Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1885-07-20
DAVIDPLAYING THE FOOL
TALMAGE THINKS HE SHOULD
HAVE DEPENDED ON GOD.

Countless
Playing the Fool Before the Lord
Folly Of Paying Out Eternity for
Time.
The following is a sermon delivered by
Rev. Dewitt Talmage, ID. D., on the sub
ject OF Acting the fool" 1t is taken from
l. Samuel, Xxi, Is, which reads as fol-
lows: "Aud be changed his behavior
before them, and feigued himself mad IN
their hands, and scTaobled on the doors
OF the gate, and let his spittle fall down
upon his beard"
There is one scene in the life Of David
that YOU may not have pondered. on
have seen him with harp playing the
devil out OF Saul; with sling smashing
the skull of Goliath; with a sword hack
Ing TO pieces the Phllisunes; with scep-
tire ruling vast realm; with psalm
gathering all nations into dOxologv; but
in my text YOU have David playing the
fool He has been anointed King, yet he
is in exile and passing incoEnlto among
the Gathites. They begin 10 suspect
who he is and say: Il wonder II this
is not the warrior. King David Il 'oks
like him. Is not this the man about whom
they used to make poetry and about whom
they composed a dance so that The maid
aud now on the other. used 70 slD2- '~a-s
has slain his thousands but David 1s>
slain his tens of thousaudsF Yes. q. IS
very much like David. Il must De David.
Its David" David to escape ttei- hands
pretends 10 be demented. He said Wl--.n
himself: al act crafty then. ot course.
these people Will not I'M IRE ne NJ one
would be so much Of a cow ara - o. So
sault mailman" So one day while these
90 d.
with increased suspicion, toey SO a.~
standing bv the doorand running his bands
meaningingiessly up and down the parcels.
scrabbling on the door As though be would
climb up. his mouth wide topen. trooiiuS
like an infant. | suppose the bows ~ tle
streets threw missiles at him; but RE
sober people Of the town said. This :
not fair. DO you not see that he has lost
his reason? Do not touch this mailman.
Hands Oh hands on ~ 50 David
escaped: but what an exhibition
he made Of himself before all
agesl There was a majesty i'm King
Lear's madness after Regain and Goneril,
his daughters. had pursuaded him 10
Danish their sister COrdelia. and all the
friends Of the drama have been thrilled
with that spectacular. The crazjness Of
Meg MerTilies was weird and imposing and
tue most telling passage in Walter SCOTS
Guy Manuering." There was a lascina-
tion about the insanity Of Alexander
Crudeu. who made the best concordance
Of the Bible that the world ever saw
made it between the madhouses. Some
time ago, while | was visiting the insane
asylum on BlackwelPs island. demented
woman came up to me and said in most
tragic style:
"God moves in mysterious way,
His wonders to perform:
He plants his footsteps Ia the sea,
And rides upon the storm"
But there was nothing grand, nothing
weird, nothing majestic. nothing sublime
nhout this stimulation on the part Of
David. Instead Of trusting in the Lord,as
DE had on other occasions, he gathers be-
fore him vast audience of all genera
tiOns that were TO come, and standing on
that conspicuous stage of history in the
presence of all the ages he impersonates
the slayering idiot! ''And he changed his
behavior before them and feigned himself
mad in their hands, and scrabbled on the
door Of the gate, and let his spittle fall
upon his beard"
Taking the behavior of David as a sug-
gestion, ! wish TO tell you how many of
the wise and the brave and the regal some
hines play the fool. And in the first place
fool as this man of the text, who in any
crisis of life take their case out of the
hands of God. David, in this case, acted
as though there were no God % lit him
out Of the predicament. What a contrast
between his behavior when this brave
little man stood up in front Of the giant,
10 feet in height, and looking into his face
sald Thou contest TO me with a sword
and with a spear and with shield; but
come TO thee in the name Of the Lord of
Hosts, the God Of the armies of Israel
whom thou hast defed. This day will the
Lord deliver thee into my hand, and will
smite thee and take thine head from thee.
and | will give the carcases OF the host of
the Philistines this day unto the fowls of
the air and to the wild beasts of the earth
that all the earth may know that there is
a God in IsraeP'-betweeu that time
and this time, when he de-
based himself and bedraggled his
manhood, and affected insanity in order
that be might escape from the grip of the
Gathites. In the one case he PLAYED the
hero; IN the other case he played the fool
SO does every man whom the great crises
OF life takes his case out OF the hands of
God. The life OF the most insignificant
man is too vast for any human manage
ment. Once, while returning from the
West, very easily got on the locomotive
while passing over the plains. and talked
with the engineer; but coming on toward
the Allegheny mountains / thought |
would like TO sit on the locomotive as il
came down from the mountains amidst
that most wonderful scenery on this con-
tinent. | asked the engineer if / might
rlde, but he courte Ously denied me, for
there the grade is so steep and so winding
and so perll0us that he must not have
any one on the locomotive who may divert
his attention when eye and hand
and foot and brain must he con.
centrated, ready for the most sud-
den emergency. Well, my friends. life
Is so steep and 50 perilous and so exposed
10 sudden surprises that none but
the Lord Almighty can guide and engineer
II, and our disasters come from the fact
that we want TO get up and help the Lord
10 manage the train. Keep OF the engine {!
Be willing 20 let God pull you where he
wants 10 pull you. You have no right for
an instant 10 surrender your sanity and
manhood as David surrendered his. Put
your trust In God and he will take YOU
through and over the mountains. | very
much suspect that all tho successful
enterprises that We're ever carried on. and
all the successful lives that have ever
been lived, have been fully surrendered 10
God. When the girl Victoria was
awakened In the night and told that the
throne Of Great Britain was hers. she said
10 the prelate informing her: 81 ask your
prayers" and then and there they knelt
down and prayed. DO you wonder that