The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1871-07-15

& MN He who leads back the soul, diseased,
SIN hardened Or weary. ID the freshness Of na-
ture-so her pure stars and CHRISTENING deWs, and
calm soIItudes, does more oHen TO recover the
erring. revive the dropping, sootne the eo1fo"Ihg
and purify the fallen, than any otnef neA'el u
human maladIes. 30 DayIa oeTa
Ta-nra and sImoper OF all her healthiul IN
auences. and his strains lead Us still through al
her haunted bowers. See how minute ana yet
how vide his range IN this one field Of song:
.. Praise the Lord from the earth. ye dragons and al
deeps
Naa5,.f1s and All h7Ils. fruitful trees and all cellars /;
Beasts aud all cattle, creeping things and nying
owls"
Or hear him when his harp is ehorded to win
ter's rough blast
He giveth snow Ike wool He seattereth the boar
frost Ike ashes
He casteth forth his ice ike mOrsels-Hho can stand
before his cold?
pc senderb out his word and meltsth them He
eauseth his wind TO blow and the waters hoW."
Or again amid the sounding tempest:
.Tbe voice Of the Lord is upon the waters, the
God Of Glory thandereth, the Lord Is upon many
waters: The voice Of the Lord breaketh the cedars,
yea the Lord breaketh the eedars OF Lebanon Inc
voice Of the Lord divideth the flames Of FIRE The
voice OF the Lord shaketh the wilderness The Lord
shaketh the wilderness Of kadeth."
Or by the shore Of the Great Sea:
"The foods have lifted up, o Lord. the foods
have lifted up their voice The foods lift up their
waves ; The Lord On high is mightier than the noise
of many waters, yea than the mighty waves Of the
sea"
Or if you would go at once the whole round
Of nature with him, read the 10th Psalm.
Bot David was not alone in the wilds of ma
ture. He was a shepherd then. alone OF men
bat with his fOcks. Who can tell how much his
earliest calling deepened his soul in all its capa-
cities Of tenderness, gentleness or pity, or what
Suggestions of provident administrative wisdom
it lodged with him for the grand charge coming
upon him. Certainly but for this he had never
sung for Us such a strain as the Odd Psalm:
The Lord is my shepherd. 1 shall not want He
maketh me to lie down in green pastures He leadeth
me beside the still waters"
Or the SOth
Give ear. o shepherd of Israel, thou that leadest
Joseph like a flock"
But be sings for the men of war, as well az for
men of peace. How the martial notes ring, as
be enters the cloud of battle or energies with
victory on his crest:
"It is God that girdeth me with strength .
He teacheth my hands TO war, so that a bow Of steel
is broken by mine arms | have pursued
mine enemies and overtaken them 3 L have
wounded them that they were not able to rise.
By thee I have run through a troop, and by my God
have | leaped over a wall. . Thou hast guided
me with strength Unto the battle"
Hear his strain under persecution, when the
snares Of Saul so closely beset his life, and learn
the secret Of overcoming:
Deliver me from mine enemies, o my God, de-
fend me from them that rise up against me a" "
9 For 10 they lie in wait for my soul, the mighty are
gathered against me. . Awake to help me and
behold "
Read the psalms of his exile, the 54th, the
57th, the 63d, the l43d, (are you good at re-
membering figures? psalms that have been dear
to banished men, psalms that were loved by Eng
lish Alfred and Scottish Wallace, strains often
taken up by souls driven out from peace into
loneliness and gloom. Save me-" David calls
when the Zephites would deliver him up to his
enemy:
"Save me, o God, by thy name and judge me by
against me, and oppressors seek after my SOUL"
Flying along the arid wilderness, as desolate
ones many times since have fed, he breathes out
his plant for them as for himself:
go God. thou art my God. . 3 Ny soul thirst
eth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in q dry and
thirsty land, where no water is"
Out Of the hiding shadows of the cave of
AduIlam floats a deep whisper, unheard by the
armed men treading by. but audible in the high
est heavens.
"Be merciful unto me, o God, be merciful unto
me, for my soul trusteth in thee, yea in the shadow
of thy wings will | make my refuge, until these
calamities be Overpast."
David had a large experience of affection and
trouble. His soul was often under a cloud. He
dwelt in the midst of ravening lions, and they
were often let loose upon his life. He sounded
the depths of human desUlation, without home,
without country, without friends, without bread,
on all the horizon of earth no light of hope, and
only the star of faith shedding its ftful beam
through the rack of the night drift. And the
voices pressed out of him by this weight of dim
gloom have in them a most exquisite pathos that
goes 10 the quick of every sorrowful heart. The
world is full of trouble. No light hearted
musician, no festal harp can sing for the stricken
and comfortless. David went Town to these
deeps of sorrow. and their great waves and bill
lows surged over him, that he might furnish
afflicted spirits through all time a vent for their
anguish, and turn the wall Of their grief into a
chant of praise. You will notice in all the
psalms of his sad hours, bow the strain struggles
up from TIE letters OF depression and ere it dies
away scars like a free bird into the sunlight of
heaven. Take a verslfcation of the 9th Psalm
as an instance
"Gently, gently lay thy rod,
On my sinful head, o God
Stay thy wrath. in mercy stay,
Lest L sink beneath its sway.
Heal me. for my flesh is weak,
Heal me, for thy grace 1 seek.
Ih1s, my only plea, L make,
Heal me for thy mercy's sake
Lo, he comes, he needs my plea
Lo, he comes, the shadows fee,
Glory round me dawns once more,
Rise, my spirit, and adore ="
Many a respondent one has borrowed his
chiding, and rebuked iainting patience and dark
ened faith with his words-uttered in the wilder
ness of the Jordan as he fed from the usurpation
of Absalom.
go my God, my soul is cast down within me
therefore will l remember thee from the land Of
Jordan, and of the Hermonites from the hill Mir
zar.'
The burden is a very heavy one to bear, his
heart sinks down like lead, the notes are at first
like the tones of a mufied drum ; but as he sings
he feels the uplift of a heavenly gravitation, and
the plaintive melody, like a cloud edged with
gold, is brighter as it closes with a tinge of JOY.
why art thou cast down, o my soul, and why
art thou .disquieted within met hope thou in God,
for | shall yet praise him, who is the health Of nv
countenance and my God"
But our experience of calamity is not our sad