The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1894-01-31
REV. DR.. TALMAGE.
THE BROOKLYN DIvNE'S sun
DAY SERMON.
Subject: "Mothers in Israeli"

at a ,oindoU. Judges V, 28.
Spiked to the ground of Jael's tent lay the
dead commander in chief Of the Canaanitish
most, General Sisera. not far from the river
Kishon, which was only dry bed OF pebbles
when in 1889, in Palestine, we crossed 1t, but
The gullies and ravlnes which ran into IN
dicated the possibility OF great freshets like
the oneat the time Of the text. General Sisera
had gone out with 900 iron chariots, but he
WAS defeated, and, his chariot wheels inter-
locked with the wheels of other chariots, he
could not retreat fast enough. and so he
leaped to the ground an ran till, exhaust
ed, he went into Jael's tent for safety. She
had just been churnlng, and when ne asked
for water she gave him buttermilk, which In
the east is considered most refreshing
drink. Very tired, and supposing he was
safe, he went to sleep upon the floor, but
Jael, who had resolved upon his death, took
a tent pin, long and round and sharp, In one
hand and hammer in her other hand, and,
putting the sharp end OF the tent pin to the
forehead Of Sisera. with her other hand she
lifted the hammer and brought 1t down on
the head of the pin with a stout stroke,
when Sisera struggled TO rise, and she
struck him again, and he struggled to rise,
and the third time she struck him, and the
commander in chief Of the Canaanltish host
lay dead. o.,-
sits amid surroundings OF wealth and pomp
and scenes palattal waiting for bis return.
Every mother expects her son to be victorl'
GUS. and this mother looked out at the win.
dow expecting to see him drive up In his
chariot followed by wagons loaded with en-
broideries and also by regiments OF men van
auished and enslaved. I see her now sitting
at the window, in high expectation. She
watches the farthest turn OF the road. She
looks for the flying dust CT the swift hoofs.
The first flash ofthe bit of the horses bride
she will catch.
The ladies Of her court stand round, and
she tells thsm Of what they shall have when
her son comes up-chains of gold and carca-
nets OF beauty and dresses of such wondrous
fabric and splendor as the Bible only hints
at, but leaves us to imagine. "He ought to
be here BY this time" says his mother. "That
battle Is surely over. hope that freshet OF
the river Kishon has not jmpeded him: i
hope those strange appearances we saw !ast
night in the sky were not ominous. when the
stars seemed to fight In their courses. NO
Mo- He is so brave in battle know he has
won the day. He will soon be here" But
alas for the disappointed mother! she will
not see the glittering headgear OF the horses
at full gallop bringing her son home from
victorious battle. As solitary messenger
arriving in hot haste rides up to the windows
at which the mother Of Sisera Sits, ne cries,
'sYour armies ere defeated, and your son is
dead" Thern Is scene OF horror and
anguish from which weturn away.
Now you see the full meaning Of my short
text, ''The mother of Sisera looked out at
window" Well, my friends, we are all out In
the battle of life it Is raging now, and the
most OF us have q mother watching and
waiting for news of our victory or defeat.
If she be not sitting at the window OF
earth, Uhe is sitting at q window OF
heaven, and she is going to hear all about 1t.
By all the rules OF war Sisera ought to
have been triumphant. He had 900 iron
chariots and q host Of many thousands
vaster than :he armies Of Israel. But
God was on the other side, and the
angry freshets Of Kishon, and the hail,
the lightning and the unmanageable
warhorses, and the capsized chariots
and the stellar panic in the sky discom-
fted Slsera. Josepnus In ms history
describes the scene IN the following words:
''When they were come to close fight there
came down from heaven great storm with
q vast quantity Of rain and hail, and the wind
blew the rain In the face of the Canaanites
and so darkened their eyes their arrows and
slings were Of no advantage to them, nor
would the coldness OF the air permit the SOL
diers to make use OF their swords, while this
storm did not so much incommode the Isra-
elites because it came on their backs. They
also took such courage upon the apprehen-
sion that God was assisting them that they
fell upon the very midst Of their enemies and
slew great number Of them. so that some OF
them fell by the Israeites, some fell by their
own horses which were put into disorder,
and not few were killed'by their own char
lots"
Hence, my hearers, the bad news brought
to the mother of Sisera looking cut ut the
window. And our mother. whether sitting
at window Of earth or awindow OF heaven,
will hear the news Of our victory or defeat
not according to our talents or educational
equipment or our opportunities, but accord
ing as to whether God is for US or against
u.s.: .,..
frequently asked in many households. 1t Is
asked by the husband as well as the child
coming in at nightfall, "Where's mother?" 1t
Is asked by the little ones when they get hurt
and come in crying with the pain, "Where's
mother?' 1t is asked by those who
have seen some grand sight or heard some
good news or received some beautiful gift,
"where's mother?' She sometimes feels
wearied By the question, Tor they al ask and
keep asking it all the time. She Is not only
the first to hear every case Of perplexity, but
she is the Judge in every court Of domestic
appeal. That is what puts the premature
wrinkles on so many maternal faces and pow.
ders white so many maternal foreheads. You
see, it is a question that keeps on for oil the
years Of childhood. 1t comes from the nurS.
cry, and from the evening stand where the
boys and girls are learning their school les
sons, and from the starting out In the morn.
ing, when the tippet or hat or slate
or book or overshoe Is lost, until
at night, all out OF breath, the young.
sters come In and shout until you can hear
them from cellar to garret and from front
door to the back fence Of the back yard,
"Where's mother2" Indeed, child's life is
50 full of that question that If he be taken
away one OF the things that the mother most
misses and the silence that most oppresses
her is the absence Of that question, which
she will never hear on earth again, except
she hears it in dream which sometimes re.
stores the nursery just as 1t was, and then
the voice comes back so natural, and SO
sweet. and 80 innocent. and so inquiring
thatthe dream breaks at the words, "Where's
mother"
II tina: question were put to most OF ne
this morning. We would have to say, II we
spoke truthtully, like Sisera's mother, she Is
at the palace window. She has become a
queen unto God forever, and she Is pulling
back the rich folds Of the kings upholstery
to look down at US. We are not told the par.
ticulars about the residence OF Sisera's
mother. but there is in that scene in thebook
of Judges so much about embroideries and
needlework and ladies in waiting that we
know her residence must have been princely
and paiatial. So We have no minute and par
ticular description OF the palace at whose
window our glori6ed mother sits, but there
Is so much in the closing chapters Of
the good old book about crowns, aid
pearls big enough to make gate out of
one Of them, new songs and marriage sup
ipers. and harps, and white horses with kings
In the stirrups, and golden candlesticks that
we know the heavenly residence OF our
mother is superb is unique. is colonnaded,
is domed, is embowered, Is fountained, Is
ploritied beyond the power of pencil or pen