Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1889-10-11
SAMsON's sllORN LOCKS
SUBJECT or DIR. TALuAGE's SERMON
SUNDAY, SEPT. 80.
His Text Is from Judges xvi, 8, and His
Discourse Is One of the Most Powerful
of the Year-Full Report of His Re-
marks.

The subject of Dr. Talmage's sermon
| in the Brooklyn Tabernacle on Sunday.
I Sept. %, was: The Shorn Locks of
Samson" He took for his text judges
xvi, 5: "Entice him, and see wherein his
great strength lieth. and by what means
We may prevail against him, thatwe may
bind him to ailiict him; and we will give
thee every one of us eleven hundred
pieces of silver" The sermon swas as
follows:
One thousand pounds, or about five
| thousand dollars of our money, we're
thus offered for the capture of l giant.
1t would take q skillful photogfaphist
to picture Samson as lie really was. The
most facile W ords are not supple enough
to describe him. He was glad and
child; the conqueror and the dfeatod;
able to snap lions jaw and yat capt
ured by the sight OF a maiden. He was
ruler and slave; a comlningling d virtue
and vice. the sublime and the 3dicul-
| Gus; sharp enough to make a gokd rid
| die, and yet weak enough to be taught
in the most superficial stratagemj honest
enough to settle his debt, and ut out
rageously robbing somebody elsa to get
the material to pay it; miracld and Il
SOOTHING; a GROWING glory and a|ourn-
| ing shame. There he stands, looming
up above other men, a moun;ain of
| flesh, his arms punched with muscle that
can lift the gate of city, taking an at
titude defiant Of armed men md wild
beasts. His hair had neverbeei cut and
it rolled down in seven great pats over
his shoulders, adding to his llelceness
and terror. The Philistines want to
conquer him, and therefore hey must
find out where the secret of hi,,strength
lies.
There is q woman living in IT, valley
of Sorek by the name of Dclilah They
appoint her the agent i'll the cas-. The
Phllistines are secreted III tn, same
building, and then Delilah goes work
and coaxes Samson to tell what's the
secret of his strength. We'll, "le says,
it you should take seven green withs,
such as they fasten wild beasts VIII, land
put them around me, should re per-
fectly powerless." So she binls him
with the seven green withs. Thin she
claps her hands and says, They ONE
the Philistines!" and he walks put as
though there We're no impedimeh. She
the secret of this great strength" and
he replies, "If you should talk some
ropes that have never been used nd tie
me with them, L should be jpt like
other men," She ties him with the
ropes, claps her hands and houts,
They come-the Philistines' He
walks out as easy as he did befde-not
single obstruction.
She coaXes him again, and he says:
Now, if you should take these seven
long plaits of hair, and by this house
loom weave them into web, could
not get away" So the house hom is
rolled up, and the shuttle flies bpck-
ward and forward, and the long plaits
of hair are woven into a web. Theirs
claps her hands and says: They c4ne!
the Philistines!" He walks out as eaily
as he did before, dragging part oa5he
loom with him. But after a whilehhe
| persuades him to tell her the truth He
shears. and cut off this lonA hair,
should be powerless and in the lhpds of
my enemies" Samson sleeps, an(, that
| she may not wake him up duriH the
| process of shearing, help is calhd in,
You know that the BARRIERS of Thu East
have such a skillful way of maniA1lat
ing the head, to this very day, the3 will
put man, wide awake, sound aslea,. I
hear the blades of the shears griading
against each other, and I see the 5long
locks falling otfs The shears, or razor
accompEshes what green withes! and
new ropes and house loom could not do.
Suddenly she claps her hands, and
says: The Philistines be upon thee,
Samson!" He rouses up with STRUGGLE
but his strength is all gone! Heiis in
the hands of his enemies! [ hear the
groan OF the giant as they take his ewes
out, and then see him staggering on in
his blindness, feeling his way MS he
goes on toward GAIA. The prison door
| is opened and the giant is thrust in. He
sits down and puts his hands on the mill
crank, which, with exhaust1ng horizon
tai motion, goes day after day, week
after week, and month after month
| work. work, work! The CONSERVATION
OF the world in captivity, his locks
shorn, ms eyes punctured, grinding
corn IN GaZa In previous sermon on
TINS character l learned some lessons,
out another class of lessons are before
| us now.
Learn first how very strong people are
sometimes coaxed into great imbecili-
ties. Samson had no right to reveal the
secret OF his strength. Delilah's first
attempt to find out is failure He saws:
Green withes will bind me, but it was
failure: Then he says, IA new rope
VIII hold me, but that also was fail
ure. Then he says, Weave nv locks
into web and that will bind me, vet
that also was failure. But at last YOU
see now she coaNed it out of him. I'm
important actions in life that involve no
moral principle may without injury be
subjected to ardent persuasions, but as
soon as you have come to the line that
separates right from wrong, no induce
ment or Establishment ought to make
you step over it.
suppose man has been brought up
IN IL Christian household and taught sa-
credly to observe the Sabbath. Sunday
comes; you want fresh air. Temptation
Says, Sunday is just like other DAYS:
now don't be biaoted; we will ride forth
among the works Of God; the whole
earth is His temple; We will not 90 into
any dissipations; come, now, l have the
carriage engaged and we Shall be back
soon enough to go to church in the
evening; don't yield to Puritani, no.
lions; you will be no worse for a ride in
the country; the blossoms are out and
they say everything is looking glorious"
Well, will go to please you" is the
response. And out they 60 over the
street, conscience drowned in the clat-
ter OF the swift hoofs and the rush ofthe
resounding wheels. That tempted man
may nave had moral character enough
to break the green withes of ten thou