The Penn's Grove record., 1894-05-25
REV. DIR.
THE BROOKLYN DIVINE'S SUN.
DAY SERMON.
The Subject: 'Recovered Families
preached at Little Rock, Ark.).

A'h' NN'INNt" wv
preached at Little Rock, Ark.).
TEXT "Thcn David and tho people TIM
were with him lifted up their voice and wept
until they had no moro power to weep.
= David recovered ALL Samuel Xxx.
4, 10.
There is intense excitement in tho village
Of Ziklae. David,and his men ara bidding
200 iby to their families and are or for the
wars. In that little village of Ziklag the de-
fenseiess ones will be safe until the warriors,
flushed with victory, come home. But will
the ~defenseless ones be safe2- The soft arms
OF children are around the necks of the
bronze warriors until they shake themselves
free an ! start, and han kerchiefs and flags
are waved AMI kisses thrown until the armed
men vanish beyond the hills. David and his
men soon get through with their campaign
and start homeward. Every night on their
way home no sooner does the soldier put his
head on the knapsack than in his dream ho
hears the welcome Of the wife and the shout
Of the child.
oh, what long stories they will nave to tell
their families of how they lodged tho bat
tleax, and then will roll up their sleeve and
show tho half healed wound. With glad,
quick step, they march on, David and his
men, for they are marching home. Now they
come up to the last hill which overlooks Xix
lag, and they expect In q moment to see the
dwelling places Of their loved ones. They
look, and as they look their cheek turns pale,
and their lip quivers, and their hand invol-
UNFAIRLY comes down on tho hilt of tho
sword. 'Where is Ziklag2 Where are our
homes?' they cry. Alas, the curling smoke
above the ruin tells the tragedy
The Amalekites have come down and con-
suned tho vi .Elge and carried the mothers,
.~1 H. -. - H. III - -
his men into captivity. The swarthy war
riors stand fora few moments transflxed with
horror. Then their eyes glance to each
other, and they burst into uncomfortable
weeping, for when q strong warrior weeps
the grief is appalling. 1t seems as If the
emotion might tear him to pieces. They
"wept untilthey had no horsepower to weep"
But soon their sorrow turns into rage, and
David, swinging his sword high in air, cries,
without fail recover all" Now the march
becomes Il "double quick" Two hundred Of
David's men stop by the brook Besor, faint
with fatigue IN grief. They cannot go q
step farther. They are left there. But the
other 400 men under David, with q sort OF
panther step, march on in sorrow and in
rage. They fed by the side of the road q half
dead Egyptian, and they resuscitate him and
compel him to tell the whole story. He says,
"Ionder they went, the captors and the cap
~tives,' pointing In the direction. Forward,
Ye 400 brave men Of FIRE!
Very soon David and his enraged company
come upon the Amalekitlsh host. Yonder
they see their own wives and children and
mothers, and under Amalekitish guard. Here
are the officers OF the Amalekitish army hold
Ing u banquet. The cups are full the music
Is reused the dance begins. The Amaleklt-
lsh host cheer and cheer and cheer over their
victory But, without note of bugle or warn
ing OF trumpet, David and his 400 men burst
upon the scene. David and his men look up,
and one glance at their loved ones In captiv-
lty and under Amalekitish guard throws
them into a very fury Of determination, for
you know how men will fight when they fight
for their wives and children. All, there are
lightnings in their eye, and every finger Is o
| spear, and their voice is like the shout OF the
w~hirlwind. Amid the upset tankarls and
the costly vlands crushed underfoot, the
wounded Amalekites lie. their blood min
Cling with their wine, shrieking for
mercy. No sooner do David and his men
win the victory than they throw their swords
down into the dnst-what do they want with
swords now?-and the broken families come
together amid o great shout Of Joy that
makes the parting scene In Ziklag seem very
lnsipid In the comparison. The rough old
| warrior has to use some persuasion before
he can get his child to come to him now
after so long an absence, but soon the little
| finger traces the familiar wrinkle across the
| Scared face. And then the empty tankards
are set up, and they are filled with tho best
wine from the hills, and David and his men,
| The husbands, the wives, the brothers, the
sisters, drink to the overthrow OF tho
Amalekites and TO the rebuilding of Ziklag.
So, o Lord, let Thine enemies perish!
Now they are coming home, David and
ais men and their families-a long pro-
1 ~o1,fA- ATnn rNroO, orI ah{II-o- LAD
\ with jewels and robes and with aVkinds of
trophies that the Amalekites had gathered
ap In years Of conquest-everything now In
the hands of David and his men. When
they come by the brook Besor, the place
| where staid the Inen sick and incompetent
20 travel, the jewels and the robes and all
Kinds Of treasures are divided among the
lick as we'll as among the well. Surely the
lame n exhausted ought to have some of
The treasures. Here is O robe for a pale
laced warrior. Here Is o pillow for this
| lying man. Hers is a handful of gold for
The wasted trurnpeter. l really think that
ihese men who tainted by the brook Besor
may have endured as much as those men
who went into the battle. Some mean fell
lows objected to the sick ones having any Of
he spoils. The objectors said, ''These men
lid not fight" David, with a magnanimous
neart, replies, 'As his part Is that goeth
down to the battle, so shall his part be that
.arrieth by the stuff"
This subject Is practically suggestIve-to me.
Thank God, in these times a man can go off
On a journey and be gone weeks and months
and come back and see his house untouched
u ~incendiary and lave his family on the
step to greet him If by telegram he has fore
told the moment OF his coming. But there
ire Amalekitish disasters, there are Amale-
kitish diseases that sometimes comes down
Upon ones home, making as devastating
work as the day when Ziklag took fire.
There are families you represent broken up.
No battering ram smote in the door, no
.conoclast crumbled the statues, no flame
eaped amid the curtains, but SO far as all
The Joy and merrlment that once belonged
20 that house are concerned the home has
departed.
Armed diseases came down upon the quiz
stness OF the ~scene-scarlet fevers or pleu-
r~isies'or consumptions or underlined disor-
1ers came and seized upon some members
Of that family and carried them away. Xix
hg in ashesl And you go about, sometimes
weeping and sometimes enraged, wanting to
get back your loved ones as much as David
and his men wanted to reconstruct their
1espolled households. Ziklag in ashes
some OF you went of from home. You
counted the days of your absence. Every
lay seemed as long as q week. Oh, how
glad you were when the time came for you
70 90 dDOaru the or railroad anu
start for homel You arrived. You went
up the street where your dwelling was, and
In the night you put o hand on tho
ioorbell, and, behold 1t was wrapped with
the signal of bereavement, and you found
that Amalakitish death, which has devas-
lated a thousand other households, had
blasted yours. You go about weeping amid
The desoiation OF your once happy home,
thinking OF the bright eyes closed, and the
noble hearts stopped, and the gentle hands
folded, and you weep until you have no
more power to weep. Ziklag in ashes
A gentleman went to a friend of mine in
the city OF Washington and asked that
through him he might get a consulship to
some foreign port. My friend said TO him
"What do you want to go away from your
beautiful home for into a foreign port2'
"Oh," he replied, my home is gone! My
six children are dead. must get away, sir.
| can't standi it In this country any longer
Giklag in ashes!
Why these long shadows OF bereavement
across thls audiencer Why is 1t taat IN Al
! most every assemblage black is the prejom
indnt color Of the APPAREL Is it b~ae1useyo'
! 4 - - II -