Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1902-03-08
under her wing"

under ner wing.
Dear me! How many souls the Lord
hath thus brooded! Mothers, after
watching over sick cradles and then
watching aftcrward over wayward
! sons and daughters. at last themselves
taken care Of by motherly God.
Business men, after q lifetime strug-
Cling with the uncertainties of money
markets and the change of tariffs and
the underselling Of men who because
Of their dishonesties can afford to un-
dersell. and years of disappointment
where nothing can perturb them any
more than can bird Of prey which is
ten miles off disturb a chick at mid
night brooded in a barnyard.
Under the Divine Wings.
My text has its strongest application
for people who were born in the coun-
try, wherever you may now live, and
that is the majority Of you. You can
not hear my text without having all
the rustic scenes Of the old farmhouse
come back to you. Good old days they
were. You knew nothing much Of the
world. for you had not seen the world.
By law Of association you cannot re-
call the brooding hen and her chickens
without seeing also the barn and the
haymow and the wagon shed and the
house and the room where you played
and the tlreside with the big backlog
before which you sat and the neigh
bors and the burial and the wedding
and the deep snOwbanks and hear the
village bell that called you to worship
and seeing the horses which, after
pulling you to church. stood around the
old clapboarded meeting house ana
church pew and. indeed. all the scenes
Of your first fourteen years. and you
think Of whGt you were then and Of
what you are now. and all these
thoughts are aroused by the sight Of
the old hencoop. Some Of you had bet
ter 20 back and start again. In thought
return to that place and hear the cluck
and see the outspread feathers and
come under the wing and make the
Lord your portion and shelter and
warmth. preparing for everything that
may come and so avoid being classed
among those described by the closing
words of my text, "as a hen gathereth
her chickens under her wings, and ye
would not" All. that throws the re-
sponsibility upon us. "Ye would not"
Alas, for the "would notsw If the
wandering broods Of the farm heed not
their mothers call and risk the hawk
and dare the freshet and expose them
selves to the frost and storm, surely
their calamlties are not the mothers
fault "Ye would notr' God would,
but how many would not?
When a good man asked young. wo
man who had abandoned her home and
who was deploring her wretchedness'I
why she did not return. the reply was:
81 dare not go. home. NJ father is so
provoked be ,wpuId. not receive me
home" Then said. the Christian
man. r"1 will fest this" And SO he
wrote to the father. and the reply |
came back. and In letter marked out
site Immediate and inside saying,
LET her come at once; all is forgiven"
So Gods invitation for you is marked
Immediate" on the outside. and in
side it is written. .''He will abundantly
pardon" oh. ye' wanderers from God
and happiness and home and heaven,
come under the sheltering wing. A
vessel in the Bristol channel was
nearing the rocks called the Steep
Holmes. Under the tempest the yes
sci was unmanageable. and the only
hope was that the tide would change
before she struck the rocks and went
down. and so the captain stood on the
deck. watch in hand. Captain and
crew and passengers were pallid with
terror. Taking another look at his
watch and another look at the sea, he
shouted: Thank God. we are saved!
The tide has turned. One minute
more and we would have struck the
rocks". Some Of you have been long
while drifting in the tempest Of sin I
and sorrow and have been making for
the breakers. Thank God. the tide has
turned. Do you not feel the lift Of the
billow? The grace of God that bring"
eth salvation has appeared to your
soul, and. in the words Of Boaz to
Ruth. commend you to "the Lord God
Of Israel. under whose wings thou hast
como to trust"
copyright. 1902. Louis Klopsch. N. II