The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1903-08-22

iIs1F BEA<n leads back to God
I'm ~ WV and His bles s d
f.'Y1 service. The Psalm
from which It Is taken is the concluding
chapter of story Of sin and its deplora-
BILE consequences. Sin had severed fell
lowship with God. and terminated ac-
ceptable and efficient service. In an I'M
guarded moment, while yielding to the
ease and luxury Of his royal state, he
slipped che traces OF uprightness and
bolted of into the enticing meadows OF
sin. He gratified his desires, but at
fearful cost He sacrificed his peace Of
mind and heart, and destroyed his power
for good. AS the days came and went
he CROPPED In the dark. while he sought
to find light In himself and tried to JUS
tify himself by the conduct Of the kings
of the nations about him. That which
he had done was only the common prac-
tice Of kings and rulers OF his day. No
one in the kingdom dared call into ques-
ton the acts of the great King David.
He was not in danger Of punishment at
the hands Of the nation. But, notwith-
standing this. those were days of dark
ness to the king who had fellowshiped
with God and performed His service.
The distress and disquiet and darkness
of those days can be realized only In
the light of David's open confession and
his yearning appeal.
HOW common Is the experience OF
III David among Christians. Of sinful
indulgence, of separation from God.
Days of darkness come. The inspiration
for service has died out. The sense OF
Joy in the salvation Of the Lord has been
lost. There may be the perfunctory dis
charge, of religious duties. even as there
was probably with David during the
period OF his sinfulness and separation
from God. Oh! how often the Christian
goes on in this condition! No wonder
he gets no Joy out of his service. Nc
wonder there is dissatisfaction and dis
couragement. No wonder that, II he
fails to go to God with full confession
I. of sin against Him. and pleads not fol
the cleansed heart and the new milling
of the Spirit, gradually he gets farther
and farther away in the darkness ant
finally gives up even the outward dis
play of devotion and service to the Lore
and His cause. Nearly every Christian
has the experience of slipping from tn,
blessed yoke which he is sharing will
the Chris. who has redeemed him. ant
OF wandering of and browsing in tn
attractive fields of the worlds pleasures
and sins, but so few. comparatively. ar
like David in humble confession and ear
nest pleading in faith for cleansing ant
reinstatement. There is a great deal
unyoking, but so little yoking up again
The Christian gets out of the harnes
which enables him to do effective serv
ice for the Lord but he does not Away
get back into the harness again. AS W
have said, he goes on with his accus
toned religious duties and devotions. bu
the inspiration and Joy Of service ar
lost because of unconfessed sin and ser
aration from God. No amount OF sub
seauent service and faithfulness ca
cover up the sin that Is fostering In tn
heart. or restore to working FELLOWSHIP
with God.
TT TAKES a heart that Is cleanse
from all sin and hands which hav
been washed from iniquity to rende
acceptable service to God In the TWEEN
ty-fourth Psalm David asks: "Wh
shall ascend into the hill of the Lord
or who shall stand in his holy place
He that hath clean hands and a pur
heart; who hath not lifted up his sol
unto vanity. nor sworn deceitfully.
This was the spirit and purpose {
Jesus teaching when He said: 81
thou bring thy gift to the altar. an
there remembered that thy brothe
hath aught against thee. leave ther
thy gift before the altar. and go tn
way; first be reconciled to thy brothe
and then come and offer thy gift" TIL
gift on the altar Is representative {
Christian service. but before 1t can b
accepted there must be q cleaning u
of old scores; wrongs must be righted
confessions must be made; sins mus
be cleansed; hands must be purified
was the consciousness Of this whic
bowed a great and mighty king In tn
dust of confession and repentance. an
made him plead the prayer OF our text
Create for me a clean heart. o God
and renew a stcadfast spirit within m,
Cast me not away from Thy presence
and take not Thy Holy Spirit from mi
Restore unto me the Joy of Thy sa
walton: and uphold me with a willin
spirit" Why! Listen: Then will
teach transgressors Thy ways; an
sinners shall be converted unto Thee.
David was conscious that his sin ha
separated him from God and unite
him for service. He was no longer abb
20 teach transgressors the ways Of tn
Lord. nor lead sinners into the ligh
of salvation. And instead OF persistin
in the effort Of . Christian life an
service which would be painful. an
I Unsatisfactory and unfruitful. b