Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1900-01-11

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long as human hearts beat with life,
thrill with love, burn with remorse and |
yearn for pardon and peace. His in
fluence lies in the fact that he was
altogether q man among men, man OF 1
wild passions and many faults; but, |
amid 1t all, NAH of tender heart and |
sensitive conscience, with q high sense |
of right and duty, and strcng desire |
to atone for his wrong-doing, and over.
come his evil tendencies; and, with all
this, he also had q boundless faith In |
God as the Divine Providence that
overrules the affairs of men.
Thus David learned by suffering
what he taught in song, and was able
to give the world a hymn of trust
which still meets the deepest needs OF
sorrowing heart; and when we wish
to express our confidence in the protect
ing care Of the heavenly, Father, IN
| times of grief and pain and danger, we
| instinctively join with this sweet
singer of Israel, and say with him:
1.-The Lord is my shepherd, ! shall not
want"
And what is true of this twenty third
Psalm is also true Of many others
They 60 SO deeply down into the
spiritual experiences Of the human soul;
are SO expressive Of its feelings of faith
and penitence, appealing SO strongly to
/ its reason and sympathy and hope; are
SO full of tender tiust and ardent
aspiration, we must always feel that the
| Divine Spirit breathed upon the spirit
/ Of their writer's, and kindled the fires
Of devotion there; thus giving their
words that wonderful spiritual quality
which makes them still the best manual
of worship the world possesses.
Then, too, consider the prophets, the
great preachers of Israel, whose warn
ings against evil.doing will never cease
resounding in human ears, pleading
with the sinful with a mothers tender
affection, offering pardon and peace in
A the name of the Lord TO all who turn
from the ways of wickednsss to the
paths Of Righteousness and truth. Listen
to Isaiah, as, in an anguish of plying
love and burning eloquence, he cries:
"Come now, and let US reason together.
Though your sins be as scarlet, they
shall be as white rs snow though they
be red like crimson, they shall be as
WOOL" As the lark sings and flies,
and, as 1T sings, flies even higher, until
it is lost to sight in the blueness Of the
sky, and only its notes FIJI the air with
music dropping from above; so the
sublime strains CT those ancient
prophets, whose spirits scared aloft aud
beheld the glory Of the Lord, still drop
! in heavenly sweetness from their heights
of spiritual vision, to charm our hearts,
convince our minds. and inspire our
! souls with the sense of the divine pres
ence and love and care
And to all these treasures of thought
and experience, hoEe and aspil alton,
: the Gospel adds yet more precious
| II 81 10 uiotipn of
! that this ever. present spirit, this pro-
tecting providence, this guiding and
restraining power. is our Father that,
, if our hearts are pure we shall see
Him, and become conscious Of our filial
relationship to Him; that He is not
J only with US, but will dwell in US, our
guest, inspirer, teacher, whose life and
, love and truth are evermore yelling up
| within the soul, like spring of living
! water, aud flowing through us unto all
others with whom We are brought in
contact
Thus, in this brief and, imperfect
, outline, we see that all the beauty and
$ truth and power of the Bible still re-
main in it, and are ready for our use,
9 as in ages EAST, though modern study
i and discovery have changed our
opinions about its origin and authority.
+ Its only authority for us is the authority
. of truth aud its fundamental truth re.
s garding our relations to iUd and man,
g far from being outgiown and left be-
9 hind, is only just now beginning to be
i fully appreciated and followed.
i When we have learned that the Bible
b is perfectly natural book, a book o.
y human experience and aspiration, ane
4 only so far supernatural in its origin
I and teaching MS all life is influenced by
$ power above nature, and all though
9 and activity are expressions of this
b power; when we have fully leai ned thi!
g great truth about the Bible, we shall
d study its pages with greater interest
. and apply our reason to its teaching
y with ever increasing earnestpess, II
IS order to see how those people OF Older
!; time came.into such close and persona
10 contact with the divine spirit, fell
n and used divine power, were inspired
is aud guided by divine influence. Thel
we shall also learn that God still speak
e to the listening soul, and that we ma.
" hear His voice in our own conscious
:, ness, speaking to us as He spoke t
j. Abraham and Moses, to David ant
r Isaiah. Yes, and even as He spoke Il
s. fatherhood of God, and the sonship il
10 God OF every human soul. Indeed.
10 we do not find the Word of God in GU
rs own heart, even as it was in the hear
70 of the Christ, we shall not be likely t
I'd recognize it in the Bible. For the in
IN spiiation by which holy men of oil
II wrote the Scripture must be in GU
st souls also, OF we cannot understan
1t their visions or comp ehend thei
IS thoughts. Moreover. the suprem
Of power and use of the Bible lies in tn
I'd fact that its records of human expert
% ence open the heart and mind to th
20 influence of heaven, bringing God dow
rs "a nc and liftino ma l1c In Coo