Fort Worth weekly gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1890-12-25

| is the only time you ever see the back OF
his head. He fails on his face and be-
gins to whine, and he says: 'Oh, Lord
God, wherefore hast thou at all brought
this people over Jordan to deliver us into
the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us!
Would to God we had been content and
dwelt on the other side of Jordan. For
the GUARANTEES and all the in habitants OF
the land shall hear of it, and shall 81
viron us round and cut off our name
| from the EARTH.
am very glad Joshua said that. Be-
fore, it seemed as if ne were super
| natural being, and therefore could not
| be an example to US; but I find he is
| man, he is only man. Just as some
times you find a man under severe OPP
position, or in a bad state Of physical
health, or worn out with overwork,
lying down, and signing about every
thing being defeated. 1 am encouraged
when l hear this cry of Joshua as he lies
| in the dust.
GOD COMES AND RoUSEs HIM.
How does he rouse him? BY compli-
| mentary apostrophe? No. He says:
"Get thee up. Wherefore Hest thou
| upon thy face?' Joshua rises, and l
warrant you with mortified look. Blu,
his old courage comes back. The fact
was, that was not his battle. II he had
been in II he would have gone on to vic
| tory. He gathers his troops around him
and says: "Now, let US go up and
capture the city of All; let us go up
right away
They march on. He puts the major
ity OF the troops behind a ledge of rocks
in the night, and then he sends COM
in nf
the city. The men of Al come out with
shout. The small regiments Of israel
ties in stratagem fall back and fall back
and when all the men of All have left
the city and are in pursuit of
these scattered. or seemingly scattered
regiments, Joshua stands on q rock
l see his locks flying in the wind as he
points his spear towards the doomed city,
and that Is the signal. The men rush
out from behind the rocks and take the
city, and 1t is put to the torch, and these
lsraelites IN the city march down and
the flying regiments OF Israelites return,
and between these two waves of Israeli
fish proves the men of All are destroyed
and the lsraelites gain the victory; and
while see the curling smoke o: that de-
stroyed city on the sky, and while hear
the huZza of the Israelitss ard the groan
of the Canaani:es, Joshua hears some
thing louder than it all, ringing and
echoing through his soul: ''There shall
not any man be able to stand before thee
all the days of thy life
"FoRwARD, MARCH,
But this is no place for the host of
Joshua to stop. Forward, march!'
cries Joshua to the troops. There is the
city of Gideon. 1t has put itself under
the protection Of Joshua. They send
word: 'There are five kings after US;
they are going to destroy US; send troops
quick; send us help right away. -
Joshua has three days. march more
than double quick. On the morning OF
the third day he is before the
enemy. There are two long lines Of bat
tie. The battle opens with great slaugh-
ter, but the Canaanites soon discover
something. They say: "That is Joshua;
that is the man who conquered the spring
freshet aud knocked down the stone wall
aud destroyed the city of All. There is
no use fighting.'' And they sound a re-
treat, and as they begin to retreat
Joshua and his host spring upon them
like a panther, pursuing them over the
rocks, and as these Canaanites, with
sprained ankles and gashed foreheads.
retreat the catapults of the sky pour a
volley of hailstones into the valley, and
all the artillery of heaven, with bullets of
iron, pound the Csnaanites against the
lodges of Beth boron.
tOhi' says Joshua, rthis is surely q
victory but do you not see the sun
is going DOWN. 1hose Amorites are 60
ing to get away after all, and then they
will come up some other time and bother
ban n ba
sun is going down. Oh, for longer day
than has ever been seen in this climate!
What is the matter with Joshuap
Has he fallen into an apoplectic
fit? No. He is in prayer. Look
out when a good man makes the Lord his
ally. Joshua raises his face,
RADIANT WITH PRAYER,
and looks at the descending sun over
Gideon and at the faint crescent of the
moon, FOR you know the queen of the
night sometimes will linger around the
palaces of the day. Pointing one hand
at the descending sun and the other hand
at the faint crescent of the moon, In the
nnme of that God who shaped the worlds
and moves the worlds, he cries: "Sun,
stand thou still upon Gideon; and thou
moon, In the valley of Ajalon.' They
halted. Whether il was by refraction Of
the SUMS rays, or by the stopping of the
whole planetary system, 1 do not know,
and do not care. / leave 1t to the Chris
tan scientists and the infidel scientists to
settle that question, while l tell you
have seen the same thing. 'Whati'
say you, "not the sun standing still?'
Yes. The same miracle is performed
nowadays. The wicked do not live out
half their day, and the sun sets at noon.
But let a man start out In battle for God
and the truth, and against sin, and the
day of his usefulness is prolonged and
prolonged and prolonged.
John Summerfield was consumptive
Methodist. He looked fearfully white,
1 am told, as he stood in old Sands street
church in Brooklyn. preaching Christ,
aud when he stood on the anniversary
platform in New York pleading for the
Bible until unusual and unknown glories
rolled forth from that book. When he
was dying his pillow was brushed with
the wings of the angel from the skies,
the messenger that God sent down. Did
John Summerfield 3 sun set? Did John
Summerfeld' 3 day end? Oh! no. He