Ceredo advance. [volume] (Ceredo, W. Va.) 1885-1939, 1896-07-22

10 Ming David's palace. he trembled.
The fact was that the grandfather of
Mephibosheth had treated David most
shockingly, and now Mhibosheth says
to hinself What does the king want
OF me? Isn't il enough that | am
lame? Is he going to- destroy my Efe?
Is he going TO wreak on me the
vengeance which he holds toward my
| grandfather Saul? It's too bad" But
go to the palace Mephibosf eth 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 tes-
sellated floor of the thronc-room. No
sooner have these two persons con front
ed each r-Mcphibosheth and David
the king-than Mephibosheth throws
himself flat on his face before the king,
and styles himself dead dog. In
the east, when "A man styles himself n
dog, he utters the utmost term of self
abnegatioD. 1t is not n term so strong
in this country, where, if IA dog has a
| fair chance, he sometimes shows more
nobility of character than some human
specimens that we wot of; but the
many ours of the Oriental cities rs /
know by my own observation, are ut
terly detestable. Mephibosheth gives
the utmost term of self-loathing when
he compares himself to n dog, and dead
at 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 me now? Is
he going to destroy me? Is He going
! To wrcak his vengeance upon me?'
There is more than one Mephibosheth
trembling now, because God has sum-
moned him to the palace of divine
grace. What are you trembling about?
God has no pleasure in the death of
sinner. lie does not send for you to hurt
you. He sends for you to do you good
a Scotch preacher had the follow
ing circumstances brought under his
observation: There was n poor woman
in the parish who was about to be
turned out because she could not paw
her rent.
One night she heard loud knocking
at the door, and she made no answer.
and hid herself. The rapping continu-
ed louder, louder, louder, but she made
no answer and continued to hide her.
self She was almost frightened unto
death. She said: That's the officer
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? i came round to your
house to pay your rent. Why didn't
you let me In? Were you at homer"
why" she replied, twas that
your Yes, that was me; 1 came to
pay your rent" Why" she said, ''ifI
had had any idea it was you would
have let you in. l thought it was an
officer come to cast me out of my
home" Oh, 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 security. You shiver with ter
ror 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 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" NV
! friend, we come out with our prayers
and sympathies to help you up to the
palace. If you want TO get to the pal
ace 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 Of the King, as
Mephibosheth did.
Mephibosheth's caninal comparison
seems eXtravagant to the world, but
when man has seen himself as he re-
ally is, and has seen how he has been
treating 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 de-
scribe the mans utter loathinp of
himself phibosheth's posturinp
does not seem too PROSTATE.
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 su-
perhuman effort he kneels down to
| pray. After awhile. when he has seen
God and seen himself, he throws him
self Hat on his face at the feet of the
King just like Mcphibosheth. The
tact IS # we could sec ourselves as God
sees us we would perish at the spec
taclc. You would have no time to
overhaul other people: Your cry would
be; God, be merciful to me, a sim
ner."
And again: Mephibosheth in my text
stands for the disabled human soul
saved for the sake Of another NIephi-
! boshcth would never have got into the
| palace on his own account. Why did
! David ransack the realm 10 find that
! poor man, and then 6estow upon him
a great fortune. and command farmer
OF the name OF Ziba TO culture the
estate and give 20 this invalid
Mcphibosheth half the proceeds every
year? Why did King David make
such mighty stir about "a poor fellow
who would never be OF any use 20 the
throne Of Israel? 10 was for Jonathan's
sake. II was Robert burns calls for
aud 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 20 Mephiboshcth was
Tor his father Jonathan sake. The
daughter OF Peter Martyr. through the
vice Of her husband. came down
To Pcnury, and the senate OF Zurich
took care Of her for her fathers
sake Sometimes person has applied To-
T.. Il.