The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1879-05-08
New York, April 27.

The lesson read was the story of Da'
vid's battle with the Philistines, with the
usual running commentaries by the pas
tor, and the following is the full text Of
the sermon of the Rev. 7. Dewitt Tai
mage:
subject-"Wise men are playing fools"
Text-First Samuel xxi, 10: "And he
changed his behavior before them, and
feigned himself mad in their hands, and
scrambled on the doors of the gate, and
let his spittle fall down on his beard"
There is one scene in the life Of David
that you may not have pondered. You
have seen him with harp playing the
devil out of Saul; with sling smashing
the skull of Goliath; with sword hack
ing to pieces the Philistines; with a
sCeptre ruling vast realm; with psalm
gathering all nations into doxology but,
in my text, you have David playing the
fool. He has been anointed King, yet
he is in exile and passing jncoglito among
the Gathites. They begin to suspect
who he is, and say; 81 wonder if this is
not the, warrior, King David? 1t looks
like him. Is this not the man about
whom they used to make poetry, and
about whom they composed dance, so
that the maidens of the land, reeling now
on one foot and now on the other, used
to sing Saul has slain his thousands, but
David has slain his tens of Thousands ?
Yes, it is very much like David. 1t must
be David. tbs David"
David, to escape their hands, pretends
to be demented. Hesaid to himself "If
I act Crazily, then of course these people
will not injure me. No one would be 50
much of a coward as to assault mad
man." So one day, while these Gathites
were watching David with increased sus-
piCion, they see him standing by the
door, and running his hands meaning
lessly up and down the panels; sCrab'
bling on the door as though he would
climb his mouth wide open, driveling
like an infant. suppose the boys Of the
street threw missiles OF him, but the So
Der people of the town said, this is not
fair. Do you not see that he has lost his
reason? Do not touch this madman.
Hands off Hands off," So DaYid es.
capped, but what an exhibition he made
of himself before all agesl There was
majesty in King Lear's madness, after
Regan and Goneril, his daughters, had
persuaded him to Danish their sister Cor
della, and all the friends Of the drama
have been thrilled with that spectacular,
The ctaziness ofMeg Merrillies was weird
and imposing, and the most telling pass
age in Walter Scott's Guy Mannering
There was fascination about the insan-
ity of Alexander Conden, who made the
best concordance of the Bible that the
world ever saw-made it between the
mad-houses.
Some time ago. while l was visiting
the insane asylum on Blackwell's Island,
demented woman came up to me and
said in most tragic style:
"God moves in a mysterious way
His wonders to perform
He plants His footsteps in the sea
And rides upon the Storm"
But there was nothing grand, nothing
weird, nothing majestic, nothing sublime
about the stimulation on the part of Da-
vid.
Instead Of trusting in the Lord, as he
had on other occasions, he gathers about
him vast audience of all the genera.
tions that we're to come, and standing on
that conspicuous stage Of history, in the !
presence of all ages, be impersonates the |
slavering idiot "And he changed his
behavior before them and feigned him
self mad in their hands, and scrabbled at |
The door of the gate, and let his spittle |
iall up on his beard"
Taking the behavior of David as sug-
yestion, l wish to tell you to-day how
many of the wise and brave and the re-
,al sometimes play the fool; and in the
irst place l remark that those men as
badly play the fool as this man of the
ext, who, in any crisis of life, take their
,ase out of the hands of God. David, in
his case, acted as if there were no God
70 lift him out of the prediCament. What
contrast between his behavior when
his brave little man stood up in front of
he giant, ten feet in height, and looking
nto his face, said; Thou comest to me
With asWord. and with spear, and with
hield, but come TO thee in the name of {
he Lord of Hosts, the God Of the armies !
,f Israel, whom thou has defed. This
lay will the Lord deliver thee into mine
land, and | will smite thee and take r
hine head from thee, l will give the car 6
'asses OF the host of the Philistines this
lay unto the fowls of the air and the {
Wild beasts Of the earth, that all the :
'arth may know there lisa God in Israel" :
between that time and this time, when '
he debased himself and bedraggled his
manhood and affected insanity in or. q
der that he might escape from the grip 8
Oh tne Gathites. In the one case he !
played the hero. In the other case he :
played the fool. So does every man who 4
Ia the great crisis of life, takes his case '
out of the hands of God. a
The life of the most insignificant man !
in this house is too vast for any human l
n Recently returning from {
the West, very easily got on the loco.