The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1899-11-01
Or. TALMAGES SERMON.
SUNDAYS DISCOURSE 6Y THE NOTED
DIVINE.
Subject: The Water Brooks--The Gospel
OF Kefresh,nont Shows How We May
Elude the Hounds OF Trouble and
Safely Reach the Lake OF Divine Solace.

Safely Reach the Lake OF Divine Solace.
Copyright. Louis Klopsch. 1891
WASHINGTON, D. C.-The Gospel "a a
great refreshment Is here set forth by DR..
Talmage, under figure which will be
found particularly graphic by those who
have gone out as hunters to find game In
the mountains; text, Psalm Kill, l, "As the
hart panteth after the water brooks"
David, who must some time have seen n
deer hunt, points us here to hunted stug
making for the water. The fascinating ami
NAL, called in my text the hart, is the same
animal that in sacred and profane litera-
hind, the gazele, the reindeer. In central
Syria In Bible times there were whole pas
ture fields OF them, rs Solom on suggests
when lie says, II charge you by the binds
OF the field" Their antlers jutted from
the long grass rs they lay down. No hunter
who has been long In "cohn Browns tract"
will wonder that In the Bible they were
classed among clean animals, for the dews,
the showers, the lakes, washed them rs
clean as the sky. When Isaac, the pntrl.
arch, longed for venison, Esau shot and
brought home a roebuck. Isaiah compares
the sprightliness of the restored cripple OF
millennial times 10 the long and quick
jump OF the stag, saying, 1.-The lame shall
disgust at hunter who, having shot a
deer, Is too lazy to cook 1t, saying. "The
slothful man roasteth not that which lie
took In hunting"
But one day David, while far from the
home from which he had been driven and
sitting near the mouth Of lonely cave
where he had lodged and on the banks ol
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. ~ wonder
what those dogs are AFTER" Then there Is
n cracking In the brushwood and the loud
breathing OF some rushing wonder OF the
woods, and the antlers Of deer reud tho
leaves OF the thIcket, and by an iustlnor
which all hunters recognize 1t plungss into
q pond or lake or river to cool its thirst
and Mt the same time, by Its capacity for
switler and longer swim ming, to get away
from the foaming barriers.
David says to himself: "Aha! That Is
myself Saul after me, Absalom after me,
enemies without number after me. I am
chased, their bloody muzzles at my heels
barking at my good name, barking after
nv body, barking after my soul. Oh, the
hounds, the hounds! But look there!''
says D avid, THAT hunted deer has splashe cd
into the water. It puts its hot lips and
nostrils into the cool wave ethat washes the
lathered hanks, and 1t swlms away from
the fiery CANNES, and 1t Is free at last.
Oh, that I might find In the deep, wide
lake Of Gods mercy and consolation es.
cape from my pursuers! Oh, Tor the
waters OF life and rescuel As the hart
panteth after the water brooks, so pantetn
my soul after thee, o God!'
Somo OF you have just come from tue
Adirondacks, and the breath OF the balsam
4 rip Ia cftll Thp
Adirop dacks are now populous with
hunters and the deer are being slain by
the score. Once while there talking with q
hunter I thought I would like to soc
whether my text was accurate In its allu-
sion, and as l board the dogs baYing lit
tie way off and supposed thoy were on the
track OF deer said to the hunter In rough
corduroy, "Do the deer always make for
The water when they nre pursued?" He
said: ooh, yes, mister! You see, they are
a hot and thirsty animal, and they know
where the water is, and when they near
danger In the distance they lift their ant
lcrs and snuff the breeze and start for Rae
quet or Loon or Saranac, and we get into
our cedar she'll boat or stand by the runway
with riae loaded ready to blaze away"
Ny friends, thut is one reason why liko
the Dlbo so much. Its illusions arc sc
true to nature. Its partrldgos are real part
ridges, its ostriches real ostriches and Its
reindeer real reindeer. I do not won.
der that this antlered glory OF the text
makes tho hunters eye sparkle and h!s
cheek glow and his respiration quicken, to
gay nothing OF Its usefulness, alth houl. b 1t is
the most useful OF all game, its flesh doll.
clous, its skin turned into human apparel,
its slnews fashioned into bow strings, it's
antlers putting handles on cutlery nod
the shavings OF Its horns used rs a restorn.
tive, Its name taken from the hart and
called hnrtshorn. BY putting aside Its
usefulness this enchanting creature seems
made out OF gracefulness and elasticity
What OH eye, with liquid brightness as II
gathered up from hundred lakes ut sun
setl The horns coronal branching into
every possible curve, and, after 1t seems
done, ascending into other projections oil
exquisiteness, n tree OF polished bone, up
lifted In pride or swung down for awfu
combat! It is velocity embodied, timidity
impersorated, the euchantmcnt OF the
woods, eye lustrous in life and pathetic ln
death, the splendid animal n complete
rhythm Of muscle and bone and color and
attitude and locomotion, whether couched
in the grass among the shadows or living
bay to attack the hounds or rearing for its
last fall under the bucKshot OF the trapper.
It Is splendid appearance, that. the
painters pencil fails to sketch, and only q
hunters dream on pillow OF hemloeks al
the foot OF st. Regis Is able to picture
When twenty miles from any settl cment
1t comos down ut eventlde to the lakes
edge to drink among the ltlypads, and,
with its sharp-edged hoof, shutters the
crystal OF Long lake, 1t Is very ptctu resque.
But only when after miles OF pursuit, Will
henving sides and boiling tongue and eyes
swimming in death, the stag leaps from
cliff to cliff into Upper Saranac can you re-
aIize how much David had suffered from
his troubles and how much he wanted God
when lie expressed himself In the words,
GAS tho hart panteth after the water
brooks, 50 panteth my soul after Thee, Y
God.'
Well, now, let all those who have coming
ofter them the lean hounds Of poverty OF
the black bounds Of persecution or the
spotted hounds OF vlcissitude CT the pale
hounds Of death or who ure III any wise
pursued run to tho wide, deep glorious
lake OF divine solace and rescue. The
most OF the men and women whom I hap.
p.n to know, at different times, II not now
have had trouble after them, sharp.
muzz.ed troubles, swift troubles, all de-
vouring troubles. Many OF you have
made tho mistake OF trying TO fight them
Somebody meanly attacked you, and you
attacked them. They depreclnted you, and
you deprecated them, or they orerreached
you in q bargain, and you tried, In Wall
street parlnnce. to get corner on them.
Or you have had bereavement, and In
etead OF being submissive yon are fighting
that bereavement. You charge on the doc
tors who lave failed to OBJECT cure, or
you charge on the carelessness OF the rail-
road company through which the accident
occurred. or you are q chronic invalid,
and you fret and worry and scold and Won
der why you cannot be we'll like other peo-
pie, and you angrily charge on the neu-
ralgin or the luryngltls or the ngue or the
sick headache. The fact is you are a deer
at bay. Instead OF running to the waters
OF divine consolation and shaking your
thirst and cooling your body and soul in