The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1889-10-16
REV. DR.. TALMAGE.
THE BROOKLYN DiVINE'S SUN.
DAY SERMON.
Subject: "The Shorn Locks OF Sam.
SON"

bind hin, to af5ict him; and are acau glrs
Mee every one of US eleven hundred pieces oJ
silrer."-Judges xvi. 5.
One THOUSAND pounds or about five thou,
sand dollars of our money, Were thus oteced
for the capture of giant. 1t would take
skillful photographer to picture samson as
he really was. The most facile words are
not supple enough to describe him. He was
giant and child; the conquoror and the de-
feated, able to snap at lions jaw, and yet
captured by the sigh of a maiden. de was
ruler and slave; a co!nmingling Of virtue and
vice, the sublime and the ridiculous; sharp
enough to make good riddle, and yet weak
enough to he caught IN tho
most superficial stratagem; honest
enough to settle his debt, and yet out
ragcously robbing somebody else to get the
material to pay it; miracle and soothing;
a crowning glory and a burning shame
There he stands, looming up above other
men q mountain of flesh; his arms punched
with muscle that can lift the gate Oh: city:
taking an attitude defiant of armed inen and
wild beasts. His hair had never been cut
and it rolled down in seven great plaitS over
his shoulders, adding to his fierceness and
terror. The Philistines want to conquer
him, and therefore they must find out where
the secret of his strength lies.
There is a woman living in the valley of
Sorek by the name of Delilah. They appoint
her the agent in the case The PhilistineS
are secreted in the same building. and then
Delilah goes to work and coaxes Samson TO
tell what is the secret of his strength. Wv ell"
he says, ''if you should take seven green
withes, such as they fasten wild beasts with,
and put them around me, should be per-
fectly powerless." So she binds him with the
seven green witheS. Then she claps her
hands and says: "They come-the Phih,-
tinesn' and he walks out as though there
were no impediment. She coaxes him again,
and says: Now tell me the secret OF
this great strength; and ne replies: If you
should take some ropes that have never been
used, and tie me with them, should be just
like other men," She ties him with the
ropes, claps her hands and shouts: They
come-ths Philistines' He walks out as
easy as he did before-not single obStruc-
ton. She coaxes him again, and he says:
'iNow,Iif you should take these seven long
plaits Of hair, and by this house loom weave
them into web. I could not get away" So
the house loom is rolled up, and the shuttle
flies backward and forward, and the long
plaits OF hair are wov.n into web. Then
She claps her hands, and says: They come!
the PhlhstineSr
He walks out as easily as he did before,
dragging part of the loom with him. But
after awhile she persuades him to tell the
truta He says: ''Ifyou should take razor.
be powerless, and in the hands of my enc
mics" Samson sleeps and that she may not
wake him up during the process of shearipg,
help is called in. You know that the BARRIERS
of the East have such a skillful way of man
ipulating the head, to this very day they will
put man, wide awake, sound asleep. hear
the blades of the shears grinding against each
other, and see the long locks falling OIL.
The shears, or razor, accomplishes what green
withes and new ropes and house loom could
not do. Suddenly she claps her hands and
says: 1.-THE Philistines be upon thee, Sam
sonm He rouses up with a struggle, buth
strength is all gone! He is in the hands Of
his enemies Ihear the groan Of the giant
as they take his eyes out and then I see him
staggering on in his blindness, feeling his
way as 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 e1hausting horizontal
motion, goes day after day, week after week,
month after month-work- work, work!
The CONSERVATION of the world is captivity,
his locks shorn, his eyes punctured, grinding
corn in GAIA. In a previous sermon on this
character learned some lessons but another
class OF lessons are before us now.
Learn first how very strong people are
sometimes coaxed into great imbecilities.
Samson had no right to reveal the secret Of
his strength. Delilah's first attempt to find
out is failure. He says: ''Green withes
will bind me" but it was q failure. Then
he says: "a new rope will hold me-" but that
also was failure. Then he says: Weave
my locks into web and that will bind me-"
yet that also was failure. But at last you
see how she coaxed it out him. Unimportant
actions in life that involve no moral prlncl-
pie may without injury be subjected to
ardent perSuasions, but as soon as you have
come to the line that separates right from
wrong, no inducement or Establishment ought
to make you step over it. Suppose man
has been brought up in Christian house
hold and taught sacredly to observe
the Sabbath, Sunday comes; you want
fresh air. Temptation says: Sunday
bigoted; we will ride forth among the works
of God; the whole earth is His temple; we
will not 60 into any dissipations: come, now,
have the carriage engaged and we shall be
back soon enough to 60 to church In the
evening; don't yield to Puritanic notions;
you will be no worse for ride in the coun-
try; the blossoms are out and they say every
thing is looking glorious We'll, | will go
they 20 over the street. conscience drowned
in the cIatter of the swift hoofs and the rush
Of the resounding wheels That tempted
man may have had moral character enough
to break the green withes of ten thousand
Philistipe ailurements, but he has been over
come by coaxing.
Two young men passing down this street
came opposite drinking saloon with red
lantern hung out from the door to Light men
to perdition. "Let us go in" says one. mo,
won't" says the other; 81 never 60 to such
places" Now, you don't say you arc as
weak as that. Why, Ihave been goi2g there
for two years and it hasn't hurt me. Come.
come now. be man. If you can't stand
anything stronger. take a little sherry. You
need to see the world as it is. l don't believe
In mtemperarce any more than you. can
stop drinking just when I want to. YOU
snail go. Now, come right along" Persuasion
has conquered. Samson yields to the coa1ing
and there is carnival in hell that night
among the PhiliStincs and they shout: ''Ha!
ha! We've got him" Those who have the
klndest and most sympathetic natures are
the most IN danger. Your very disposition
to please others will be the very trap they
set. If you were cold and harsh and severe
In your nature you would not be tampered
with. People never fondle 2 hedgehog The
most sentimental Greenlander never kisses
an iceberg. The warmth and susceptibility
CT your nature will encourage the siren.
Though strong as a giant, look out for
Dellah'S scissors. Samson, the strongest
man who ever lived, was overcome by coax
ing.
Again, this narrative teaches us the power
of an i'll disposed woman. In tho portrait
gallery OF Bible Queens we find Abigail and
Ruth and Miriam and Vashti and Deborah,
but In the rogueS' gallery Of police station
you ind the pictures OF women as well as
men. Delilah's picture belongs to the rogues'
gallary, but she had more power than all
Philistia armed with sword and spear. She
could carry off the iron gates OF Samson's reso-
luton as easily as he shouldered the gates of
GAIA The force that had killed tho lion which