The Brunswick news. [volume] (Brunswick, Ga.) 1901-1903, 1902-11-09

Upon the Souls Deep Longing After
God-Faith viii Conquer in the End
I --God is Our Strength and Life.
New York CITY-Thc Rev. DR.. J. vii.
bur Chapman has furnished to the press a
most striking and popular sermon which
Is intended for all those who would rise to
better things. 1t is entitled - Great
victory, and is preached from the texts:
AS the hart panteth after the water
brooks, so panteth my soul after Thee, 0
SOD; Psalm ~: /. Hope in God, for I
shall yet praise Him who is the health of
my countenance. Psalm as: s.
Ihe tlrst verse is a lamentation in the
wilderness, the second is a shout of re-
lolclng when victory is won The terri
tory stretching out from the wilderness in
the one text to the presence of God in the
ether Is not only the story of the expe-
Renee of David, but of the most of Chris
tlans. My message last week was to those
who occasionally fall under juniper trees
and Yaet to de; he-s it is to all who
would rise to better things.
The Psalms are divided into five books.
and the ancient Rabbins say in these five
hooks in the Psalter we have the image of
the five books of the law. or in other
words a kind OF a second pentateuch, the
echo of the first. In the first God speaks
and in the second the voice of the people
is heard. God presents Israel with the
law, and grateful Israel responds with
shout Of praise. These two Psalms form
the hJ4 division of the second book.
They are dedicated to Nhe master must
cans or the so-s OF Porah They were
the celebrated r-usieis25 and singers Of
the day; they were in Dayid's time the
keepers Of the threshold OF the tabernacle,
and still earlier in the time Of Moses they
were watchmen at the entrance of the
camp of the Levites; they were a part of
that band that acknowledged David as
leader at Ziklag; they were warriors with
faces like hons, and who for speed were
like gazelles on the mountains.
MIR. Spurgeon says that although David
IS not mentioned as the author of these
psalms they must be his, for the truth is
SO like him. 1t has the character of his
style and the work of his experience in
every letter. ! had sooner question the
authorship OF Bunyan's second part of the
Pilgrims Progress" than to question Da-
vid's right to these psalms Whoever
wrote them has given a name to the souls
deep longing after God and made a sigh a
melodious thing.
There are three divisions in the psalm
each closing with the refrain, "NNhy art
thou cast down. o my SOUL" The whole
psalm IL the picture of a soul climbing
Godward, not without backward Sins
but climbing nevertheless, until the sigh
OF the iirst text gives way to the shout of
the second. Perhaps the singer during his
exile on the eastern side of Jordan had
seen some gentle creature with open mouth
and heaving TANKS eagerly seeking water
in the dry river bed, and he saw in this a
picture of himself The whole psalm is
like what we lave seen on some early
spring day. when the sun was warm, the
sky blue, the trees ready to burst into bud
and the birds were singing, but only for
a day, then the clouds returned, the at
mosphere was chilled, the birds are all
stilled and the sun was under a cloud.
Viewed IN one way 1t Is q psalm OF gloom,
in another way it is psalm of glory.
StreaKs OF brightness are ever flashing
Through the gloom. First there is a sigh
as Of 4 breaking heart, then comes word
OF hope hike rainbow spanning the water
fall; once again the contending enemies
meet as in verses and 10, but finally
above it all comes the refrain without a
complaint, Il shall vet praise Him who is
the health Of my countenance."
There are certain expressions most strik-
ing in the psalm. Three times does David
say why art thou cast down, O my
soul!' as though he were two men. The
psalmist talks to himself. John Trapp
says it is David Gliding David out of the
dumps To search for the cause of sorrow
IS often the best surgery for grief In
verse s notice the words. "Ihe Lord viii
command His loving kindness in the day
time" No day has ever dawned in which
an nelE OF grace cOutu DC utterly Ioisa ken.
In the same verse we read In the night
His song shall be with me-" Affection
may put out our light at times, but If it
does not silence our song the light viii
come again. Verse 5. psalm AZ, "Send out
Thy light and truth" These are ike an
gels to guide him to the object of his al
fections, but finally above all sounds the
note OF victory. Hope thou in God" This
is like the singing Of Paul and Silas, it
looses chains. shakes the prison walls and
sets the prisoner free. Two graces men
by Christ hope aud faith. Faith tells us
what Christ has done; hope tells US what
lie will DO, and hope IS Ike the sun as we
journey toward lt; our burden ~ cast
back OF rs; taith may have many a
struggle with fear, but 1t VIII conquer IN
the end. These two psalms are really one;
there IS a constant unfolding OF expo
rience and rising to higher appreciation
OF God. and as faith acquires more strength
you VIII notice that not oHly DaUq but
ourselves come to think OF eiod IN dlHer-
ent way and address Him IN more endeaf-
ing terms. There Is no better Illustration
Of this than these two psalms.
J.
al Codv Dobarred from, nullic yvor.
shin nh ie beart sicl, He Is not seek-
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