Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1889-10-17

| Wi, 1923.
From the New York Independent.
NoTEs.-Ihell Da1id the King 1Oent IN
To the old tent which preserved the ark
lind sat before the LOrd.-The King
dropped down on his heels, an attitude O
extreme respect practiced among th'
Egyptians. 1t was probably in this at
titude that he meditated the prayer
which he afterward, in the fullness of hi!
heart, wrote DOWN What is nay house
What is my .familg and my descendants
What is my dynasty ?-Alld to mGkt
him q nanae.-One of the pleasures of Goo
is to make himself known. The scholar
should read the first part of this seventh
chapter to understand the lesson.
INsTRUCTIoN.-The first clause in Da
vid's prayer contains a question which
every human being should ask of himself
and of mis- Maker Who am I? What
position do hold in this planets econo-
my? Am 1 plus or minus quantity
Am producer or mere consumer
Am content to live like fOur-fOOted
mammal or do | work to show forth in
my life the best method the world has
obtained of culturing the soul? Am a
burglar of Gods goods, taking my fill and
giving nothing back, or am |, to the best
of my strength, self-sacriticing, ardent
Christian?
The second question is not less impor-
tant: What is my heart? What position
does my wife, my husband or do my
children take toward this grave decision
The fisherman prefers his son to stay on
land; the drunkard curses the child who
drinks, and the atheist respects in his
family what he ridiculeS in others, stead
fast Christian hope and character. The
matter of how ones family stands in So
ciety is always necessarily important, and
plans and schemes are resOrted to in or
der to obtain the coveted position. Shall
less anxiety be displayed when the ques-
ton of the standing of ones family with
God is at issue?
The heart at times is so full that mere
language cannot express the religious
emotion. Prayer becomes silent COM
munion when that intangible boundary
between word and longing is overstepped.
PRAYER does not need words. Words do
sympathy that arises between the soul
and himself. The important thing is for
it to be there, not that it be expressed in
words.
If. in spite of counter statement, the
ratio of Christianity to heathendom is
identical with that of civilization to bar
barism, the verse has been fulfilled to this
day, "What one nation in the earth is like
thy people?" Christianity does not send
rum to Africa and import opium from
China; merchants greedy for gain do
that. God only knows what worse trades
would be consummated were it not for
the restraining influence of Christian
legislation. But Christianity has not had
her last word in this country. MOrmons
still exist Rum is rampant, and many
of the principles of freedom are still lg-
nored. Great and terrible things will be
done by God in this land if bribery is not
blotted out Justice is not done to the
Chinese and international and civil har-
mony are not typifed in ecclesiastical
bodies and Christian Churches to the
complete exclusion of disSensiOns, jeal-
ousies and fights.
1t is naive statement on the part of
David that there is none besides God sac
cording to all that we have heard with
our ears" Doubtless if David had lived
in our day his faith and common sense
would have needed refinement in proper
ton as the grossness and ignorance of
heathendOm would be replaced by the
misleading philosophy of negatiOn. Our
ears may tingle with thousand argu-
ments and questions that seem unan-
swerable to our uneducated brains. At
the same time our hearts firmly whisper
81 know" Practice is after all the sureSt
test. If we can hear of any other than
the Christian system that not only bril-
liantly promises but actually does make
better men and women, and form nobler
characters, we want it. Up to present
date 1De kqlo1D that there is none beside
our God.
1t is as solemn thing to bespeak the
blessing of that Almighty upon our home
as to cali down his curse In the one case
we openly abandon ourselves into the
power of evil passions, in the other we as
openly covenant to lead life worthy of
Gods high favor. "Bless us, o Lord, IS
the commonest of prayers and one fire.
quent on the lips of such as would mt be
granted favor or blessing by even the
town clerk. To expect the favor of the
President one must rise above the med
iocre and have some metit to offer IN re-
turn. To expect the same or greater
blessing from God one must exhibit that
in his character which shall prove worthy
of blessing. Offiee-seekers without any
merit often get an office for the persistent
asking. Blessing seekers must credit the
Almight with an intelligence that is not
deceived by the mere wagging of the
jaws. "Not every one that saith Lord,
Lord" etc.
But this lesson is a pean of thanksgiv-
ing. David has been blessed. He has
richly deserved it. He is not yet putfed
up and humbly awaits Gods oders. Let
us ioin in one chorus of thanksgiving
with David. We haven't palace of cedar
and gold-but there is home. God bless
and keen i'll