St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1898-04-23
UNEXPECTED HELPS.
Lessons from the Trials Of Hagar
in the Wilderness.

in the Wilderness.
: Story or Hagar and Ishmsel In the
II Desert and Points Out Some
II of Its Teachings.
In this discourse Rev. T. Dewitt Tai
mage takes a well-known biblical
story and draws from it some stirring
lessons. The text is:
And God opened her eyes. and she sa = q well
Of water; and she went and filled the bottle
with water and gave the lad to drink.-Genesis
xxi 10.
Morning breaks upon Beersheba.
There is an early stir in the house of
old Abraham. There has been trouble
among the domestics. Hagar, an as
sistant in the household, and her son,
a brisk lad of l6 years, have become
impudent and insolent, and Sarah, the
mistress Of the housek Did. puts her foot
down very hard and says that they
will have to leave the premises. They
are packing up now. Abraham, know
ing that the journey before his servant
and her son will be very long
and across desolate places, in the
kindness Of his heart sets about putting
up some bread and bottle with water
in it. 1t is very plain lunch
that Abraham provides, but warrant
you there would have been enough of
it had they not lost their way. ''God
be with you!" said old Abraham, as he
gave the lunch to Hagar and good
many charges as to how she should
conduct the journey. Ishnael, the
boy, suppose, bounded away in the
morning light Boys always like
change. Poor Ishmael! He has no
idea of the disasters that are ahead of
him. Hagar gives one long, lingering
look at the familiar place where she
had spent so many happy days. each
scene associated with the pride and
JOY of her heart, young Ishmael.
The scorching noon comes on. The
air is stifiing and moves across the
desert with insufferable suffocation.
Ishmael, the boy, begins to complain
and lies down. but Hagar rouses him
up, saying nothing about her own
WEAKNESS or the sweltering heat; for
mothers can endure anything. Trudge,
trudge, trudge. Crossing the dead
level of the desert, how wearily and
slowly the miles slip! A tamarind that
seemed hours ago to stand only just
little ahead, inviting the travellers to
come under its shadow, now is as far
off as ever, or seemingly so. Night
drops upon the desert, and the trav-
elers are pillowless. Ishmael, very
weary, suppose, instantly falls asleep.
Hagar, as the shadows of the night be-
gin to lap over each other-Hagar hugs
her weary boy to her bosom and thinks
OF the fact that it is her fault that they
are in the desert, A star looks out,
and every falling tear it kisses with q |
sparkle. A wing of wind comes over
the hot earth and lifts the locks from
the fevered brow of the boy. Hagar
sleeps fitfully, and in her dreams trav-
els over the weary day, and half
awakes her son by crying out in her
sleep, ''Ishmael! Ishmael!''
And SO they go on day after day and
night after night, for they have lost
their way. No path in the shifting
sands; no sign in the burning sky. |
The sack empty of the flour; the water !!
gone from the bottle. What shall she |
do? As she puts her fainting Ishmael
under stunted shrub of the arid plain,
she sees the bloodshot eve, and feels |
the hot hand, and watches the blood |
bursting from the cracked tongue, and |
there is a shrek in the desert of Beer |
sheba: "We shall die! We shall die!"
Now, no mother was ever made strong
enough to hear her son cry in vain for
drink. Heretofore she had cheered |
her boy by promising speedy end of
the journey, and even smiled upon
him when she felt desperately
enough Now there is nothing to
do but place him under shruD
and let him die. She had thought
that she would sit there and watch un-
til the spirit of her boy would go away
forever, and then she would breathe
out her own life on his silent heart;
but as the boy begins to claw his
tongue in the agony of thirst and strug
gle in distortion, and begs his mother
to slay him, she can not endure the
spectacle. She puts him under shrub
and goes off bow-shot, and begins to
weep until all the desert seems sob
bing, and her cry strikes clear through
the heavens; and an angel Of God
comes out on a cloud, and looks down
upon the appalling grief and cries:
'Hagar, what aileth thee?- She looks
up, and she sees the angel pointing to
= well of water, where she fills the bot
tie for the lad. Thank God! Thank
God.
learn from this oriental scene, in
the first place, what a sad thing it is
when people do not know their place,
and get too proud for their business!
Hagar was an assistant in that house
hold. but she wanted to rule
there. She ridiculed and jeered until
her son, Ishmael, got the same tricks.
She dashed ont her happiness and
threw Sarah into great fret, and if
she had stayed much longer in that
she would have upset calm
equilibrium. Ny friends,
of the trouble in the world to-
day comes from the fact that people do
not know their place, or, finding their
place, will not stay in it. When we
come into the world there is always
place ready for us. A place for Abra-
ham. A place for Sarah. A place for
Hagar. A place for Ishmael. A place
for you and place for me.
Our first duty is to find our sphere;
our second is to keep it. We may be
born in a sphere far off from the one
Tor which GOD finally intends us. Six
tus v. was born on the low ground,
and -,as swineherd; God called him
up to wave scepter. Ferguson spent
his early days in looking after sheep;
God called him up to look after stars.
and be a shepherd watching the fiocks
If light on the hillsides of Heaven.
Hogarth began by engraving pewter
pots; God raised him to stand in the en-
realm Of a painter. The shoe
makers bench held Bloomfield for q
little while: but God raised him to sit
N the chair of . philosopher and Chris
ian scholar. The soap boiler OF Lon
L. - AH>~A - /