The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1896-07-17


believed that man was about half wrong
By the time you came to midlife you
believed that man was three-fourths
wrong. But within these past few years,
since you have been so lied about and
swindled and cheated, you have come to
the conclusion that man is altogether
wrong, and now you can say with the
prayer book and with the Bible, "There
is no health in us. !" Now you believe
with the prophet, "The heart is deceit
full, above all things, and desperately
wicked" Whatever you may have be-
lieved before, now you believe that
Mephibosheth is lame on both feet.
Restored.
Again, Mephibosheth in the text
stands for the disabled human soul
humbled and restored When this in
valid of my text got a command to come
to King David's palace, he'trembled.
The fact was that the grandfather OF
Mephibosheth had treated David most
shockingly, and now Mephibosheth says
to himself: What does the king want
of me? Isn't it enough that am lame?
Is he going to destroy my life? Is he
going to wreak ON me the vengeance
which he holds toward my grandfather
Saul? It's too bad. " But go to the pal
ace Mephibosheth must, since the king
has commanded it, With staff and
crutches and helped by his friends,
see Mephibosheth going up the stairs OF
the palace. hear his staff and crutches
rafting on the tessellated floor of the
| throneroom No sooner have these two
persons confronted each other-Mephib-
osheth and David, the king-than
Mephibosheth throws himself flat on his
face before the king and styles himself
a dead dog In the east when man
sty les himself dog he utters the ut
most term of self abnegation. 1t is not
term so strong in this country, where,
if a dog has fair chance, he sometimes
shows more mobility of character than
some human specimens that we wot OF,
but the NANCY ours of the oriental cities,
as l know by my own observation, are
utterly detestable. Mephibosheth gives
the utmost term of self loathing when
he compares himself to dog, and dead
at that.
Consider the analogy. When the COM
mand is given from the palace of heaven
to the human soul to come, the soul be-
gins to tremble 1t says: "What is God
going to do with me now? Is he going
to destroy me? Is he going to wreak his
vengeance upon me?" There is more
than one Mephibosheth trembling now
o. t1 ho
palace of divine grace. What are you
trembling about? God has no pleasure
in the death of sinner. He does not
send for you to hurt you. He sends for
you to do you good A Scotch preacher
had the following circumstances brought
under his observation: There was poor
woman in the parish who was about to
be turned out because she could not pay
her rent. One night she heard loud
knocking at the door, and she made no
answer and hid herself The rapping
continued louder, louder, louder, but
she made no answer and continued to
hide herself. She was almost frightened
unto death. She said, "That's the Off
Ger of the law come to throw me out of
my home
A few days after Christian philan-
thropist met her in the street and said:
my poor woman, where were you the
other night? l came round to your house
to pay your rent. Why didn't you let
me in? Were you at homer" "Why,"
she replied. was that your" Eyes,
that was me. l came to pay your rent. -
uWhrr ,; CHI coi1 GGif 7 ha1 bod
idea it was you l would have let you
in. thought it was an officer come to
cast me out of my home. p" o soul, that
loud knocking at the gate today is not
the sheriff come to put you in Jail; it is
the best friend you ever had come to be
your security. You shiver with terror
because you think it is wrath. 1t is
mercy. Why, then, tremble before the
King of heaven and earth calls you to
his palace? Stop trem bling and start
right away. "Oh," you say, 81 can't
start l have been so famed by sin and
so famed by evil habit can't start
am lame in both feet" Ny friend, we
come out with our prayers and sympa-
thies to help you up to the palace. If
Jou VAIN W SOo w psAoSS, you may
get there. Start now. The Holy Spirit
will help you. All you have to do is
just to throw yourself on your face at
the feet of the King, as Mephibosheth
did.
Gods Mercy.
Mephibosheth' caninal comparison
seems extravagant to the world, but
when a man has seen himself as he
really is and seen how he has been treat
ing the Lord there is no term vehement
enough to express his self condemna-
tion. The dead dog of Mephibosheth's
comparison fails to describe the mans
utter loathing Of himself. Mephibo-
sheth's posturing does not seem too pros
trate. When soul is convicted, first
he prays upright. Then the muscles of
his neck relax, and he is able to bow
his head. After awhile, by an almost
superhuman effort, he kneels down to
pray. After awhile, when he has seen
God and seen himself, he throws him
self fat on his face at the feet of the
king, just like Mephibosheth. The fact
is, if we could see ourselves as God sees |
us, we would perish at the spectacle.