The Penn's Grove record., 1897-02-19
REV. DIR. TAI.MAGE
SUNDAYS DISCOURSE BY THE
NOTED DIVINE.
Subject, "a King Eating Grass"

- lEAE. 10 bftllO hOaA WNP a thte0 -
filed upon Nebuehadnezzar, and he was
driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen.
and his body was wet with the dew OF
heaven, till his hairs were grown Ike eagles
feathers, and his nails like birds claws. :
Daniel iv., 33.
Better shade your ayes lest they BIO put out
with the s~plendor of Babylon, as some morn
ing you walk out with Nebuchadnezzar on
the suspension bridges which hing from the
hcusetops and he shows you the yastness OF
his realm. As the sun kindles the domes
with glistt nings almost insufferable and the
great streets thunder up their pomp into the
ear Of the monarch, and armed towers stand
around. adorned with the spoils OF con-
uuered empires, Nebuchadnezzar waves his
hand above the ~stupendous scene and ex-
SIS not this great Babylon, that. L
4 have built for rho house of the kingdom by
the might OF my power and tor the honor Of
my majesty" But in an instan. ali TINT
splendor is gone from his vision, for a voice
falls from the heaven, saying: 80 King
NebuchadneZzBr, to thee 1t Is spoken. Tho
kingdom is departed from thee, and they
shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling
shall be with tho beasts of the field. They
shall make theet eat grass as oxen and seven
years shall pass over thee, until thou know
that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom OF
men and givethit to whomsoever he will"
One hour from the time that he made the
boast he is on the way to the fields, a maniac,
and rushing into the forests, he becomes one
of the beasts, covered with eagles feathers
for protection from the cold, and his nails
growing to birds claws in order that he
might dig the earth for roots and climb tho
trees for nuts.
You see there Isl great variety In the Scrip
tural landscape. In several discourses we
have looked at mountains OF excellence, but
now we look down into a great, dark chasm
of wickedness as we come to speak OF Nebu-
chadnezzar. God in His Word sets before us
p" tho hpaItfy 0f self dpnIa1 Of enbrtatv Of de-
votion. OF courage, and then, lest we should
not thoroughly understand Him, he intro
duced Daniel and Pau and Deborah as illus
tra:ions OF those virtues. God also speaks
to US in His Word as to the hatefulness of
pride, OF folly, ofinple.y and lest we should,
not thoroughly understand Him, introduces
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS as the impersonafion of
these forms of depravity. The former style
of character is a lighthouse, showing US a
way into n safe harbor, and the latter style
of character is n black buoy, swinging on
the rocks, TO show where vessels wreck them
selves. Thanks unto God for both the buoy
and the lighthouse! Tho host OF Nebuchad-
nezzar Is laundering at the gates OF Jerusa-
lem. The crown of that sacred city is struck
into the dust by the hand OF Babylonlsh in
science. The vessels OF the temple, which
had never been desecrated by profane touch,
were ruthlessly seized for sacrilege and
transportation. Oh, what a sad hoCr when
those Jews, at the ommand OF the invading
url1y, ibFG OOllHcN 10 ISdV0 tut uUIu6 OI IlelT
nativity? How their hearts must have been
wrung with anguish when, on the day they
departed, they heard the trumpets from the
top of the temple announcing the hour for
morning sacrifice and saw the smoke of the
affairs ascending aroundihe holy hill OF Zion;
for well they knew that in a far distant land
they would never hear that trumpet call nor
behold the majestic ascent Of the sacrificed
Behold those captfves on the road from
Jerusalem to Babylon! Worn and weary,
they dare not halt, for roundabout are armed
men urging them on with boot and shout
and blasphemy.
Aged men tottered along on their slaves,
weeping that they could not lay their bones
in the sleeping place of their fathers and
children, wondered at the length of the way
and sobbed themselves to sleep when the
night had fallen. 1t seemed as II at every
step a heart broke. But at q turn OF the road
Babylon suddenly springs upon the view of
the captiyes, with its gardens and palaces.
Ashout goes up from the army as they be-
hold their native city, but not one huzza is
heard from the captives. These exiles saw
no splendor there, for 1t was not home. The
Enphrates did not have the water CLEAN of
tho brook Kedron or the pool of Sloan The
willows of Babylon, on which they hung
their untuned harps, were not as graceful as
the trees which at the foot of Mount Moriah
seemed to weep at the departed glory of
Judah, and all the fragrance that descended
from the banging gardens upon that great
city was not SO sweet as one breath of tho
acacia and frankincense that the high priest
kindled in the sanctuary at Jerusalem.
On a certain night, Il little while after
these captives had been brought to his city,
Nebuchadnezzar is scared with a night vision.
A bad mans pillow is apt to be stuffed with
deeds and forebodings which keep talking in
the night. He will find that the eagles down
in his pillow will stick him like porcupine
quilts. The ghosts of old transgressiors are
sure to wander about in the darkness and
beckon and hiss. 1. Yet when tho morning
cano no found that the vision had entirely
fed from Him. Dreams drop no anchors,
and therefore are apt to sail away before we
can fasten them. Nebuchadnezzar calls all
the wise men OF the land into his presence,
demanding that by their necromancy they
explain his dream. They of course fail.
Then their faithful king issues nm edict with
as little sense as mercy, ordering the Staying
of all the learned men of the country. But
Daniel the prophet comes In with the inter-
probation just in time to save the wise men
and the Jewish captives.
Ny friends, do you not SEQ that pride and
ruin ride In the same saddle? See Nebuchad-
nezzar on tho prcudest throne of all the
earth, and then see him Craze with the sheep
and the cattle! Pride Is commander, well
plumed and comparisoned, but it leads forth
n dark and frownIng host. The arrows from
the Almighiy's culver are apt to strike a
man when on the wing. Goliath shakes his
- 1HtNk IA NNtAduCS nut Lux SIlOOtu
stones from the brook make him staggcr and
fall like an OK under a butchers b~ludgeon.
He who is down cannot fall. Vessels scud-
! under bare poles do not feel the force
ofthe storm, while those with all sails set
capSize at the sudden descent OF the tempest.
Remember that we can be as proud OF our
humility as anything else. Antisthenes
walked the streets OF Athens with a ragged
cloak TO demonstrate his humility, but So
crates declared he could see his hypocrisy
through the holes in his CLOAK. We wouli
all SEQ ourselves smaller than we are IL we
were as philosophic MS S~everus, tho Emperor
OF Rome, who said at tho close of his life,
II have seen everything. and everything ii
nothing" Aud when the urn that was to
contain his ashes was Mt his command
brought 70 him, he said, Little urn, thou
shalt contain one for whom the world was
too little"
Do you not also learn from the misfortune
OF this king OF Babylon what n terrible thing
Is the loss OF reasonS There is no calamity
that can possibly befall us in this world so
great as deransement OF intellect; TO have
the body OF man aud yet to fall even below
the instinct OF Il brute. In this world of hor-
riole sights, the most horrible is the idiots
stare. In this world OF horrible sounds, the
most horrible IS the maniac's laugh. AYES
sci driven on the rocks, when hundreds 90
down never to rise and other hundreds drag
their manglei and shiyering bodies uponihe
winters beach, Is nothing compared to the
1ounderlDg OF intel'eets full OF vast hopes
and attachments and capacities.
Christ's heart went out toward those who
were epileptic, falling into the fire, or mani
acs cutting themselves among the tombs
We are accustomed TO be more grateful for
physical health than for the proper working
OF our mind. We are apt TO take itfor granted
that the intellect which has served US SO we'll
will always be faithful. We forget that an
engine of such tremendous power, whore the
wheels have such yastness OF circle and such
swiitness ofmotion, and the least impeachment
might put 1t out of gear, can only be kept in
proper balance by q divine hand. No human
hand could engineer thu train OF immortal
faculties. How strange 1t Is that our
memory, on whose shoulders all tho
misfortunes and successes and occurrences
of a lifetime arc placed, should not oTtener
break down, and hat the scales ~oiiudgment,
which have been Weighing SO much and SO
long. should not lose their adjustment and
their fancy, which holds a dangerous wand,
should NOT sometimes malieiously wave 1t,
bringing into the heart forobodipgs aud
hallueinatious the most appailingi Is 1t
not strange that this mind. which hopes so
much in It's mighty lea s for the attainment
of its objects, sheulan1 he dashed to pieges
on its disappointments? Though so delicately
tuned, this instrument OF untold harmony
plays on, though fear shakes it and vexa-
lions rack 1t AMI sorrow and Joy and loss