Grand Rapids herald. [volume] (Grand Rapids, Mich.) 1892-1959, 1892-12-05

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bad been csressed Of fortuna WA >
mothers prids she Looked 81 her prince
~ children. But the scene ehangsA
Behold her in Punishment and bsresvs-
uasnt--Rizpah on the rock!
| Some Of tbs WORST dlstBonsss hsvs
CONS to scenes Of royalty and wealth.
What porter at tha mansions gate has
rot les in chzmpins and lsthefed steed
bringing evil dispatch7 On what tes-
selizted hall has there not stood the sol
emn bier, Under what exquisite fresco
| has there not been enacted tragedy OF
I dlsasterG What curtainsd couch hath
heard 10 cry Of pain? What harp hath
| never trilled with sorrow? What lordly
nature hath never leaned against carved
pillar and made utterancs Of wosf G~Il
Is not less better when quaffed from .
/ golden chalics than when taken from .
| pewter mug. Sorrow u often attended
By running footmen and laced lackeys
mounted behind. Queen Anne Boleyn
Il desolate in the palace Of Henry VII.
Adolphus wept in German castles
over tho hypocrisy Of friendA Pcdrs
among Brazilian diamonds shivered with
fear Of massacre. stephen Of England
sat on . rocking throne. And every
mast Of pride has bent In the storm. and
the highest mountains of honor and fame
are covered with perpetual snow. Sick
ness will frost the rosisst cheek, wrinkle
the smoothest brow and stiffen the
sprightliest step. Rizpah quits the court
" circle and sits on the rock.
| Perhaps you look back upon scenes
different from those In which now from
day,to day yen mingle. You have ex-
changed the plenty and luxuriance of
your fathers house for privation and
trials known TO God and your own
heart The morning Of life was flushed
with promise. Troops Of calamities
since then have made desperate charge
upon you. Darkness has come. Sorrows
have swooped like carrion birds from
tho sky aud barked like Sackals from
| the thicket. You stand amid your
slain anguished and woe struck. Riz-
| pah on the rock.
doff the spangled robes Of the Persian
court and go forth blasted from the pal
ace gate. Hagar exchanges oriental
comfort for the wilderness Of Beer
sheba- Mary. queen OF Scots, must pass
out from fattsry and pomp to suffer
/ ignominious death In the castle Of Foth-
eringay. Tho wheel of fortune keeps
turning. and mansions and huts ex-
change. and he who rode the chariot
pushes the barrow, and instead Of the
glare OF festal lights Is the simmering
Of the peat Ere, and IN place Of Sauls
| palace is the rcck-the cold rock, the
desolate rock.
VERY PRESENT HELP m TIME OF
TROUBLE
But that is the place to which God
comes. Jacob, with his head on stone,
saw the shining ladder. Israel in the
desert beheld the marshaling OF the fiery
baton John ON barren Patmos heard
trumpeting, and the clapping of wings,
| and the stroke Of seraphic fingers on
golden harps. and nothing but heavenly
strength nerved Rizpah for her appalling
mission amid the scream Of wild birds
and the stealthy tread Of hungry mon
sters. The grandest visions Of glory. the
most rspturous experiences of Christian
love, the greatest triumphs Of grace have
come to ths tried, and the hard pressed,
and the betrayed, and the crushed. God
STOPPING down from heaven to comfort
Rizpah on tho rock.
AgAn, the tragedy Of the text dis
plays tho courage Of woman amid great
emergencies. What mother or sister OF
daughter would dare to 60 ont to fight
the cormorant and jackals Rizpah did
it. And SO would you il an emergency
demanded. Woman is naturally timid
and shrinks from exposure and depends
on stronger arms for the achievement of
great enterprises. And she is often
troubled lest there might b occasions
demanding fortitude whom she would
fail. Not so. Some Of those who are
| afraid to look out Of the door after night
fall, and who quake in tho darkness at
the least uncertain sound, and who start
1t tho slam Of tho door and turn pals
In . thunderstorm, II the day Of trial
came, would be heroic and invulnerahle.
God has arranged it so that that wom-
an needs the trumpet Of some great con-
test Of principle or affection to rouse MP
her slumbering courage. Than she will
stand under che crossfre of opposing
hosts at Chalons to give wine to the
wounded. Then she viii carry into
prison and dark lane the message Of sal
walton. Then she will brave the pesti-
lencc. Deborah goes out to sound ter
ror into the hearts of Gods enemies.
| Abigail throws herself between raiding
party Of Infatuated men and her hus-
bands vineyards. Rizpah fights back
the vultures from the rock.
Among the Orkney islands IN eagle
swoeped and lifted child to its eyre
far Up on the mountains With the
spring Of q panther the mother mounts
hill above hill. crsg above craR, height
above height. the fire OF her own eye
cutasshing the glare Of the eagles, and
with unmsilsd hand stronger than the
iron beak and the terrible claw she
huris the wild bird down the rocks.
In the French revolution Gazette was
brought out TO be executed. when his
daughter threw herself on the body Of
her father and said: Strike. bsrbarisnsl
You cannot reach my father bat through
my heartf' The crowd parted, and link.
ing arms father and daughter walked
out free.
During the siege Of Saragosea Angus
tina carried refreshments TO the gates.
| Arrivir~ &C the battery OF Portillo she
n 4