The Yale expositor., 1899-10-20

human race. 1t bombards the grain
fields and the orchards and the vine
yards. The Colorado beetle, the Ne
braska grasshopper, the New Jersey
locust, the universal potato beetle,
seem to carry on the work which was
begun ages ago when the insects
buzzed out of Noah's Ark as the door
was opened.
In my text, the hornet flies out on
its mission. 1t is a species of wasp,
swift in its motion and violent in its
sting. Its touch is torture to man or
| beast. We have all seen the cattle
run believing under the cut of its
lancet. In boyhood we used to stand
cautiously looking at the globular
nest hung from the tree-branch, and
while we were looking at the wonder
! full covering, we were struck with
something that sent us shrieking away.
The hornet goes in swarms. 1t has
captains over hundreds, and twenty
of them alighting on one man will pro-
duce certain death.
The Persians attempted to conquer
q Christian city, but the elephants and
the beasts on which the Persians rode
were assaulted by the hornet so that
the whole army was broken up, and
the besieged city was rescued. This
burning and noxious insect stung out
the Hittites and the Canaanites from
their country. What cleaning sword
and chariot of war could not accom-
plish was done by the puncture Of an
insect The Lord sent the hornet"
My friends, when we are assaulted
by great Behemoths of trouble, we be-
come chivalric, and we assault them;
we get on the high-mettled steed OF our
courage, and we make cavalry charge
at them, and, If God be with us, we
come out stronger and better than
when we went in. But, alas for these
insectile annOyances of life-these foes
too small to shoot-these things with
out any avoirdupois weight-the gnats
and the midges and the flies and the
wasps and the hornets! In other
words, it is the small singing annoy
ances of our life which drive us out
and use us up. In the best-conditioned
life, for some grand and glorious pur-
pose God has sent the hornet.
remark, in the first place, that
these small singing annoyances may
come in the shape of nervous organ
ization. People who are Frustrated
under typhoid fevers or with broken
bones get plenty of sympathy; but who
pities anybody that is nervous? The
doctors say, and the family say, and
everybody says, ooh, she's only lit
tie nervous; that's ALL" The sound of
heavy foot, the harsh clearing of a
throat, discord in music, a want Of
harmony between the shawl and the
glove on the same person, a curt an
swer, a passing slight, the wind from
the east, any one of ten thousand an
noyances, opens the door for the hor-
net The fact is, that the vast majority
of the people in this country are over
worked, and their nerves are the first
to give out A great multitude are I'M
der the strain of Leyden, who, when
he was told by his physician that If he
did not stop working while he was in
such poor physical health he would
die, responded, Doctor, whether live
or die, the wheel must keep going
round" These sensitive persons, of
S whom l speak, have a bleeding sensi-
e tiveness. The flies love to light on
a anything raw, and these people are
r like the Canaanites spoken of in the
: text or in the context-they have a
S very thin covering, and are vulnerable
n at all points. and the Lord sent the
y hornet"
) Again, the small insect annoyances
S may come to us in the shape of friends
l. and acquaintance who are always say.
S ing dsagreeable things. There are
a some people you cannot be with fol
If half an hour but you feel cheered ant
l. comforted. Then there are other peo
v. pie you cannot be with for five minute!
N before you feel miserable. They de
I" not mean to disturb you, but they
sting you to the bone. They gatSel
I'D all the yarn which the gossips spin
|, and retail it. They gather up all tn,
q. adverse criticisms about your person
# about your business, about your home
N about your church, and they max,
&c your ear the funnel into which the.
a. pour it. They laugh heartily whel
Ia they tell you, as though 1t were a goo
n Joke. and you laugh. too-outside.
in These people are brought to our at
~ tention in the Bible, in the book O
90 Ruth. Naomi went forth beautiful
and with the finest of worldly pros
y. poets, into another land, but after
while she came back widowed and sic
and poor. What did her friends d
., when she came to the city? They al
a. went out, and instead of giving he
n common-sense consolation, what di
ne they do? Read the book of Ruth an
" find out They threw up their hand
OF and said, els this Naomi?" as much a
y. to say, How awful bad you do look!
ed When entered the ministry locke
" very pale for years. and every year, fc
no four or five years, many times year
was asked IL | had not consumption
>, and passing through the room l woul
a. sometimes hear people sigh and So,
II! "A-ah! not long for this world"
"a resolved in those times. that l neve