Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1888-09-13
IOB'SCOMFORTER S.
DR.. TaImage Draws Some Va disable
Conclusions from the Sorrows Of job.

DIR. TaImage Draws Some Valuable
Conclusions from the Sorrows OF Jobs
Easr HAMrros, N. T., Sept 1.-The Rev:
Taimage, D. D., who spends d good part "
his summer rest herr. took for the subject OF
his vacation sermon OF this date, "PiasteFs
That viii Not Stick His text was, "Miscr-
able Comforters are Ye all" JOB. chap.
xvi, v. y Following is the sermon;
The man ofuz had a great many trials-
the loss Of his family, the loss ofhis property,
the loss OF his health; but the most exasPer-
ating thing that anne upon him was the
tantalixing talk of those who ought 10 have
sympathized with him. Looking around
upon them, and weighing what they had
said. he utters the words OF my text.
Why did Col let sin come into the world2
1t xas a question | often hear discussed, but
never satisfactorily answered. God made
the world fair and beautiful at the start. IL
our first PATENTS had not sinned in Eden they
might have gone out o! that garden and
found 20 paradises all around the esrtli-
Europe. Asia, Africa, North and South Amer
iea-so many flower gardens or orchards OF
fruit, redolent and luscious. | suppose that
when God poured out the Gihon and the
Hiddekel b. poured out, at the same time,
the Hudson and SusquehaBna; the whole earth
was very fsir and beautiful to look uron
Why did it not stay so? God had the power
to keep back sin and woe. Why I'D he not
keep them back7 Why not every cloud
roseate and every step n joy. and every sound
music. and all the ages a long jubilee of Sin
less womenf God can make n rose as easily
as He can r1ake 0 thorn. Why. then, the
predominaace Of thorns? He can make good,
fair, ripe frsait as well us gnaried and sour
fruit. Why SO much, then, that is gnarted and
SPUR? Hecaa make men robust inhealth. Why,
then, are there so many inyaiids? Why not
have for our whole race perpetual leisure,
instead of this tug and toll and tussle for q
livelihood? | will tell you Why God let san
come into the ~world-xhen | get on the other
sile Of the River Of Death. That h. the place
where such questions viii I've answered and
such mysteries solved. He who this side that
river attempts to answer the question only
Illustrates his own Ignorance and ineompet-
eBey. An know is one great fact, and that
is that a herl of woes have come upon US,
trampling dowH everything fair and beauti-
full A sworn at the gate of Eden. and q
sword at every gnte. More people nBder the
ground than on it. The graveyards in vast
majority. The 5000 winters have made
more scars than 5000 summers can cover up.
Trouble has taken the tender heart af this
world in it's two rough hands and pinehed It
until the nations wall with the agony. II all
the mounds of grayeyards that have been
lifted were put side 10y side ron might step on
them and on nothing else, going all around
the world, and around ng;lin, and around
4 .arai, These no The facts And now l have
to say that. in a world like This, the grandest
occ apatIcn is that ofgiyiHg coincidence. THIS
holy science of importing comfort to the
troubled We ought all OF us to study. There
are many OF YOU Who could look around MP
on some of your sery best friends. who wish
you well. and are very intelligent, and yet he
able truthfully TO say To them in your days
of trouble, "MiserabIee omfoTters are We all
remark, in the first place, that 'rery rolu,
bic people are incompetent for the work Of
giving comfort. Bildad aud Eiiphat and the
gift OF language, and with their words almost
bothered Jobis life ont. Alas for th.se yoiu-
bic people that go among the houses of the
afflicted and talk, and talk, and talk, and
talk They rehearse their own SORROWS. and
then they tell the poor sufferers that they
feel badly now, but they viii feel worse
after n while. Silcncel Do you expect,
with q thin eourtpIaster of words. to heal a
wound deep as the soul? Step very gently
around about a broken heart. Talk very
softly around those whom God has bercft.
Then go your way. Deep sympathy has not
much to say. A firm grasp Of the hand, a
compassionate look, just one word that
means IN much as n whole dictionary, and
you have given. perhaps, all the comfort
! that a soul needs. A man has a terrible
wound in bie arm. The surgeon comes and
binds it up. Now" be says, carry that
arm in a sling, and he very careful of it. Let
no one touch it, But the ~neighbors nave
heard OF the accident, and they come in, and
they say. Let us see it" And the bandage
IL pulled of, and this one and that one must
feel it, and see how much it is swollen; and
there is irritation, and Inflammation, and ex-
ASPIRATION. where there ought to be healing
and cooling. The surgeon comes in and
says, What does all this meant You have
no business TO touch those b~slndages- That
wound will never heal unless you let it alone
So there are souls broken Town in sorrow.
/ What they most want IL rest, or very careful
and gentle treatment; but the ueighhors have
heard OF the bereavement or OF the loss. and
they come in to sympathize, and they say,
Show us now the wound. Whit were his
last wordsf Rehearse now the whole scene.
How did you feel when you found you we're
an orphnn?' Tearing of the bandagcs here.
and pulling them on there. leaving a CHASTITY
wound that the balm Of Gods grace had
| already begun to heal. Oh, let M ioauacious
people, with eyer-rattllng tongues go into
the homes of the distressed
Again | remark that all those persons are
incompetent to give any kind ofcomfort who
act merely as worldly philosophers They
rome in and say, why, this is what you
ought to have expected. The laws OF nature
must nave tIisir way" and then they can get
| eloquent over something they have seen in
postmortem examinations. ko., away with
all human philosophy at such n time What
difference does il make TO that father and
mother what disease their son died of lie
IL dead and it makes no difference whether
the trouble was in the epigastric or hypogas-
tric region lfthe philosopher be of the sto-
ieai school he will come and cay: you
ought TO control your feelings. You
must cultivate a cooler temperament. You
must have self-reiiaucr. self-goyernmeut. self
CONTROL an iceberg reproving n hyacinth for
having q drop of dew In it's eve. A vioiinist
has his instrument, aud he sweeps his fingers
across the strings, now evoking strains OF
joy, and now strains of sadness. lie can not
play all the tunes on one string. The human |
soul ~ nm instrument of u thousand strings,
and all sorts Of emotions we're made to play
on it. Now an anthem, now n dirge. 1t is no
evidence OF weakness when one is overcome
Of sorrow. Edmund Burke was found in the
pasture-fieid WITH his arms around a horses
neck, earessing him, and some one said. |
why, the great man has lost his mindii |
No; that horse belonged to his son who had
recently died, and his great heart broke over
the grief. IL is no sign o fweakness that men
hFe OVERCOME ol their soFruWs. Thank Tod
for the relief of tears. Have you never been
in trouble when you could not weep, and YOU
would have given anything for a good cry?
David did well when he incurred for AbsaIom.
Abraham did well when he bemoaned Sarah.
Christ did well when lie wept for Lazarus:
and the last man fwant to see come any
where near me when | nave any kind Of
trouble is "a worldly philosopher.
Again | remark that those persons are in
competent for the work OF comfort bearing
who have nothing b~utcantto offer. There are
those vino have the idea that you must groan
over the distressed and afflicted. There are
times in grief when one cheerful face dawpjnr
upon a mans soul is worth 81, 900 to him
Do not whine over the afflicted. Take the
promises of the gospel and utter them in a
manly tone Do not he afraid to smilc if Won
feel hike 1t. Do not drive any more hearses
through that poor soul, Do not tell him the
trouble was foreurdaiped; it will not be any
comfort TO know it was "A million years com
ing. If you want to find splints for a broken
bone, do not take cast iron. Do not tell
them It IL Gods Justice that weighs our grief.
They want NOW to hear of Gods tender
mercy. In other words. do not give them
aqua FORTS when they need v~alerian.
Again | remark that those persons are
poor comforters who have never had any
trouble themselves. A larkspur cannot lee
ture ON the MIXTURE of n snowflake aud those
people who have always lived in the summer
OF prosperity cannot talk to those who are
frozep in disaster. God keeps aged PEG ple
Nj the world, ] think, for this very work of
| sympathy. They have been through all
these trials. They know all that which
irritates and all that whiehsootbes IL there
are men and women here who have old pco-