The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-12-10

i Of conrse yop have 10 be alone. but think of her down at the office working. It Is not very pleasant Tor her. Yes" said the complaining old lady, T sup pose I ought to be thankful and not com l plain. but it Is my disposition, and l can't help l." An mel How many of us are like that dissatisfied old 1ady l How many of us are like King David! l We brood over our misfortunes so long l that we not only make life miserable for i ourselves, but add 10 the burdens of those who are striving to make our lives happy and blessed.
 1 But Kine David was awakened to more l than a sentimental realization of his blessings. General Joab gave to him | moral and spiritual galvanie shock, which startled his hands, his ears, his eyes as l never before. He made the king leap to his feet and stop his foolishness. Gen 1 eral Joab practically said to King David. l Tt Is not only mean and contemptible l for you to ignore the sacrifices your peo- 1 pie have made for you, but 1t Is more l This foolish crying proves to the world l that you are unfit longer to be king. 1 If you do not stop 1t your best friends will turn against you. Within few weeks you will have another insuiSection upon your hands, compared to which the late uprising will see monly plaything. You will be hurled from your throne. and another will take your place, and that rightly, for If man does not do as he ought to do the world will throw him aside, and he will have no one to blame but himself An, that was brave act of General Joabl It was one of the brav- est acts of his life. He was willing, If necessary, to sacrifice his own life in or der that his friend and king might see the 1 error of his ways and guard against the danger lurking at his feet. Are you and I willing to be as true to our friends as Joab was to his king?
 An Easy Task.
 It is easy to praise our friends when they do right or to defend them when they have injustice perpetrated against them. The story is told that many years ago the officers of the army of the king of Hanover refused to have anything to do with a young lieutenant who had been promoted on the field of battle for gal lantry. They claimed that he was not their social equal even though the shoulder straps of @ commissioned officer were his. The king heard about the boy colt. The next day at parade he called the young man to his side. Then, arm in arm with the lieutenant, he walked before the whole army assembled on dress l parade. Then that night, as his special guest. the king took the young officer with him to banquet. Of course when l the king went arm in arm with the young man the other officers at once felt he was l not only their social equal, but a friend l well worth cultivating. Yes" I said to myself as I read that story. "how easy 1t 1 is for some of us to walk arm In arm 1 with our friends when they are doing right but how hard it Is for some of us 1 10 take the hands of our friends when 1 they do wrong and to speak to them kind l ly and firmly and yet lovingly, as Joab told King David about his faults"
 l How hard it Is for the minister's wife to go to her husband after the sermon 1 oo1,aI af1H Inn ought not to have said that! When you tell incidents like that in the pulpit you l are truly undermining your own influ- ence. and you do but little good" How i hard it is for a minister's wife to do that. Yet there is many minister to- 1 day who Is ready to say that he would not be what he is unless his wife had | been a faithful critic of his sermon. How hard 1t Is to tell that old boyhood friend 1 that he Is doing wrong and that unless he stops his sins his life will be ruined. How hard it Is to tell that young girl classmate that she has no business to be l going out at night with the men with whom she Is going, Eas yto praise our friends for their virtuesl Are you ready to be true and brave and to lift the dan- ger signal over your friends faults? You
 know you can put your hand upon tho
 life weaknesses of your friends as no
 one else can. Are you ready to be q
 general Joab to your King David?
 But we must not stop here. When we
 and King David going forth to worl,
 we also find General Joab. the great
 emancipator of grief. When we find
 David being induced to go forth to meet
 the responsibilities of his Kingdom we
 find hi mbreaking the shaclles of sorrow which have bound him hand and foot
 sthe Roman captives used to be bound to the eharots of their eonquerors in the triumphal entries into the capital of the i Caesars. And thus, my friends. if you i and I want to be truly helpful to oul friends in their time of trouble, we should not try so much 10 pet them and sympa- l thze with them but we should go as General Joab went to King David to
 compel them to go birth and do some
 thing.
 Work as a Panacea.
 Work Is the best panacea for grief.
 Many years ago great trouble came
 to my fathers home. The best comforter
 my father had was not to be found
 among those who came to weep with
 him, but the best comforter was the old
 classmate who came and said: De Witt
 l am going through trouble far worse
 than yours My wife for ten years has
 been in the insane asylum. l want tc
 give you the only cure l know to hell
 you at this time. Do not stay at home
 and cry. Go forth into Gods great har-
 vest field and work. Work for God 1T
 the morning, work for God al noon, Work
 for God at night, work and keep on work
 ing for God all the time, and the blessed
 comfort from God will be yours" Thus
 my brother. when you and l are going tt
 carry true comfort to our friends in then
 time of trouble do not go to them to pc
 them Go to the mand rouse them ou
 of themselves by urging them to do some
 thing for some one else. 1t was by worl
 that David overcame his grief. not bS
 selfish tears and sobs and weeping in th' | silence of his bedchamber.
 And by the same reasoning, if there b'
 any blessing above all others for whici you and I should he thankful in oul
 days of diversity, 1t Is for the blessinl
 of work By imposing on us the neeessit, of earning our daily bread and caring
 God is able to throw off the heavy bur
 dens of our grief. And how near thos' burdens were once to destroying usi l to- day would have you treasure your neces sity of working for your daily existence Sorrow and trouble raised their axes anf smote at you. At first you were stunned by the cruel blows. But hardly had th' blows of trouble and sorrow descended when. like David you had to be up ane
 out and doing. And in your necessity fol daily toll you found one of Gods grea panaceas for grief. Oh. my friends. thank God today that you have to work anc
 continue to work and, like King David
 that you have to work all the time. But there is another fact I want vol to notice about Joabs upbraidment ant denrneiation He did not waste any