St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1896-09-05

rafting on the tessellated door Of the
throne room. No sooner have these
two persons confronted each other
Mephibosheth and David, the king
than Mephibosheth throws him
self flat on his face before the
king, and styles himself dead
dog. In the east when . man styles
! himself . dog he utters tho ut.
most term Of self-abnegation- II ID
not . term SO strong in this country.
where, If . dog has . fair chance, he
sometimes shows more nobility Of
character than some human specimens
that we wot Of; but the NANCY ours
of the oriental cities, as know by my
own observation, are utterly detesta-
bic. Mephibosheth gives the utmost
term of self-lothing when he compares
himself to dog, and dead 1T that.
Consider the analogy. When the
command is given from the palace Of
Heaven to the human soul to come. the
soul begins to tremble. 1t says: "What
is God going to do with mo now? L.
He going to wreak His vengeance up
on me?" There is more than one Me-
phibosheth trembling now, because
God has summoned him to the 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 un-
der 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 q
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 al
most frightened unto death. She said:
That's the officer of the law como 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? Icsme round to
your house to pay your rent. Why
didn't you let me in? We're you at
homer" why" she replied, twas that
you?" 'Yes, that was me; came to
pay your rent" "Why," she said, iii
l had had any idea it was you would
have let you in. I Thought it vas an
officer come to cast me out Of my
home" o soul, that loud knocking at
thy gate to-day is not the sheriff come
to put you in Jail; it is the best friend
you ever had come to be your secu-
rity. You SILVER 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 pal
ace? Stop trembling and start right
away. .'Oh," you say, II can't start
have been SO famed by sin, and SO
famed by evil habit. can't start. / am
lame in both feet" My friend, we
come out with our prayers and sympa-
thies to help you up to the palace. II
you want to get to the palace you may
get there. Start now. The Holy Spirit
will help you. All you have to do il
just throw yourself on your face at the
feet Of the King, as Mephibosheth did.
Mephibosheth's caninal comparison
seems extravagant to the world, but
when a man has seen himself rs he
really is, and seen he has been treat
ing the Lord, there is no term We
hement enough to express his self-con-
domination. The dead dog of Mephi-
bosheth's comparison fails to describe
the mans utter loathing of himself.
Mephibosheth's posturing docs not
seem too PROSTATE. When q soul
is convicted, first he prays up
right. Then 1.-The muscles of his
neck relax, an1s -; b able to bow his
head. After awhile, by an almost su-
perhuman effort, he kneels down to
pray. After awhile, when he has seen
God and seen himself, he throws him
self on his face at the feet of the King,
just like Mephibosheth. The fact is, If
we could see ourselves &God sees MS.
we would perish at the spectacle. You
would have no time to overhaul other
people. Your cry would be; God be
merciful to me, sinners
And again: Mephibosheth,i in my text
stands for the disabled human soul
saved for the sake of anatAer. Mephi-
bosheth would never have got into the
palace on his own accoast: Why did
David ransack the realm- to find that
poor man, and then beStbw upon him
a great foEt9RsstaR&scenman farm
er by: the name OF .Ziba to culture the
estate and give TO this invalid Me-
phibosheth half the proceeds every
year? Why did King David make
such = mighty stir about . poor fell
low who would never be of any use
to the throne of Israel? 1t was
for Jonathan's sake. 1t was what
Robert Burns calls for 'auld lang
syne." David could not forget what
Jonathan had done for him in other
days. Three times this chapter has It
that all this kindness on the part of
David to Mephibosheth was for his
father Jonathan's sake. The daughter
of Peter Martyr, through the vice of
her HUSBAND, came down to perjury,
and the senate of Zurich took care of
her for her fathers sake. Sometimes
. person has applied to you for
help, and you have refused him;
but when you found he was the son or
brother of some one who had been
your benefactor in former days. and
by = glance you saw the resemblance
of your old friend in the face of the
applicant. you relented, aud you said:
''Oh, will do this for your fathers
sake" You know by your experience
what my text means. Now, my friends,
it is on that principle that you and /
are to get into the Kings palace.
The most important part of every
prayer is the last three or four words
Of it-.'For Christ's sake" Do not
rattle off those words rs though they
were merely the finishing stroke Of the
prayer. They are the most important
part of the prayer. When in earnest
ness you go before God and say, For
Christ's sake, it rolls In, rs il were.
upon Gods mind all the memories
Of Bethlehem and Gennesaret and
Golgotha. When you say be-
fore God, For Christ's sake" You
hold before Gods mind every groan,
every tear, every crimson drop Of His
only begotten Son. If there Is any
thing in all the universe that will move
God to an'act- Of royal bensfaction Il