The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1889-01-25


went into battle. Some mean fellow
objected to the sick ones having any
of the spoils. The directors said
"These men did not fight" David
with q magnanimous heart, replies
GAS his part is that goeth down to thu
battle, so shall his part be that tar
rieth by the stuff"
This subject is practically suggestive
to me. Thank God, in these times 9
man can 60 off 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
fire. 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 upon the quietness Of
the scene-scarlet fevers, or pleurisies,
or consumptions, or underlined dis
orders came and seized upon some
members of that family and carried
them away. Ziklag in ashes And
vo,, oro about cO,,,ofsnnoc vuoonip n opd
sometimes enraged, wanting to get
back your loved ones as much as David
and his men wanted to reconstruct
their despoiled households. Xix
lag in ashes! 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 tho door bell, and,
behold it was wrapped with the sig
nal of bereavement, and you found
that Amalekitish Death, which has
devastated thousand other house
holds, had blasted yours. You go
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 to weep. Ziklag in
ashes!
OUR zIKLAGs IN ASHES.
A gentleman went to friend of
mine in the city of Washington, and
asked that through him he might get
a consulship to some foreign port. My
friend said to him: "What do you
want to go away from your beautiful
home for, into foreign porte" "Oh,"
he replied, my home is gone! My
six children are dead! I must get
away, sir. l can't stand it in this
country any longer" Ziklag in ashes
Why these long shadows Of bereave-
ment across this audience2 Why is it
that in almost every assemblage black
- 1he ,rolog of the ap
pafeff Us IL because yOuldO not like
saffron or brown or violet2 Oh, no
You say: 'The world is not SO bright
to us as it once was;" and there is a
story of silent voices, and of still feet,
and of loved ones gone, and when you
look over the hills, expecting only
beauty and loneliness, you find only
devastation and woe. Ziklag in ashes
In Ulster county, N Y, the village
church was decorated until the fra
GRANGE of the flowers was almost be-
The maidens of the vii
lage had emptied the place of flowers
upon one marriage altar. One of their
own number was affianced to a minis
ter of Christ, who had come to take
her to his home. With hands joined,
amidst congratulatory audience, the
vows were taken. In three days from
that time one of those who stood at
the altar exchanged earth for heaven.
The wedding march broke down into
The funeral dirge. There were not
flowers now for the cof-
I'm lid, because they had all been
aiken for the bridal hour. The dead
minister of Christ is brought to another
village. He had gone out from them
ess than week before in his strength;
1ow he comes home lifeless. The
whole church bewailed him. The SOL
,mn procession moved around to look
Upon the still face that once had
)eamed with messages of salvation.
Little children were lifted up to look
It him. And some of those whom he
lad comforted in days of sorrow, when
hey passed that silent form, made the
,lace dreadful with their weeping.
Another village emptied of it's flowers
some of them put in the shape of
cross to symbolic his hope, others
tut in the shape of a crown to sym
'olize his triumph. A hundred lights
'lown out in one strong gust from the
pen door of sepulcher. Ziklag in
shes!
preach this sermon today, because
want to rally you, as David rallied
lis men, for the recovery of the loved
nd the lost. want not only to win
leaven, but want all this congrega-
ion to go along with me. I feel that
l have responsibility in
our arriving at that great city. I
ave on other Sabbaths used other in
ucements. l mean today, for the
AXE of variety, hoping to reach your
cart, to try another kind of induce
1ent. Do you really want to join the
ompanionship of your loved ones who {
ave gomez Are you as anxious to
Din them as David and his men were
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