The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1889-02-07
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
yas Weekly Discourse Of the Great
Brooklyn Preacher
Sublect, "T'hc March Eaome-
ward"


ward"
TEXT: "Rwsue; for thou shalt surely
orertake them, and tcithout fail recover
aA"-I Samuel, xxx, s
There Is intense excitement in the village
Of Ziklag. David and his mon are bidding
goodbye to their families, and are oil for
the wars. In that little village of Ziklag the
defenseless ones will DO safe until the war
riors, flushed with victory, como home But
viii the deienseless ones 10 safel Tho soft
arms OF children are around the necks OF the
bronzed warriors until they shake them
solves free and start and handkerchiefs
and flags are waved and kisses thrown
until the armed men vanish beyond the
hills David and his men soon get
through with their campaign And start home
ward. Every night on their way home, no
sooner does the soldier put his head on the
knspsack thnn in hls dream he hears the
Welcome of the wife and the shout of the
child. oh, what long stories they will have
20 tell their families, of how they lodged the
oattle'ax! and then will roll up their sleeve
quick step they march on, David and his
men, for they are marching home. Now
which overlooks Ziklag, and they expect
In moment to see the dwelling places Of
their loved ones. They look, and as they
quivers, and their hand involuntarily comes
down on the hilt of the sword. "Where is
Zklagf Where are our homess' they cry,
Alas! the curling smoke above the ruin tells
the tragedy. The Amalekites have come
down and consumed the village and carried
the mothers and the wives and the children
OF David and his men into captivity. The
swarthy warriors stand for few moments
transfixed with horror Then their eyes glance
at each other, and they burst into uncon-
trolable weeping; for when strong war
rior weeps, the grief is appalling. It seems
They "wept until they had no more power TO
weep" But soon their sorrow turns into
rage, and David, swinging his sword high in
the air, cries; pursue, for thou shalt over
take them, and without fail recover
doob,e now the rI march n becomes g
pavids qG mem stop "0 by nu the brook *
Besor, faint with fatigue and grief. They
cannot go step farther. They are left
there. But the other four hundred men un.
der David, with a sort of PAM her step, march
on in sorrow and in rage. They find by the
they resuscitate him, and compel him to tell
the whole story. He says: "Yonder they
went, the captors and the captivos' rointing
in the direction. Forward, We four hun.
dred brave men Of flrel Very soon
David and his enraged Company
COiHo upon Iue AHldieklIiSn most. Onder
they see their own wives and children and
mothers and under Amalekitish guard Here
are the officers of the Amalekitsh army hold
ing banquet. The cups are full, the music
is reused, the dance begins The Amalekitish
host cheer and cheer and cheer over
their victory. But, without note of bugle
or warning of trumpet, David and his four
hundred men burst upon the scene, suddenly
as Robert Bruce hur.ed his Scotchmeu upon
the jewellers at Bannockburn. David and
his men look up, and one glance at their loved
ones in captivity and under Amslekitish
guard throws them into a very fury of de-
termination for You know how men
wives AN and Children. Al, ' there Ua 'n are
lightnings in their eye, and every finger
is SPEAR and their voice is like the Shout of
the whirlwlnd Amidst the upset tankards
and the costly viands crushed underfoot, the
wounded Amalekites lie their blood ming
ling with their wine shreking for mercy.
No sooner do David and his men win the VIC
tory than they throw heir swords down
into the dust-what do they want with
swords now!-and the broken families
come together amidst great shout of
Joy that makes the parting scene in
Ziklag seem very insIpd in the COM
parison. The rough old warrior has to use
some persuasion before he can get his child
to come to him now after so long an absence :;
but soon the little finger traces the familiar
wrinkle across the Scared face. And then
the empty tankards are set up, and they are
filed with the best wine from the hills, and
David and his men, the husbands, the wives,
the brothers, the sisters, drink to the over
throw Of the Amalekltes and to the rebuilding
OF Ziklag. SO, o Lord, let thine enemies perish?
Now they are coming home, David and his
men and their families-a long procession.
Men, women and children, loaded with
jewels and robes and with all kinds OF
trophies that the Amalekites had gathered
up in years of quest-evel ything now in
the hands of Davi and his men. When
they come ty the brook Besor the place
where staid the men sick and incompetent
to travel, the jewels and the robes
and all kinds o; treasures are divided
among the sick as well as among the well,
Surely, the lame and exhausted ought to
have some of the treasures Here is a robe
for this pale faced warrior. Here is pillow
for this dying man. Here is handful Of
gold for the wasted trumpeter. l really
think that these men who tainted by the
brook Resor may have endured as much as
those men who went INTO battle. Some mean
fellows objected to the sick ones having any
OF the spols, The DIRECTORS said: "These
men did not fight" David, with a magnani
nous heart, replies: 'As his part IS that
goeth down to the battle, so shall his part b.
that tarrieth by the stuff"
This sub ect is practically suggestive Il
me. Thank God in these times a men car
go of on journey, and be gone weeks and
months, and come back and see his house I'M
touched of incendary, and have his family
on the step to greet him, if by telegram he
has foretold the moment of his coming. But
there are Amalekitsh disasters and there
are Amalekitish diseases, that sometimes
come down upon ones home, making as de-
vastating work as the day when Ziklag took
nre There are families in my congregation
whose homes have been broken up. No bat
G9rlnp-ram smOta in tho dpnt No noploe al
crumbled the statues no flame leaped amidst
the curtains; but so far as all the Joy and
merriment that once belonged to that house
are concerned. the home has departed
Armed diseases came down upon the quiet
ness of the scene-scarlet fevers, or p'eurisies
or consumptions, or underlined disorder!
came and seized upon some members of thai
family, and carried them away. Ziklag ir
ashes And you go about sometimes weep
ing and sometimes enraged, wanting to gel
back your loved ones as much as Davit
and his men wanted to reconstruct theil
OF you went off from home You counted
the days of your absence. Every day seemed
as long as week. Oh, how glad you wer,
when the time came for you to go aboard thu
steamboat or rail car and start for home
You arrived. You went up the street where
your dwelling was, and in the night you pu
your hand on the door bell, and. behold il
was wrapped with the signal Of bereavement
and you found that Amaektish Death
which has devastated thousand othe
households, had blasted yours. You so abou
weeping amidst the desolation of your one
happy home, thinking of the bright eye
closed and the noble hearts stopped, and tn
gentle hands folded, and you weep until yo
have no more power to weep. Ziklag il
ashes!
A gentleman went to a friend of mine 4
the city of Washington, and asked tina
through him he might get a consulship t
some foreign port. My friend said to him
What do you want to go away from you
beautiful home for, into foreign port
"Oh," he replied, my home is gonel My 81
children are dead! 1 must get away, sill
| can't stand it in this country any longer.
Ziklag in ashesl
Why these long shadows of bereavement
across this audiencel Why is it that in a
most every assemblage black is the predom
nant color of the APPAREL Is it because you
not like saffron or brown or violetl Oh, nc
You say: The world is not SO bright to U
as it once was;" and there is a story of slen
voices, and of still feet, and OF loved one
gone, and when you look over the hills, 81
pecting only beauty and loyelness, you fin
only devastation and woe. Ziklag in ashes
In Ulster County, New York, the villag
church was decora tad until thu frapranca q