Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1891-05-08
REV. DIR. TALMAGH.
The Eminent Brooklyn Divine's Sun
~ day Sermon.
Subject: "Humdrum Abolished"

queen OJ OHcOu gaze htny solomon. -
Chronicles, tx, 8.
What is that building out yonder glitter
ing in the sum- Have you not heardy Ii il
the house Of the forest of Lebanon. KinS
Solomon has just taken to it his bride, th'
Princess of Egypt. You see the pillars OF
the portico and great tower, adorned Will
one thousand shields of gold, hung on thC
outside of the tower-five hundred OF thest
shields of gold manufactured at Solomon.
| order five hundred were captured by David
his father, in battle. See how they blaze in
the MONDAY sun .
| Solomon goes up the ivory stairs of his
throne between twelve lions in statuary. and
sits down on the back OF the golden bull, tha
| head OF the brOnZs beast turned toward the
people. The family and attendants of the
king are so many that the caterers OF the
| place have TO provide every day one hundred
| sheep and thirteen oxen, besides the birds
and the venisoD. hear the stamping and
| paving of four thousand fine horses in the
royal stables. There were important officials
! who had charge of the work Of gathering
| the straw and the harley for these horses.
King Solomon was an early riser, tradition
says. and used to take ride out at daybreas
and when in his white apparel, behind the
swiftest horses of all the realm, and followed
by mounted archers in purple as the caval-
cade dashed through the streets Of Jeru 'lem
suppose it was something worth gett ING mp
at five o'clock in the morning to look at.
Solomon was not like some Of the kings Of
the present day-erowned imbecility. All
the splenGor of his palace and retinue was
eclpSed by his intellectual power. Why, he
seemed to know everything He was the first
great naturalist the world ever saw. Pea
cocks from India strutted the basaltic walk,
and apes cbatted in the trees and deer stalked
the parks. and there were aquariums with
foreign fish and aviar.es with foreign birds,
and tradition says these birds were so well
tanned that Solomon might walk clear across
the city under the shadow OF their wings as
they lowered and fitted about him.
More than this, he had a great reputation
for the conundrums and riddles that he made
and guessed. He and King Hiram, his
neighbour used to sit by the hour and ask
riddles, each one paying in money if he could
not answer or guess the riddle The Solo
monte navy visited all the world, and the
sailors, of course, talked about the wealth OF
their king, and about the riddles and engimas
that he made and solved, and the news
spread until Queen Balkis, away off SOUTH
heard of it, and sent messengers with few
riddles that she would like to have Solomon
solve and few puzzles which she would like
w ha NN nm hbA OhAs A-AC oCiS diliDiS ObuEi
things to King Solomon a diamond with a
hole so small that needle could not pene-
trate it, asking him to thread that diamond.
And Solomon took worm and put it at the
opening in the diamond, and the worm
crawled through, leaving the thread in the
diamond
The queen also sent goblet to Solomon.
asking him to fill it with water that dill not
pour from the sky, and that did not rush out
fromthe earth, and Immediately Solomon put
a slave on the back of a swift horse AMI
galloped him around and around the park
until the horse was nigh exhausted and from
the perspiration of the horse the goblet was
filed She also sent King Solomon five
hundred boys in girls dress, and Eve hun
dred girls in boys dress wondering if he
would be cute enough to find out the decep-
ton. Immediately Solomon, when he saw
them wash their faces, knew from the way
they applied the water that it was all cheat
Queen Balkis was so pleased with tho
acuteDess Of Solomon that she said, IN just
90 and see him for myself" Yonder it
comes-the cavalcadc-hOrses and dromeda-
ries, chariOts and characters, jingling har-
ness and Gathering hoofs, ant blazing
shields, and flying ensigns, and clapping
cymbals. The place is saturated with the
perfume. She brings cinnamon and saffron
and calamuS and frankincense aud all man
ner of sweet spices. As the retinue sweeps
through the gate the armed guard inhale the
aroma. "Heltw cry the characters. as the
wheels grinds the gravel in front of the pill
Jared portico Of the king. Queen Balkis
alights in snatmosphere bewitched with per-
fume. As the drOmedaries are driven up to
the kings storo-houses, AMI the bundles Of
camphoT are unlOaded. and the sacks of Gin
namoD, and the boxes of spices are opened,
the purveyors Of the palace discover what
my text announces, 'Of spices, great abun-
dance; neither was there any such spices as
the Queen of Sheba gave TO King Solomon"
Well, my friends, you know that all the
ologians agree in making Solomon a type Of
Christ, and making the Queen Of Sheba
type Of every truth seeker and shall take
the responsibility Of saying that all tbs
spikenard and cassia and frankincense which
the Queen of Sheba brought to King Solo
mon are nightly suggestive of the sweet
spices of our holy religion. Christianity is
not a collection of sharp technicalities and
angular facts and chronological tables and
dry statistics Our religion is compared to
frankincense and to cassia, but never to
nightshaGe. 1t is q bundle Of myrrh. 1t is
dash of holy light 1t is sparkle Of cool
fountains. 1t is an opening of opaliue gates.
1t is collection of spices. Would God that
we were as wise in taking spices to our Di-
vine King as Queen Balkis was wise in TAX
ine the spices TO the earthly Solomon. What
many of us most need is 10 have the hum
drum driven out Of our life and the hum
drum out of our religion. The American and
English church will die of humdrum unless
there be change
An editor from San Francisco a few weeks
ego wrote me saying he was getting up for
his paper a symposium from many clergy
men, discussing among other things, Way
do not people 60 to church, and he wanted
my opinion, and | gave it in one sentence,
people do not go to church because they
cannot stand the humdrum." The fact is
that most people have 50 much humdrum in
their worldly calling that they do not want
to have added the humdrum of religion. We
need in all our sermons and exhortationsa and
songs and prayers more of what Queen Bal
ks brought to SOlomon-namely, more
spice
The fact is that the duties and cares of this
life, coming to us from time to time, are
stupid often and inane and intolerable. Here
are men who have been bartering and me-
gotiating, climbing, pounding hammering
for twenty years, forty years fifty years.
One great long drudgery has their life been.
Their face anxious, their feelings benumbed,
their days monotonous. What is necessary
to brighten up that mans life, and TO sweeten
that acid disposition, and TO put sparkle into
the mans spirits? The spcery of our holy
religion. Why, if between the losses of life
there dashed CLEAN of an eternal gain; if
between the betrayals of life there came the
CLEAN Of the undying friendship of Christ;
if in dull times in business we found minis
teriDg spirits flying to and fro in our Office
and store and shop, everyday life, instead of
being stupid monotone. would be n glori-
ous inspiration. pendu.umlng between calm
satisfaction and high rapture.
How any woman keeps house without the
religion of Christ TO help her is q mystery TO
me- To have to spend the greater part OF
One's life as many women do, in planning
for the meals, in stitching garments that will
soon be rent again, and deploring treakages
and supervising tardy subordinates and
driving off dust that soon again will settle,
and doing the same thing day in and day
out, and year in and year out, until their
hair silvers. and the back stoops, and the
,pectacles crawl to the eyes and the grave
breaks open under the thin sole of the shoe
Oh, it is long monotonyl But when Christ
comes to the drawing room, and comes TO
The Kitchen and comes to the nursery, and
comes in the dwelling, then how cherry be-
zones all womanly duties. She is never
lone now. Martha gets through fretting
md joins Mary at the feet OF Jesus.
All day long Deborah is happy because
he can he p Lapidoth; Hannah, because she
AN make a coat for young Samuel Miriam,
because she can watch her infant brother;
hai ho.n chn holr her. fafh