The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1889-12-25

ner of love the Father hath bestowed
upon us, that we should be called the
sons Of God? Who aspires not for that
royalty? Come now, and be kings and
priests unto God and the Lamb forever.
If wealth and wisdom could have sat-
isfied man, Solomon would have been
satisfied. To say that Solomon was a
millionaire gives but very imperfect
idea of tho property he inherited from
David, his :ather. He had at his COM
mand gold to the value of 1850, 0O0, 900 and
he had silver to the value Of 81, 029, 600, 977.
The Queen of Sheba made him nice
little present of 972O,0OO, and Hiram
made him present Of the same amount.
II he had lost the value Of whole realm
out of his pocket it would have hardly
been worth his while to stoop down and
pick it up. He wrote one thousand and
five songs. He wrote three thousand
proverbs. He wrote about almost every
thing. The Bible says distinctly he
wrote about plants, from the cedar OF
! Lebanon to the hyssop that groweth out
of the wall, and about birds and beasts
and fishes. No doubt he put of his royal
robes and put on hunters trappings and
went out with his arrows to bring down
the rarest specimens Of birds; and then
with his fishing apparatus he went down
to the stream to bring up the denizens
of the deep, and plunged into the forest
and found the rarest specimens of flow
ers; and then he came back to his study
and wrote books about zoology, the
science of animals; about ichthyology,
the science of fishes; about ornithology,
the science of birds; about botany, the
science of plants. Yet, nothwithstand-
ing all his wisdom and wealth, behold
his wretchedness, and let him pass on.
Did any other city ever behold so Won
derful man? o Jerusalem, Jerusalem!
But here passes through these streets,
as in imagination l see him, quite as
wonderful and far better man. David
the conqueror, the king, the poet. Can
it be that am in the very city where he
lived and reigned? David great for
power, and great for grief. He was
wrapped up in his boy, Absalom. He
was splendid boy, judged by the rules
Of worldly criticism. From the crown
of his head to the sole Of his foot there
was not single blemish. The Bible
says that he had such luxuriant shock
of hair that, when once year it was
shorn, what was cut off weighed over
three pounds. But, notwithstanding all
his brilliancy of appearance he was a
bad boy and broke his fathers heart. He
was plotting to get the throne of Israel.
He had marshaled an army to overthrow
his fathers government. The day of
battle had come, and the conflict was
begun. David, the father, sat between
the gates of the palace waiting for the
tidings Of the conflict Oh, how
rapidly his heart beat with emotion!
Two great questions were to be decided
the safety of his boy and the continu-
ance of the throne Of Israel. After
a while, servant, standing on the
top of the house, looks of, and he sees
some one running. He is coming with
great speed, and the man on the top Of
the house announces the coming of the
messenger, and the father watches and
waits, and as soon as the messenger
from the field of battle comes within
hailing distance the father cries out Is
it question in regard to the establish.
ment of his throne? Does he say;
"Have the armies of Israel been vic.
torious? Am to con tinue in my i'm.
perial authority. Have overthrow
my enemies?" o, no. There is one
question that springs from his heart tc
the lip, and springs from the lip into the
ear Of the besweated and bedusted mes
senger flying from the battlefeld-the
question: SIS the young man Absalom
safe?" When it was told to David, the
King, that, though his armies had been
victorious, his son had been slain, the
father turned his back upon the con
gratulations of the nation, and went uI
the stairs of his palace, his heart break
ing as he went, wringing his hand,
sometimes, and then again pressing
them against his temples as though ht
would press them in, crying: 20 Absa
:om. my son! my son! Would God had
died for thee, o Absalom! my son! my
son!" Stupendous grief of David re
sounding through all succeeding ages
This was the city that heard the woe
o Jerusalem, Jerusalem
l am also thrilled and overpoweret
with the remembrance that yondel
xuhn c<ondu Mnho ,aIo .
mosque stood the temple, the very one
that Christ visited. Solomon's temple
had stood there, but Nebuchadnezzal
Numbered it down. Zerubbabel's temple
had stood there, but that had been pros
trated. Then Herod built temple be
cause he was fond of great architecture
and he wanted the preceding temples Il
seem insignificant. Put eight or ter
modern cathedrals together, and the,
would not equal that structure. 1t GOV
cred nineteen acres. There were marbl,
pillars supporting roofs of cedar, ant
silver tables on which stood golden cups
and there were carvings exquisite ant
inscriptions resplendent, glittering bal
ustrades and ornamental gateways
The building of this temple kept tel
, thousand workmen busy ,forty-six years
Stupendous pile of pomp and magnifi
, cence' But the material and architect
! ural grandeur of the building were yer,
, tame compared with the spiritual mean
{ ing of its affairs and holy of holes, an,
| the overwhelming significance of it
/ ceremonies. o Jerusalem, Jerusalem
/ But standing in this old city all othe
facts are eclipsed when we think tina