The Penn's Grove record., 1899-10-20
DIR. TALMAGES SERMON.
SUNDAYS DISCOURSE BY THE NOTED
DIVINE.

DlVlNEs
Subject: The Water Brooks-The Gospel
of Refreshnent Shows How We May
Eiude the Hounds of Troubl and
Safely Reach the Lake of Divine Solace.
TCopyright, IouisKlopsch. issai
wAsHINaToN,-D. C.-The Gospel as a
great refreshment is here set forth by DR..
Talmage, hinder a figure which will be
found particularly graphic by those who
have gone out as hunters to find game In
the mountains; teat, Psalm KILL, l, CAS- the
hart pnnteth after the water brooks"
David, who must some time have seen a
deer hunt, points us here to a hunted stag
making for the water. Understanding ami
NAL, called In my text the hart, Is the same
animal that in sacred and profane lltera-
ture is called tho stag, the roebuck, the
hind, the gnzelle, the reindeer. In central
Syria in Bible times there were whole pas
ture fields OF them, as Solomon suggests
when he says, 81 charge you by the binds
of the field" Their antlers jutted from
the long grass as they lay down. No hunter
who has been long In "John Browns tract"
will woLier that In the Bible they were
classed among clean animals, for the dews,
the showers, the lakes, washed them as
clean as the sky. When Isaac, the patri-
arch, longed for venlson, Esnu shot and
brought home a roebuck. Isaiah compares
the sprightliness Of the restored cripple Of
millennial times to the long and quick
jump Of the stag, saying, 1.-THE lame shall
leap as the hart" solomon expressed his
disgust at a hunter who, having shot a
deer, Is too lazy to cook 1t, saying. "The
slothful man roasteth not that which he
took in hunting"
But one day David, while far from the
home from which he had been driven and
ptttfpo paoN tha month 30 n lAnalu M va
where he had lodged and on the banks Of
pond or river, hears q pack OF hounds In
swift pursuit. Because Of the previous
silence OF the forest the clangor startles
him, and he says to himself, 81 wonder
what those dogs are after" Then there Is
a cracking In the brushwood and the loud
breathing OF some rushing wonder OF the
woods, and the antlers Of a deer rend the
leaves Of the thicket, and instinct
which all hunters recognized 1ges into
a pond or lake or river tol its thirst
and at the same time, by II opacity for
swifter and longer swimming to get away
from the foaming barriers.
David says to himself; "Ahal That fs
myself! Saul after me, Absalom after me,
enemies without number after me. l am
chased, their bloody muzzles at my heels,
barking at my good name, barking after
my body, barking after my soul Oh, the
hounds, the houndsl But look therep'
says David, "That hunted deer has splashed
into the water. 1t puts its hot lips and
nostrils into the cool wave that washes the
lathered TANKS, and 1t swims away from
the fiery CANNES, and 1t Is free at last.
Oh, that l might find In the deep, wide
lake of Gods mercy and consolation es-
capt from my pursuers! oh, for the
waters of life and rescued AS the hart
panteth after the water brooks, so panteth
my soul after thee, o Godl"
Some Of you have just come from the
A~dirondacks, and the breath of the balsam
and spruce and pine is still on you. The
A~dirondacks are now populous with
hunters, and the deer are being slain by
the score. Once while there talking with q
hunter l thought l would like to see
whether my text was accurate In It's ailu
sion, and as l heard the dogs baying q lit
tie way off and supposed they were on the
|, track OF n deer / said to the hunterin rough
corduroy, "Do the deer always make for
the water when they are ~pursued2" He
said: "Oh, yes, misterl You see, they are
a hot and thirsty ann |, and they know
where the water is, a when they hear
danger in the distancA hey lift their ant
lers and smut the breeza ind start for Rae
quet or Loon or Saranac, aud we get into
our cedar shell boat or stand by the runway
with rifle loaded ready to blaze away"
My friends, that is one reason why | like
the Bible so much. Its illusions are so
true to nature. Its cartridges are real part
ridges, its ostriches real ostriches and Its
reindeer real reindeer. l do not won
der that this antlered glory OF he text
makes the hunters eye sparkle and his
cheek glow and his respiration quicken, to
say nothing OF its usefulness, although 1t is
the most useful OF all game, its flesh dell
cious, its skin turned into human apparel,
its sinews fashioned into bow strings, Its
antlers putting handles on cutlery and
the ~sbavings OF its horns used MS a restora.
tive, its name taken from the hart and
called hartshorn. By putting aside Its
usefulness this enchanting creature seems
made out OF gracefulness and elasticity,
What an eye, with q liquid brightness as II
gathered up from Il hundred lakes at sur
sell The horns a coronal branching into
every possible curve, and, after 1t seems
done, ascending into other projections Oh
exuuisiteness, a tree of polished bone, up.
lifted in pride or swung down Tor awful
combat 1t is velocity embodied, timidity
i~mpersonated, the enchantment OF the
woods, eye l~ustrous in life and pathetic IN
death, the splendid animal a complete
rhythm OF muscle and bone and color and
attitude and ~locomotion, whether couched
In the grass among the shadows or a living
bolt shot through the forest or turning al
bay to attack the hounds or rearing for its
last fall under the buckshot OF the trapper.
1t is n splendid appearance, that the
painters pencil fails to sketch, and only q
hunters dream on a pillow of hemlocks al
the foot OF st. Regis is able to picture
When twenty miles from my settl ement
it comes down at eventide to the lakes
edge to drink among the lilypads, and,
with It's sharp-edged hoof, skaters the
crystal OF Long lake, 1t is very picturesque.
But only when after miles of pursuit, witt
heaving sides and boiling tongue and eyes
swimming in death, the stag leaps from
cliff to cliff into Upper Saranae can you re-
alize how much David had suffered from
bis troubles Ynd how much ne wanted VOC
when he e1f ressed himself In tho words
Gas the b.rt panteth after the water
brooks, so f~,anteth my soul after Thee, {
God.''
Well. now, let all those who have coming
after them the Jean hounds OF poverty Of
the black hounds Of persecution or tn
spotted hounds of vleissitude or the pal
hounds of death or who are in any wis
pursued run to the wide, deep glorious
lake OF divine solace n rescue. Th'
most of the men and women whom l hap
pen to know, at different times. II not now
have had trouble after them, sharp
muzzled troubles, swift troubles, all de
vouring troubles. Many OF you nav
made the mistake OF trying to nght them
Somebody meanly attacked YOU, and yor
attacked them. They deprecated you, ant
YOU deprecated them, or they overreachet
You in a bargain, and you tried, in Wal
street parlance, to get a corner on them
Or you maze Ind q bereavement, and In
stead OF being submissive you are fghtini
that bereavement. You charge on the doc
tors who have failed to effect q cure, O
Won charge on the carelessness of the rail
road company through which the acciden
occurred. Or you are a chronic invalid
and YOU fret ard worry and seold and won
der why you eannot be we'll like other PEG
pie, and you angrily charge on the neu
| ralgia or the %laryngitis or the ngue or tn
sick headache. The fact Is you are a dee
at bay. Instead OF running to the water
Of divine consolation and shaking you
thirst and cooling your body and soul II
the good cheer Of the gospel and swim