Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1905-12-09
Calt11aQe
Sermon
By Rev.
Frank De Witt Talma6e. d. d.

Los Angeles, Cal, Dec 3.-In this
sermon the preacher sounds a stirring
note Of arousal and fresh encourage
ment to those who are disposed to sink
In the battle of life and to give way to
unavailing regrets. The text is ii Sam
uel xix, 10, 80 the king returned and
came to Jordan"
The world has no use for the common
scold When universal fault finders
can see nothing but shortcomings In
their fellow men they are apt to de-
nounce sins similar to those to which
they themselves are addicted. what
is the matter with youY the clapper
asked the cracked bell in the old leg
end. "YOu utter nothing but discOrds.
You are no good to anybody" yes"
answered the bell, that may be true.
But what are you complaining aboutf
Was not my metal all right until you
pounded crack in my side? And, fur
thermOre, would not the world think
was all right now If you did not con-
tinue to pound me and advertise my
weaknesses?" SO it often happens that
the people who are most active in de-
nouncing the weaknesses Of others are
really denounclng the evil results Of
which they themselves are the direct or
indirect causes. Like a boomerang
their complaints fly in a circle They
strike back at the very lips which start
ed those complaints on their evil flight
The world has but little use for the
common scold. 1t has also little use
for those who do not heed the danger
signals Of life which are lifted all about
them. It has unutterable contempt for
the pilot who will not steer away from
the buoys marking the dangerous reefs,
or for the engineer who Will not stop
his locomotive when the warning tor
pedo Is exploded under his wheel, or
for the sea captain who will not keep
his eve upon the falling barometer
when the ship is drawing near the ice
berg regions. or for the physician who
does not keep a careful record OF the
patients fever, or for the statesman
who does not ferret out and check the
evils skulklng behind the pillars Of the
legislative halls. There IS no sense In
declaring that the sun Is shining when
a tornado Is battering down the har-
vests and knocking the unripe fruit OFT
~. al fC ~ Z
great virtue to be always looking upon
the bright side of things when condi-
tions about us are all askew and could
be made right If we would only 90
forth to grapple with the wrongs and
scatter the causes which are bringing
! tfsnura. oV.sJ was not "a SViiiii4 q"
scold. neither was he one of those
wishy washy, effeminate, pusiiianlmous
characters who are afraid to say thal
their souls are their own. He could
sneol, ont boldly and bravely when 1t
hebooved him so to speak. When the
King did right. Joab was ready to say
"Thou art right, o my king Nhen
the king did wrong, Joab was also
ready to say, "ThOu art wrong y my
l,ing" And because he was ready t'
| denounce the kings follies just as EN-
nhatically as he was to praise th'
kings virtues he was able to eXercls'
tbe for reaching influence on DAVID
ufa that Is described in the chapter o.
my text.
In the first place the icOnoclast open
cd the eyes of the king to the man.
blessings with which he was surround
od with one herculean blow Joa
shattered the idol of the kings grle
ond made him stop worshlplng at III
shrine of his wayward sons grave
With the keen, sharp words of frlen
be went into the royal bedroom an
emf and slashed that weeping parel
with his verbal stiletto until at last I'll
king realized that even father mas l.
right to spend a lifetime bemoaning
dead Absalom if by such course ne
doing an injustice to his living frienu
: And vet. nv brothers, how many me
and women there are just ike DaNI
They never seem to be able 10 tui
their weeping eyes away from the l
cns of n tombstone. They never see
to he able to see the laughing eyes al
the smiling lips or to hear the iovil
words Of those who are living for the
I'm the nurseries and sitting rooms
their own homes.
David's Greatest Battle
The greatest battle of Davids care
was over 1t was an awful fight. III
> inc the hours Of that day the KING
throne had been tottering upon Its fou
ID dations. AS Alfred the Great had
r. foe his capital when he was defeat
bv the Danes at Athelney, and as hC
ert Bruce was an exile in Ireland
| six long years before he came DacK
his Scottish throne and as Charles
was q wanderer upon the face OF
~ Garth when Cromwell was dictator
Westminster, so King David, on
count Of the uprising Of his son AID
ION was q fugitive from his Jerusal
palace. 1t was not mere playful squ
which had struck his snip Vi s''
If was n tornado, which was ripp
. the sails and making the gunwales S
under the foaming, raging blilo'
King David's head was in danger
the whole royal family were mena
nv the insurrectiop Of which this
solute prince was the leader.
Young princes in the London 10
met the same kind of rate WI
Prince Absalom had planned out
2. his royal sire, but no sooner did
- kings friends rally to his standard
at the risk Of their fortunes ana I
lives fight the kings battles ana
hack for him his throne and XIII
young prince than the king closed
.or Must Be Quick.