore out of joint and a wise head and a strong arm were needed to set them right. And God yaiged up Samuel, He was the last and the greatest of the judges, the first of the prophets. "The " connecting link between the period of the judges and that of the mon-
Muman Interest What a wealth of what writer call "human interest" there isin the chapters with introduce the birth of Samuel, and which will be the subject of our daily Bible readings suggested in the Cathedyal leafet for the coming week, There is the vivid picture of Home in Ramah, We are introduced to Elkanah, a devout Israelite, and his yo wives, Hannah and Po jinnah, By one of the seemingly cernd dispensations of Providence the woman who would have made the infinitely better mother is barren, and suffers bitterly from the jealo and malicious tongue of her more fortunate rival.
Very delightful the Tittle re strokes in the pen picture. We ad~ mire Elkanah, a mere man extremely difficult, household, in his forts to make Hannah happy, his ifts and his comfortings, not better to thee" he sa} tan sons, Hannah."
Then there is the vivid scene in the temple court. Hannah's prayer Find her vow. Eli stands out clearly, a weak, discouraged goldman, Hopeless of all, Me accused Hannah of drunkenness but his true nobility shines through in the ready recog tion of his mistake and a gracious Dleseing. Hannah's prayer is grant-God gives her a son. She calls him Samuel, "asked of God received of God" as it is variously translated, We have an unusual wealth detail ubout the childhood of the great prophet. The Bible tells us sexy tittle about the ehildhoot of its great men. It introdaees. them ty us when thy are grown up and fit to bean their life work, and we have to guess and dimly: imagine what their young lives were like.
We know nothing of the casts @ays of Abraham, or of the child-Ked of Moses, David, St. Peter, and St, Paul Even of Jesus there only one Ueautiful.pieture given. We sce him as a boy of 12, asking aavstions in the temple, and then ame passes out of sight "until his Samuel, The account of his ently fife is really the only thing of its kind which the sacred pages tain. Tt is the story of a child's Jgrowth, 6f a child's education, of Jo child's first prayers and religious beginnings, steady development body, soul and spirit, until the child Ihecomes a man of God.
And then it tells us about mother. Now no biography is complete without that. Samuel's life began well with a praying mother the meding beside his cradle, and pray jcstimate the value of a good mother, especially of a mother like Hannah who consecrates her child to God before he is born and brings him up) jin an atmosphere of love and prayerfulness.
God can refuse nothing to al praying mother. The good Bishop Ambrose was right when he said to Monica regarding her wayward boy, "Go thy ways, and God bless thee, for it is not possible that the son of these tears should perish." Her' prayers were indeed answered, for: the wild and wayward Augustine was not only converted to the truth. of the Gospel but became one of the greatest teachers in the Chris tian Church, 'A more Feeent and in some re-Jspects a more striking example of the Hannah type of Mother is found in the wife of the late General] Booth of the Salvation Army. Mrs. [Catherine Booth dedicated everyone of her eight children to 1 vice of God before they w land God honoured her faith, for, Tike the child Samuel, they ' each ministered unto the Lord from their, The sacrament of baptism in the [Christian church is the dedication of the child to God. In that dinanee Christian parents recognize their child as a qift from God, and they vow, as did Hannah, to train. their child for His God makes certain promi he is not, slack cancer mises. Theglackness is on the human ide, on the part of the par-Jents who treat lightly their baptist mal vows and neglect to teach their jehildren that they have been con secreted to God and that it is thet duty and privilege to serve Him.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.