Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1895-06-08
SHAMGAR'S OXGOAD.
ITS USE AS A WEAPON AGAINST THE
PHILISTINES.

Of Uslng the Weapon We Have at Hand
For All Great EmergencIes-But We
Must Have God with Us.
NEW YORK. Juno Elm his sermon to-
day Rev. DIR. Talmagc discusses one of the
most heroic and picturesque characters in
ancient Jewish history, a man who, like
many others who achieved high distinc-
tion. came from the sturdy rural classes
the ngriculturists The subject OF the ser
mon was "Shamgar' Oxgoad, the text
being. After him was Shamgar, which
slew uf the philistincs GOO men with an
oxgoad" (Judges iii. 3l).
ono day while Shaingar, this farmer,
WAS blowing with yoke OF oxen his COM
mand of whoa haw gee was changed TO the
shout ~ battle Philistines, always rcady
"a make trouble, march up with sword
and spear. Shamgar, the plowman. had
no sword and would not probably have
known how to WELD IL II he had possessed
one But fight he must or 60 down under
the stroke Of the Philistincs. He had an
uxguad--a weapon used TO urge on the
lazy team; "A weapon about eight feet
long. with sharp iron nj one end To pune
turc the beast. and wide iron chiscl or
shovel Ut the other end with which to
scrapc the clumps Of soil from the plow-
share Yet with the iron prong at one
end II the oxgoad and the iron scraper at
the other. Il was not such weapon rs one
would desire to Use In battle with armed
Philistines. But God helped the farmer,
and leaving the oxen 60 look after them
selves he charged upon the invaders Of his
homestead
some u the commentaries 20 make 1t
easier for Shnmgar suggest that perhaps
hc led regiment Of farmers into the COM
bat. his oxguad only one Of many OK
goads But the Lord does not need any Of
you to help In making the Scriptures, and
Shamgar, with the Lord on his side. was
mighticr than 600 Philistincs. with the
Lord against them. The battle opened.
Shamgnr, with muscle strengthened by
open air and plowman's and rcapcr's and
thrslshcr's toll uses the only weapon at
hand, and he swings the oxgoad up and
down, and this way and that, now stab
bling with the iron prong at one end Of IL,
ana now thrusting with the iron scrapcr
at the other. and now bringing down the
heads Of the enemy The Philistincs are
In n panic. and the supernatural forces
come in, and a blow thnt would not I'M
der other circumstances have Frustrated or
slain left its victim llfclcss. until when
Shamgnr walked over the field he counted
100 dead, zoo dead, 300 dead, 400 dead, 500
dead, coo dead-all the work done by an
oxgoad with iron prong ut one end and
an iron shovel at the other. The fame 81
this achievement by this farmer with an
awkward weapon Of war spread abroad
and lionized him until he was hoistcd into
the highest place Of power and became the
third Of the mighty judges OF Israel. 80
You see that Cincinnatus was not the only
man lifted from pillow TO throne.
A Mighty Weapon.
For what reason was this unprecedented
and unparalleled victory Of a farmers OK
goad put into this Bible. where there was
no spare room for the unimportant and
the trivialg
II was, first Of all, 10 teach you, and 10
teach me, and 20 teach all past ages since
then. and "a teach all ages 70 come that
In the war for God and against sin we
ought t. put 10 the best use the weapon
we happen TO have ON hand. Why did not
Shamgar wait until he could get war
charger, with neck archcd, and back ca
parisoned, and nostrils shifting the battle
affair of. or until he could get war equip
mcnt, or could drill a regiment, and wheel
ing them into line command them forward
10 the chargeY To wait for that would
have been defeat and humiliation. 50 he
takes the best weapon he could lay hold
Of, and that is an oxgoad. We are called
into the battle for the right, and against
wrong. and many of us have not Just the
kind Of weapon we would prefer. II may
not be "A sword of argument. IL may not
h. the spear Of sharp. thrustlng wit. IL
may not be the battering ram Of denunci-
alton. But there Is something we can do
and some forces we can WELD. DO not
wait for what you have not. but use what
you have. Perhaps you have not eloqucnce,
but you have smile. Well, a smile Of
encouragement has changed the behavior
Of tens OF thousands OF wanderers. and
brought them back 10 God, and enihroncd
them in heaven. You cannot make n per-
suasiyc appeal, but you can set an exam
pie, and a good example has saved more
souls than you could count in year II
you counted all the timc. You cannot
give $i0, 000, but you can give as much as
the widow Of the gospel, whose two mites.
the smallest coins Of the Hebrews. were
bestowed in such spirit as 10 make her
more famous than all the contributions
that ever endowed all the hospitals and
universities of all Chrlstendom ~ all
time. You have very limited vocabulary,
but you can say Eyes" or mo, and a
firm yes" oran emphatic mo has trav-
ersed the centuries and will traverse all
eternity with good influence. You may
not have the courage 10 confront large
asscmblagc, but you can tell Sunday
school class Of two-a boy and girl-how
60 find Christ, and one Of them may he
come William Carey 20 start influences
that will redeem India, and the other "A
Florence Nightingale, who will illumine
battlehelds covered with the dying and the
dead.
That was tough case in town 81 Eng
land where a young lady, applying for a
Sabbath school class was told by the SUI
perintendcnt she would have 20 pick up
ono out Of the street The worst Of the
class brought from tho street was one Bob.
lie was fitted out with respectable cloth
ing 10y the superintendent. but after two
or three Sabbaths he disappeared He was
AtutAA nAAA HIS ltA AiAffENs
had been fighting. The second time Bob
was well clad for school. After coming
once or twice he again disappeared and
was found in rags, consequent upon fight
ing. The teacher was disposed To give
him up. but the superintendent said. Let
US try him again" and the third suit Of
clothes was provided him. Thereafter be
came until he was converted, and joined
ta e..
istry, and became "A foreign missionary,
preaching and translating the Scriptures.
Who was the hoy called Bob. The illus
trious DIR. Robert Morrison, great on earth
and greater In heaven. Who his teacher
was know MT, hut she used the oppor-
tunity opened, and great has been Ter re-
ward. You may not be able Ia load an
Armstrong gun. You may not IN. able
81 hurl Hotchkiss shell. You may not
h. able to shoulder glittering mtisket,
out Use anything YOU can lay your hands
IN Try blacksmith's hammer. or a
merchants yardstick, or a mason's trow,
el, or u carpenters plane, or n housewife.
broom, OF farmers oxgoad. One Of IN,
surprises Of heaven will he what grand re-
suits came from how simple means Mat
thias joyce, the vile man, became great
apostle of righteousness not from hearing
John Wesley preach, but from seeing him
kiss little child on the pulpit stairs
n God BE In the Work.
Again, my subject springs upon us th,
thought that in calculating the prospect,
of religious attempt we must take omnip
offence and omniscicncc and omnipres
cnoc. and all the other attributes Of God
into the calculation. Whom do You ~,
an that Moved field of my fcxf; I'm,