Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1895-12-20


Sermon of Comfort For Everyday Expe-
rience.
WASHINGTON. Dec. 15.-Dr, Talmage
today chose for his discourse theme
that will appeal to most people-yiz,
the petty annoyances Of life. His text
was, "The Lord thy God will send the
hornet" Deuteronomy vii, 20.
1t seems as if the insectile world were
determined TO extirpate the human race.
1t bombards the grainfelds and the or
chards and the vineyards. The Colorado
beetle, the Nebraska grasshopper, tho
New Jersey locust, the universal potato
bug seem to carry on tho work which
was begun ages ago when the insects
buzzed out of Noah's ark as the door
was opened.
In my text, the hornet flies out on its
mission. 1t is a species Of wasp, swift
in its motion and violent in its sting.
Its touch is torture to man or beast. We
have all seen the cattle run believing
under the cut of its lancet. In boyhood
we used to stand cautiously looking at
the globular nest hung from the tree
branch, and while we were looking at
the wonderful covering we were struck
with something that sent US shrieking
away. The hornet goes in swarms. 1t
has captains over hundreds, and 20 Of
them alighting on one man will produce
death.
wasps, Files and Hornets.
The Persians attempted TO conquer a
Christian city, but the elephants and the
beasts on which the Persians rode were
assaulted by the hornet, so that the
whole army was broken up and the be-
sieged city was rescued. This burning
and noxious insect stung out the Hit
ties and the Canaanites from their coun-
try. What cleaning sword and chariot
Of war could not accomplish was done
by the puncture Of an insect. The Lord
sent the hornet.
My friends, when we are assaulted
by great behemoths Of trouble we be-
come chivalric, and we assault them.
We get Oh the high mettled steed Of our
courage, and we make a cavalry charge
at them, and if God be with Us we
come out stronger and better than when
we went in. But, alas for these insectilo
annoyances Of life, these foes too small
to shoot, these things without any avoir-
dupois weight, the gnats, and the midges,
and the flies, and the wasps, and the
hornets In other words, it is the small
stinging annoyances Of our life which
drive US out and use US up. In the best
conditioned life, for some grand and
glorious purpose, God has sent the hor-
net.
I remark, in the first place, that
these small stiuging annoyances may
come in the shape Of nervous organi-
zation. People who are Frustrated under
typhoid fevers or with broken bones get
plenty Of sympathy, but who pities any
body that is nervous? The doctors say,
and the family say, and everybody says,
"Oh, she's only little nervous. that's
alp The sound Of heavy foot, the
harsh clearing of a throat, discord i'll
music, a want of harmony between the
shawl and the glove on the same person,
a curt answer, a passing slight, the
wind from the east, any one Of 10000
annoyances opens the door for the hor-
net The fact is that the vast majority
of the people in this country are over
worked, and their nerves are the first TO
give out. A great multitude are under
the strain Of Leyden, who, when he was
told by his physician that if he did not
stop working while he was in such poor
physical health he would die, respond
ed doctor, whether l live or die, the
wheel must keep going round. " These
sensitive persons Of whom l speak have
a bleeding sensitiveness. The flies love
to light on anything raw, and these peo-
pie are like the Canaanites spoken OF IN
the text or in the context-they have
very thin covering and are vulnerable
at all points. "And the Lord sent the
hornet.
In Human Guise.
Again. the small insect annoyances
NAV come to us in the shape Of friends
and acouaintances who are always say
ing disagreeable things. There are some
people YOU cannot be with for half an
hour but you feel cheered and comfort
ed. Then there are other people you
cannot be with for five minutes before
you feel miserable. They do not mean
TO disturb you, but they sting you to the
bone. They gather up all the yarn
| which the gossips spin, and retail 1t.
They gather up all the adverse criticisms
about your person, about your business
about your home, about your church,
and they make your ear the funnel into
which they pour it. They laugh heartily
when they tell you, as though it were
good joke, and you laugh, too-outside'
These people are brought to our at
tention in the Bible, in the book OF
Ruth. Naomi went forth beautiful and
with the finest of worldly prospects, and
into another land bat, after awhile,
she came back widowed and sick and
moor. What did her friends do when she
came to the city? They all went out, and,
instead of giving her common sense con-
ISOLATION. what did they do? Read the
book of Ruth and find out. They threw
up their hands and said, "ls this Mao
mi?" as much as TO say, How awful
had Won 90 look!" When l entered the
ministry, / looked very pale for years,
and every year, for four or FIVE years, 9
hundred times a year, was asked If !
had not the consumption, and, passing
through the room / would sometimes
hear people sigh and say, "A-ah, not
long for this worldW 1 resolved IN
those times that never, in any conver'
sation, would say anything depressing
and by the help of God have kept the
resolution. These people Of whom
speak reap and bind in the great harvest
| field of encouragement. Some day you
greet them with hilarious good
morning." and they come buzzing al
you with some depressing information
sThe Lord sent the hornet F"
When / see SO many people In The
world who like to say disagreeabl.,
things and write disagreeable things
49,