The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1902-05-30

lle alone can TT icrs.and.
Leave 10 Oh ia Hia dear hand.
II lis love for thee Tie planned.
Think Of Him.
Wien some anxious care pcrplcxea.
Think IF Him.
Lest thy inmost soul u ycxes
Think Of Him.
Bring Thy care and thou shalt see,
IIc will bear It al for thee;
NE would have thee peaceful De-,
think Of Him"
III.
Bu. there was etl anoth-r difficulty
with Elijah. First, he wal alone. In
verse 3 we read that he left bis servant
at Beershcba. and he himself went into
Che wilderness. II b a great mistake to
be alone when trouble comes. Bear Sc
one another's burdens, and 20 ful6ll the
law Of God" gives as G picture Of human
fellowship, while he verse, Take my
yoke upon you and learn Of Me-" gives us
an idea Of that fellowship which We may
have with Him.
John Mcneil, the great Scotch preacher,
has a fine illustration Of this point in his
sermon based upon / Samuel, the 9th
chapter and the first verse, "And David
said in his heart, / shall now perish one
day by the hand of Saul; there is nothing
better for RE than that l should speedily
escape into the land of the Philistines.
and Saul shall despair of me, to seek me
any more in any coast of Israel: so shall /
escape out Of his hand" David said in
| his heart" and John Mcneil says u
would have been well if instead Of saying
| It in his heart he would have said 1t out
| loud. 1t is the thing we say in our heart
| that grows to such great proportion ana
! leads us 10 believe that We are on the
verge OF despair. Without question the
passage is true, and Mr.. Mcneil suggests
| three cures,
First-Why didn't David say it aloud
] to his servant and let his servant argue
him out Of his position, for there are many
| things we think we would never dare to
say to our dearest friends
Second-Whv didn't David pray it. he
was a master in prayer. and If he had but
J fallen on his knees and said it to God, at
! least have tried to say it, he would have
/ found that his very tongue would have
cleaved to the roof Of his mouth, for there
are things we think that we would blush
| if we dared to say them to God.
Third-Why didn't he sing It, Tie was
much of a singer, was David, and if he had
but put it in a song his face would have
/
| stammering and stumbling, and then said
| Mr. McNeill "Why may we not follow
this rule, and when we have a difficulty,
imaginary or real, let us say it, or pray 1t,
or sing it, and if we cannot say 1t. and It
won't pray. and will not sing there is
nothing in it. 1t is but the devils delu
sion to plunge us into DESPAIR.
Fourth-He sat down. That was a great
mistake. He never should have given up.
| TT L. L bo har~
found victory. There are 80 many people
in Che church to-day who have done just
exactly what Elijah did. They have sat
down. The man who once taught a Sum
day-school class is now doing nothing and
fast slipping away from Christ. The mem-
Der Of the church who used to be faithful
at the prayer meeting is now absent and
sitting down in his home he is of all men
most miserable. That man who was once
in the church and loved the church has
sat down in the world, and he questions
if he ever knew Christ, so let us keep
going 1t is when a man is idle that Satan
trims him up.
Fifth-He wanted to dictate to God
when he said to Him "Let me die" 1t is
good thing that God did not take him at
his word. for he would have died under a
cloud ard would have been buried in the
desert. What a mercv it is that God does
not give us all we ask for. And my own
experience doubt not is yours, the things
that God has refused to me have been my
greatest blessings. Then let us remember
that mo" is Just as much Of an answer as
eyes" and your experience in your home
has been that no for your children usually
is the better answer. But how gracious
God is in His dealings with those who are
out Of the wav He calls Adam in tender
ness when He saws. "Where art thouy'
Fe woes David back again to virtue in
the story of the eve lamb, and gives us a
picture Of Himself il the seeking love OF
the father of the prodigal for his boy, lets
US understand something of His forgive-
ness when He sends in the person of His
: Son to write upon the sand His disposition
, to remember no more the sin of guilty
, woman. and then whispered to Elijah as
he is under the juniper tree in a still
small voice and continues to whisper un-
til ct last Elijah is on his feet and fleeing
for his life back again into the light. Oh
let us come out from under the lunipeI
; tree. Tt is a sad place to find Christian
and good place to keep away from.