The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1898-04-01
UNEXPECTED HELPS.
Lessons from the Trials of Hagar
in the Wilderness.
Rev. Dr. Talmage Takes Up the Old
Story of Hagar and Ishmael in the
Desert and Points Out Some
of Its Teachings.

/
lessons. The text is:
And God opened her eyes, and she sa 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 10 years, have become
impudent and insolent, and Sarah, the
mistress of the household, 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 a bottle with water
in it. 1t is very plain lunch
| that Abraham provides, but l warrant
| yOH 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. Ishmael, the
| boy, suppose, bounded away in the
! morning light Boys always like a
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 50 many happy days, each
scene associated with the pride and
] joy of her heart, young Ishmael.
| The scorching noon comes on. The
air is sitting 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,
1 trudge, trudge. Crossing the dead
| level of the desert, how YEARLY and
slowly the miles slip! \ 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-
clcrs are pillowless. Ishmael, very
weary, l suppose, instantly falls asleep.
lIarar, 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, \ star looks out,
and every falling tear it kisses with
sparkle. \ wing of wind comes over
the hot earth and lifts the locks from
the fevered brow of the boy. uagar
sleeps fitfully, and in her dreams trav-
els over the weary day, and half
awa.les 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 -four; the water
gone from the bottle. What shall she
do? As she puts her fainting Ishmael
under a s5unted shrub of the arid plain,
she sees the bloodshot eye, and feels
the hot hand, and watches the blood
bursting from the cracked tongue, and
there - Il shrek in the desert of Beer
sheba: I'VE shall die. We shall dieI'
Now, no mother was ever made strong
enough to hear her son cry in vain for
drink. Heretofore she hal cheered
her boy by promising a speedy end of
the journey, and even smiled upon
him when she felt desperately
enough. Now there is nothing to
do but place him IN Ter shruD
AMI let him die. sac hal thought
that she would sit there ana watch I'M
til the spirit of her boy would go away
forever, alI then she wouII breathe
ont 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, ana begs his mother
to Stay him, she can not endure the
spectacle. Sac puts him under a shrub
and goes off Il bow-shot, and begins to
weep until all the desert seems sob
hing, AMI her cry strikes clear through
the heavens; and an angel of God
Genes out on a cloud, AMI looks down
upon the appalling grief and cries:
"IIlgar, whlt ailutl thee?' she looks
up, all 81 s.es the angel pointing to
q 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!
IIagar 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
household she would have upset calm
A5aaham's equilibrium My friends,
ole-halfo 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. \ place for Sarah. A place for
Hagar. \ 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 sphere far Off from the one
for which Gol finally intends US. Six
tus V was born on the low ground,
and was 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 tlocks
OF light on the hillsides of Heaven.
Hogarth began by engraving pewter
pots; God raised him to stand in the en-
chanted realm of a painter. The shoe
makers bench held Bloomfield for
little while: but God raised him to sit
in the chair of a philosopher and Chris
tian scholar. The soap boiler of Lon
don could not keep his son in that bust
ness, for God had decided that Hawley
was to Be one of the greatest astrono-