The Penn's Grove record., 1895-12-20
RET. lR. TaLuAGE.
The Eminent Divine's Sunday
Sermon.
Subject. "The Petty Annoyances
of Life.''

TEXT: 'sThe Lord thy God will send the
hornet. "-Deuteronomy vii, 20.
1t seems as II the i~nsectile world were de-
ermined to extirpate the human race. II
bombards the grainfelds and the orchards
and the vineyards. The Colorado beetle.
the Nebraska grasshopper. the New Jersey
locust, the universal potato bug seem to
carry on the work which was begun ages ago
when the insects buzzed out of Noah's ark
as the ark was opened.
In my text, the hornet flies out on its mis-
sion. 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 eau
tiously looking ar the globular nest hung
from the tree branch, and while we were
looking at the wonderful covering we were
struck vita something that sent us shrieking
away. The hornet goes In swarms. 1t has
captains over hundreds. and twenty of
them alighting on ons man will produce
death.
The Persians attempted to conquer q
Christian city, but the elephants and the
beasts upon which Persians o were
assaulted by the hornet, SO that the whole
army was broken up n the besieged city
was rescued. This burning and noxious In
sect stung out the Utilities and the Canaan
mites from their country. What cleaning
sword and chariot of war could not accom-
pijsh 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 become
chiyalric, and we assault them. We get on
the high melted steed of our courage, and
we make a cavalry charge at them, and II
God be with US we come out stronger and
better than when we went Id. But, alasl for
these i~nsecttle annoyance OF life, these Toes
TOO small to shoot. these things without any
| avoirdupois weight, the gnats, and the
midges, and the flies, and the wasps, and
the hornetsi In other words, it Is the small
| singing annoyances Of orr life which drive
us out and use US up. In the best con-
ditioned life. for some grand and glorious
purpose. God has sent the hornet.
1 remark, In the first place, that these
small singing a~nnoyances may come in the
| shape OF nervous organization. People who
: are Frustrated under typhoid fevers or with
/ broken bones get plenty of sympathy, but
who pities anybody that Is nervous? The
doctors say. and the family say, and every
body says, 'Oh, she's only O little nervous,
that's alIF' The sound OF q heavy foot, the
harsh clearing of d throat, o discord in
music, a want of harmony between the
| shawl and the glove on the same person, a
curt answer, a passing slight, the win from
the east, any one of 10, 600 annoyances opens
the door for the hornet. The fact is that
the vast majority of the people in this coun-
try are oyerworked, and their nerves are the
first to give out. A great multitude are un-
der the strain OF Leyden, who, when he was
told by his physician that II he did not stop
working while he was in such poor phys
ical health he wonld die. responded, doc
tor. whether l live or die, the wheel must
keep going round" These sensitive persons
of whom I speak nave a bleeding sensitive
! ness. The files love to light on anything
raw, and these people are like the Canaan
ties spoken OF in the text or In the context
| they have q very thin covering and are vut-
nerable at all points. "And the Lord sem
| the hornet"
Again, the small insect annoyances may
som to US In the shape Of friends and ac-
uuaintances who are always saying disagree
able things. There are some people You
cannot be with for an hour but you feel
cheered and comforted. Then there are
other people you cannot be with for nve
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 you business, about
your home, about your church, u they
make your ear the tunnel into which they
pour 1t. They laugh heartily when they tell
you, as though It were a good JOKE, ana you
laugh, too-outstde.
These people are brought to our attention
in the Bible, In the pool of Ruth. Naomi
went forth beautiful and with the finest o.
worldly prospects, and into another land
but, after awhile, she came back widowed
and sick and poor. What did her friends dc
when she came to the city2 They all wen
out, and, instead OF giving her common
sense consolation, what did they dor Read
Z the book OF Ruth and find out. They threw
up their hands and said, SIS this Naomi?" as
much as to say, How awful bad you az
look!' When I entered the ministry, J
looked very pale for years, and every year
for four or five years, a hundred times I
year, l was asked II 1 had not the consump.
tion, and, passing through the room 1 woult
sometimes hear people sigh and say, "A-ah
not long for this worldi" / resolved in thos,
times that I never, in any conversation
would say anything depressing, n BY the
help of God I have kept the resolution
These people OF whom / speak reap ant
bind nthe great harvest field OF discourage
ment. Some day you greet them with a hi
larious "good morning." and they com'
buzzing OF you with some depressing tnfor-
nation. arhe Lord sent the hornet"
When Isee so many people in the worit
who like to say disagreeable hings ant
my weaker moments to balteve what 9 mar
said to me In Philadelphia n Monday
morning. I went to get the horse q
the livery stable, and the hostler, q ptatr
man, said to me, "Mr. Talmage, I saw tina
you preached to the young Uer yesterday.
i said, EYES" He said, ssHo use, no use
mans a failure"
The small insect ~annoyances Of life some
times come In the shape of local physica
trouble, which does not amount to a posi-
tive prostitution, but which bothers 20,
when you want to feel the best. Perhaps l
is a sick headache which has been heplagu'
i of your life, and you appoint some oc
notrth -, annfahfttv nP nuQfuinaQQ
and when the clock strikes the hour you can
not make your appearance. Perhaps tn
trouble is between the ear n b forehead
in the shape OF a neuralgia twinge. Nobod,
can see it or sympathtze with 1t, but Just a
the time when you want your inteliec
~elearest, and your disposition brightest, yo'
feel q sharp, keen, diseoncerting thrust
.The Lord sent the hornet"
Perhaps these small insect a~nnoyances vii
some in the shape of a domestic irritation
The parlor and the kitchen do not Away
harmonic. p get good service and to kee
1T is one of{.ie greatest questions OF tn
country. Sometimes It may be the ARC
sancy aud inconsIderateness of employee:
: but whatever be the fact we all admit Their
a are these insect annoyanees wtngtng the
! way out from the culinary department. !
4 the grace Ct God be not in the heart OF tn
~housekeeper, she cannot maintain her equ'
! i Hbrium. The men come home at night an
L near inc StOfy Vi tno50 uAAhoJoASoSf cAN 10y
: sob. these home troubles are very It'll
l fhings!', They are small. small as wasp
but they sting. Martha's nerves were all un
strung when she rushed in asking Christ I
scold' Mary, and there are tens Of thousand
of ii who are dying, stung to death b
t these pesttferous domestic annoyance
1.-THE Lord sent the hornet"
These small insect disturbances may ais
come in the shape OF business irritation
There are men here who went through lSs
and the Gath Of September, 1868, withov
losing their balance, who are every. day III
horsed by little annoyanees-a clerks I
manners, or a blot Of ink on a bill OF ladinl
or the extravaganza OF a partner who owe
draws his account, or the underselling
q business rival. or the whispering OF stol
condolences In the street, or the making
ONE little bad debt which was against you
hdgment. just to please somebody else.
II is not the panirs that killthe merchants
fanics come only once in ten or invent,
Fears. 1t is the constant din OF these every
! lay ~annoyanees which is sending so man,
"A IL our best merchants Into nervous dyspepsi
ind paralysis and the grave. When u M
honal fell fiat on lis face, Thea
y .Aa,S Ha1f Slnnazf Aa6ant- hu