The Tupelo journal., 1903-04-10

the morning behold, they were all
dead corpses."
GO MUCH for the historical facts
~ which probably furnished some
devout Jewish poet with his inspira-
ton for the Psalm. 5In the eleven
short verses of this paean of praise the
words of our text are repeated twice,
echoing the thought in the opening
verse, and furnishing the key to the
whole. The sound of the words
m with the reassuring calm of
the peace, be still" which hushed
the raging sea of Galilee to rest. 1t
is a confident boast which swells and
throbs all through the Psalm and re-
veals the glory which comes from the
linking of the Divine power with hui
man weakness, bringing victory in
the face of a mighty foe. What must
these words have meant to those
helpless Jews shut up in their
city and unable of themselves to
strike a single effective blow at
the enemy which threatened their
LoIiCS III tICIl lObcu OltS IO-udN
the Assyrians are seen to be drawing
the lines closer about the city and
preparing to make the final assault
upon the city's walls. Darkness
closes in upon the city and the en-
camped enemy. What the morrow
may bring forth fills the people with
anxious dread. But Hezekiah and
Isaiah have placed the matters ATS
u in the hands of a mighty ally,
and, while the besieged city waits,
Gods angel goes forth and smites the
Assyrian army with the scourge of
over that troubled and anxious city
reveals to the wondering eyes of the
people heaps of dead instead of an
onrushing and conquering army, and
in the distance the remnant of Sem
nacherib's army can be seen retreat
ing, leaving behind its lifeless war
riors. 1t is nc idle boast which echoes
throughout the city. They can say
in truth: "The Lord of Hosts is with
us; the God of Jacob is our refuge"
q WAS a great thing for King Heze-
~ kiah to be able to claim the Lord
as his ally. 1t is the greatest boast
which any soul can make. Japan q
few years ago was proud to claim as
her ally the British nation with her
powerful fleets. Cuba more recently
was made strong and confident in the
knowledge that the United States
stood behind her in sympathy and
was ready to help strike the blow for
liberty. Nations and individuals are
always glad to claim the protection
and help of a stronger power. The
small boy, even, learns the lesson
early and warns the threatening
bully with what his big brother will
do if he touches him. The business
house likes strong backing. The new
business or enterprise depends upon
the substantial character of it's d.
rectors to give it standing in the
financial world. All this shows how
the weaker must of necessity look to
the stronger. 1t is the principle on
which society is constructed. 1t is
the unwritten law on which nations
rest. But human weakness which
can summon only human power to
it's aid is circumscribed and INSULT
cient. But the nation or the indi-
vidual who can in truth make the
boast that "the Lord of Hosts is with
u.s." reaches beyond human limita-
tions and clasps the hand of God in
invincible union.
Napoleon's boast that God was with
the heaviest artillery sounds well, and
has echoed and reechoed on the lips of
men in. se~lf-assuring confidence ever
since, but we dare to claim it is not
true. We would like to recast it and
say: "God, with the artillery, makes
it the strongest" The imputation that
God is always looking for the biggest
army and the heaviest guns, so as to
be on the winning side, is worse than
blasphemy. God is always with the
and whether it has the heaviest
guns or not it wins gloriously in the
end. Surely it was not because Heze-