The Farmville herald. [volume] (Farmville, Va.) 1890-1934, 1902-04-04

~ AAAHN tAAN AAMNUMAN NN OF ANAs 1 "a AHA .. &
rcDuAcs arrogance, it encourages hu-
mauity and shows how the evening OF
life may bee frightened. The text is j
kAg,, 2O:ll: Let not him that girdeth
on his harness boast himself as he
that puttcth il on
Harness is the obsolete word FOR ar
NOR. Ii means harness for the man,
not harness for the beast; harness for
battle, not harness for the plow. The
ancient armor consisted Of helmet for
The head, Oreastp.ate and shield for the
heart, grca,es for the feet. The text
makes comparison between a man
tnlsiiug for some war and a veteran
returning the one putting on the ar
NOR and tAe other putting it of.
BenAadad, the king Of syria, thought
Dc could easily overcome the king OF
Israel. Indeed, the Syrian was SO sure
OF The victory that he spread an ante
belum banquet. With 81 kings he was
celebrating what they were going to DO.
There were in all 50 kings at the ca
rousal. and their condition is described
in the Bible not as conyiyial or slim
u.ated cxaitaiion, but drunk. Their
g..dtd and hammered payiiions were sur
rounded by high-mettied horses, neigh
ing and champing. and hitched TO char
lots such as kings rode in. Benhacad
sends officers TO the king Of Israel de-
manding the surrender OF the city, say
ing: Thou shalt deliver me thy silver
and thy gold and thy wives and thy
children" and afterWard sends other
officers. saying that the palace Of the
king will be searched and every thing
Benhadad wants be Will take without
asking. Then the king Of Israel called
a council of war and word is sent back
TO Benhadad that his unreasonable de-
maud Will be resisted. Then Benhadad
sends another message to the king OF
Israel, a message full Of arrogance and
brayado, practically saying: I'VE Will
destroy you utterly. 1 Will grind sa-
maria into the dust, but there Will not
be dust enough to make handful for
each one Of my troops" Then the king
of Israel replied TO Benhadad, prac-
tically saying: Let me see you do
what you say. You royal braggart, you
might better have postponed your ban
quet until after the battle instead OF
spreading it before the battle. You
huzza too soon. Let not him that grid
eth on his harness boast himself as he
that putteth it off,
An avalanche Of courage and right
eousness, the Israelitish army came
down on Benhadad and his host. 1t
was a hand to hand fight, each Israelite
hewing down a Syrian. Benhadad, on
horseback, gets away with some Of the
cavalry, but is only saved for a worse
defeat, in which 100000 Syrian infan-
try were slaughtered in one day. Now
we see the sarcasm and the epigram
matte power of the message OF my text
sent by the king Of Israel to Benhadad:
LET not him that girdeth on his har-
ness boast himself as be that puiteth
IL off,"
All up and down history We see such
too early boastiDg. Soult, the marshal
Of France, was so certain that he
would conquer that he had a procla-
nation printed announcing himself |
king Of Portugal and had grand feast /
prepared for four o'clock that after
noon, but before that hour he fled In |
ignominious defeat, and Wellington Of /
the conquering host sat down at four /
o'clock at the very banquet the mar
shal Of France had ordered for himself. /
Charles V. invaded France and was so /
sure Of conquest that he requested /
Paul JOyius, the historian, to gather /
together a large amount Of paper on
which TO write the story Of his many |
but disease and famine seized
upon his troopers and he retreated in
dismay. So Benhadad's behavior has
been copied in all ages Of the world.
II viii be my object. among other les
sons. TO show that he who puts of
the armor, having finished the battle,
Is more 10 be congratulated than he
who begins.
First, 7 find encouragement in this
subject for the aged who have got
the work and struggle OF
earthly life. My venerable friends, il
you had at % years Of age full appre-
citation Of what you would have to go
in the thirties and the forties
and the ffties Of your lifetime you
would have been appalled,. Fortunate
" the bcreavements, the temptations,
the prosecutions, the hardships, were
curtaincd from your sight. With more
1r less fortitude you passed through
The crisis of pain and sadness and dis
appointment and fatigue and still live
TO recount the Divine help that sus-
iainod you. At 20 or 30 years of your
lCe at the tap Of the drum you put on
.he harness. Now, at co or 20 or so,
you are peacefully putting it Off. You
you'd not want TO try the battle Of
fe over again. So many Of just your
and with as good start
ng and as fine parentage and seem
ngly with as much equipoise Of charac-
ter as YOU had have made complete
-hipwreck that you would not want
again to run the risks. Though you
.an look back and see many mistakes,
he next time you might make worse
mistakes. Instead of being depressed
over the fact that you are being count
ID out or omitted in the great under
akings of the church and the world,
'eioice that you have a right to hang
ip your helmet and sheathe your