Daily Yellowstone journal., 1889-01-27

AAe%A-A' Va ASAh Ail alAAA l4Af ill1AiH w AANn
they come by the brook Besor, the
place wherc staid the men sick and in
10 travel, the jewels and the
robes aud all kinds of treasures are
divided among the sick as well as
the well. Surely the lame and
exhausted ought 10 have somo Of the
treasure Here is q robe for this pale
faced warrior. Here is a pillow for
this dying man. Here is handful
Of gold for the wasted trumpeter. |
really think that these men who
tainted by the brook BeSor may have
endured as much as those men who
went into battle. Some mean fellows
objected to the sick ones having any
Of the spoils. The obiectors said
These men did not 6ght." David,
with a magnanimous heart, replies:
'As his part is that goeth down TO the
battle, so shall his part be that tar
rieth by the stuff.
This subject is practically suggestive
to me. Thank God, in these times a
man can go of on a journey, and be
gone weeks and months, and come
back and see his house untouched Of
incendiary, and have his family on
the step TO greet him, if by telegram
he has toretold the moment of his
coming. But there are Amalekitish
disasters, and there are Amalekitish
diseases, that sometimes come down
upon ones home, making as devastat-
ing work AS the day when Ziklag took
lire. There are families in my con
gregation whose homes have been
broken up. No battering ram
smote in the door, no iconoclast
crumbled the statues, no flame leaped
amidst the curtains; but SO far as all
the JOY and merriment that once be-
longed TO that house are concerned,
the home has departed. Armed dis.
eases came down updo the quietness Of
the scene-scarlet fevers, or plcurisies,
or consumptions, or underlined dis
orders came and seized upon some
members of that family and carried
them away. Ziklag in ashes! And
you go about, sometimes weeping and
sometimes enraged, wanting TO get
back your loved ones as much as David
and his men wanted To reconstruct
their despoiled households. Zik-
lag in ashesl Some Of you
went off from home. You counted
the days of your absence. Every day
seemed as long as week. Oh, how
glad you were when the time came for
you To go aboard the steamboat or rail
car and start for home! You arrived.
You went up the street where your
dwelling was and in the night you
put your hand on the door bell, and,
beholdl il was wrapped with the sig
nal Of bereavement and you found
that Amalekitish Death. which has
devastated a thousand other house
holds, had blasted yours. You 90
about weeping amidst the desolation
Of your once happy home, thinking Of
the bright eyes closed, and the noble
hearts stopped, and the gentle hands
folded, and you weep until YOU have
no more power 10 weep. Ziklag in
ashesl
OUR zIKIA6s In ASHES.
A gentleman went TO a friend Of
mine in the city of Washington, and
asked that through him he might get
a consulship to some foreign port Ny
friend said to him: What do you
want to go away from your beautiful
home for, into foreign portP "Oh, I"
he replied, my home is gonel Ny
six children are dead l must get
away, sir. can't stand il in this
country any longer" Ziklag in ashes
Why these long shadows OF bereave-
ment across this audiencef Why is il
that in almost every assemblage black
is the predominant color Of the ap-
pareli Is il because you do not like
saffron or brown or violet3 Oh, no
You say: ''The world is not SO bright
to MS as il once was" and there is q
story Of silent voices, and Of still feet
and OF loved ones gone, and when you
look over the hills, expecting only
beauty and loveliness, you find only
and woe. Ziklag in ashes
In Ulster county, N. Y, the village
church was decorated until the fra
GRANGE Of tho flowers was almost be
wildering. The maidens Of the vii
lage had emptied the place Of flowers
upon one marriage altar. One OF their
own number was afiianced 10 minis
ter Of Christ, who had come 10 take
her ~ ms hume. With hands joined,
amidst a congratulstory audience, the
vows were taken. In three days from
that time one Of those who stood al
the altar exchanged earth for heaven.
The wedding march broke down into
the funeral dirge. There were mot
enough flowers now for the cot
fin Id, because they had all been
taken for the bridal hour. The dead
ministerof Christ II brought TO another
village. He had gone out from them
less than = week before in his strength
now he comes homo lifeles. The
whole church bewailed him. The col.
emp PROCESSION moved around 10 look
upon the still face that once bad
beamed with messages Of salvation.
Little children were lifted up % look
at him. And pome Of those whom be
he'd comforted in days Of sorrow, when
they passed that silent form, made the
place dreadful with their weeping.
Another village emlticd Of its flowers
some Of them put in the shape Of
. cus 10 symbolic hin hope, o(hes
put In the shape Of ~ crown 70 sym,
bolise his triumph. A hundred lights
blown out in one strong g,ss from the
open door Of rpulchsr ziklAg in
sshcs.
preach this sermon today, because
| want 10 rally you. ~ David rallied
L,u mas. l,.r fllc fxrnVxrV ~ A.. l..x...