St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1897-05-29

David \ al such friend in Hushai; tks
Jews had such . friend in Mordecsi,
who never forget their cause; Paul had
such friend in Onesiphorus, who vis-
lted him in Jail: Christ had such in the
Marys, who adhered to Him ON the
cross; Naomi had such one In Ruth,
who cried out: "Entreat me not to
leave thee, or to return from following
after thee; for whittier thou goest, 1
will go; and whittier thou lodgest. /
will lodge. thy people shall be my reo-
pie, and thy God my God; where thou
diest will I die, and there will I be
buried; the Lord do so to me. and more
also. If aught but death part thee and
me-
Again. I learn from this subject that
paths which open in hardship and
darkness often come out in places Of
Joy. When Ruth started from Moab
toward Jerusalem, TO go along with
her mother-in-law, suppose the peo-
pie said: "Oh, what . foolish crea-
ture to GO away from her fathers
house, to 60 OF with . poor old woman
toward the land of Judah! They won't
live to get across the desert. They
will be drowned in the sea or the jack
ais Of the wilderness will destroy
them" 1t was . very dark morning
when Ruth started of with Naomi;
but behold her in my text in the hsr-
vest of Boaz, to be affianced to one of
the lords Of the land, and become enc
Of the grandmothers of Jesus Christ,
the Lord Of glory. And SO it often is
that a path which often starts very
darlsly ends very brightly.
When you started out for Heaven,
oh, how dark was the hour of convic-
tion-how Sinai thundered, and devils
tormented. and the darkness thick
cned! All the sins Of your life pounced
upon you, and 1t was the darkest hour
you ever saw when you first found out
your sins After awhile you went into
the harvest field of Gods mercy; you
began to CLEAN in the fields Of Divine
promise, and you had more sheaves
than you could carry, rs the voice of
God addressed you, saying: "Blessed
is the man whose transgressions are
forgiven and whose sins are covered"
A very dark starting in conviction, q
very bright ending ID the pardon and
the hope and the triumph Of the Cos
pei!
So, very often in our worldly bust
ness or in our spiritual career we start
off on q very darlpath. We must 60.
The hesh may shrink back, but there
is voice within, or . voice from above,
saying: You must go;;" and we have
to drink the gall, and we have to carry
the cross. and we have to traverse the
desert and we are pounded and failed
in misrepresentation and abuse, and
we have to urge our way throuth TO-
600 obstacles that have been slain by
our own right arms We have to ford
the river, we have ID climb the mcun.
tain. we have to storm the castle; but
blessed be God. Ahc day Of rest and
reward will come. On the tip-top of
the captured battlements we will
shout the victory; il not In this world,
then in that world where there is no
gall to drink, no burdens to carry, no
battles to fight How do / know it?
Know it! / know it because God says
SO: ''They shall linger no more,
neither thirst any more, neither shall
the stun light On them, nor any heat,
for the Lamb which is in the midst of
the throne shall lead them to living
fountains Of water, and God shall wipe
al tears from their eyes"
It was very hard for Noah to endure
the scofing of the people in his day
while he was trying to build the ark,
and was every morning quizzed about
his old boat that would never be of
any practical use; but when the deluge
came, and the tops Of the mountains
disappeared like the backs Of sea-mon-
sters, and the elements, lashed up in
fury. clapped their hands Over .
drowned world, then Noah id the Ark
rejoiced in his own safety and in the
safety of his family, and looked out on
the wreck Of ruined earth.
Christ, bounded Of prosecutors, de.
MED pillow, worse maltreated than
the thieves ON either side of the cross,
human hate smacking its lips in salts
faction after it had been draining His
last drop of blood. the shceted dead
bursting from the sepulchers At His
crucifixion. Tell me, @ Gethsemsrie
and Golgotha, were there ever darker
times than those? Like the booming
Of the midnight sea against the rock,
the surges of Christ's anguish beat
against the gates Of eternity, to
be echoed back by Ill the thrones of
al H. - Hal
But the day Of reward comes for
Christ; all the pomp and dominion Of
this world are to be hung on His
throne, crowned heads arc to bow be-
fore Him on whose head arc many
crowns, and all the celestial worship is
to come up to His feet, like the hum
ming Of the forest, like the rushing Of
the waters, like the laundering of the
seas, while MI Heaven. rising on their
thrones, beat time with their scepters:
..Hallelujah, for the Lord God otnnip-
otent reigneth."
That song of love- now low and tar,
Ere long shall swell from star to star;
That light, the breaking day which tips
The golden-spired ApooalypsA
Again, / learn from my subject that
events which seem to be most insignifi-
cant may be momentous. Can you inn
agine anything more important than
the coming Of > poor woman from Moab
to Judahr Can you imagine anything
more trivial than the fact that this
Ruth just happened to alight-as they
say-just happened 70 alight on that
field Of Boaz? Yet all ages Ill genera
tions, have m interest in the fact that
she was to become m ancestress of the
Lord Jesus Christ and Ill nations and