The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1892-06-22
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
Messiah's Reign-Psaim 72;i-i9-Jane %.
1909

Especially Arranged from S. s. Quarterly
GOLDEN TExT-All kings shall fall down be-
fore Him: all nations shall serve Him--Psalm
TILL
CENTRAL TRuTa-The Kingdom OF jesus
Christ in righteousness and peace, shall ex-
tend over oil the earth and endure forever.
HELPS OVER HARD PLACEs-i. "Give the
king" irst Solomon, then Christ "Thy
Judgments" wise decisions, as II from God
"Thy righteousness" may his outward acts be
right as Gods we're right "Thy will
be done in earth, as IL is In Heaven" 1.-THE
kings som" son OF King David, TO whom great
promises were made. "And the poor" the
test OF justice is in the treatment Of the poor
and needy. 8 THE mountains the .
hills" the whole country, the great officers and
the lesser. 6 Like rain upon the mown
grass" which was specially exposed to the
whitening heat His influence would be gentle
and refreshing to the most needy. 8 From
sea TO sea-" from the Mediterranean 10 the
Red sea, or TO the distant seas on the east TO
which Solomon's feet sailed. From the river
Euphrates. 10 "Tarshsh:" Tartessus, In
Spain, the most western port known. "Sheba; !"
Southern Arabia "Seba:" part OF Ethiopia
These words express the dimly known regions
of the south And altogether these places do
scribe, in the terms of Solomon's time. the
the whole world, as literally stated in the next
verse Nearly one-third OF the world and three
fourths OF the wealth and power are in the
hands OF Christian nations Is He shall live:"
rather they" l6 Handful OF corn" small
beginning OF glorious harvest Most give 1t
the meaning OF abundance, as in Revised Yer.
sion. The idea is that the whole country should
be one bright, sunny picture OF gladness and
fertility, the corn-helds being seen not only in
the valleys, but rising terrace above terrace,
o1n no. nj. .4d an
submits The rustling OF the corn-helds In the
wind is compared to the rustling OF the cedars
| of Lebanon, so thick shall the corn stand, so
| rich shall be the harvest The common version
| and the margin Of the revised translate 20 hand
| full OF corn" instead Of abundance" express
| ing the thought that from the smallest begin
nings, as OF Christ and His apostles, the fruits
of the Gospel will spread over all the world. In
| Christ's kingdom the abundance OF grain repre-
sents the fruits Of the Spirit All virtues shall
abound and flourish. Also that Gods people,
| the fruit of the Gospel shall be greatly In.
| creased and fill the earth At least three.
fourths of the sickness and the early deaths are
| prevcntable, They are caused by sin and ig
norance. They Of the city:" from the city
men shall flourish, spreading over the country
| like herbs and grass. Is BLESSED, etc." this
| doxoogy belongs to the whole second book oi
| which 1t is the close
LESSON NOTES.
Is there anywhere on the face of the
earth any kingdom where things go as
peacefully as the description of the verse.
of this lesson? No, certainly not, fol
even in the best of lands we are yet fal
from such state of things as is here
described. We need not cross the ocear
or go to China or Africa to find out
rageous oppression. 1t exists in Boston
Chicago, New York, Philadelphia. 70,
only need go out into the streets of any
of our cities on Saturday night to Sc,
how far we are from the state of peac
and prosperity to which the Psalms
refers. Or, if that be not sufficient, q
into any of the more crowded parts o
our cities and enter the tenemen
houses where the poor are toiling owe
their sewing machines at starvation
prices and you will be easily convince
that things here are about as wrong a
they can be. Poverty, vice, crime, stal
walton, sickness. death-all rule an
reign in these abodes of human misery
In darkest Africa we can find nothing
more heartrending than we find in GU
own beloved land, and not half a mil
from our own fresides. Oppression
there is. too, which needs only to b
| known to make our blood boil and cal
for swift vengeance. Westinghouse
defrauded of their hard-earned pittance
children overworked and underfed ig
norant, knowing nothing of the sweet
of home life, but bred to grinding tot
almost from the cradle. Drink, drink
drink everywhere, and that under tn
laws that protect the infamous traffi
and deal out death to the poor and ig
norant. If all the poor-honest poor,
mean-werc to be brought into on
huge building what sight that woul
be, putting to utter shame all the boast
ings about our modern civilization.
Is this state of things to endure for
ever? No! For we have the promise O
God that it will one day be brought t,
an end. We saw something of this il
our lesson a few Sundays ago, but it
well to dwell on it often, 60 as to assur
ourselves of the blessed truth that tn
day is coming when all these evils Wi
be righted 1t gives our poor heart
some easement to think that such is t
be the case. This very Psalm speaks G
a time toh, blessed timely when tn
poor and the oppressed shall have tina
justice which has so long been denie
to them.
How shall all this be brought about
Will it be by the preaching of angel
sent from Heaven for that purpose? NJ
Will it be by any new revelation fror
Heaven more potent than that whic
we now possess? No! Will it be by tn
working of the church along those line
along which she has been working fc
two thousand years? No! Will it b
by the giving of tell cents for foreig
missions and ten cents for home mi.
sions by church members who spend te
times that amount every day on neet
less 'luxuries? mol Well. then, no,
will it be? II will be wheE you and
awake, and make the coming of tina
blessed time the subject Of our mos
white-hot prayers, and our equal
white-hot efforts. Not till then. Ho,
utterly shameful, then, is our presen
GOODNESS in relation to all these matter.
The fact is. we have just about as goo
a world rs we deserve, and indeed jus
about as good one as we want; for
we wanted one a little better, shout
we not set about to make it SO? And
we rest listlessly at ease, is 1t not sin
ply because we are fairly well conteu
with things as they arep