Milford chronicle., 1905-12-08

How hard it is for the minister's wife
% go to her husband after the sermon
has been preached and say: "John, you
ought not to have said thatl When you
tell incidents like that in the pulpit
you are truly undermining your own
influence. and you do but little good.''
How hard it is for a minister's wife
to do that! Yet there is many minis
ter today 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 it is to tell that old
boyhood friend 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 going out at
night with the men with whom she is
goingl Easy to praise our friends for
their virtues! Are you ready to be true
and brave and to lift the danger signal
over your friends faults7 You know
you can put your hand upon the life
weaknesses Of your friends as no one
else can. Are you ready to be a Gen
eral Joab to your King David?
But we must not stop here. When
we find King David going forth to
work we also find General JOab, the
great emanclpator Of grief. When we
find David being induced to go forth
to meet the responsibilities of his king
dom we find him breaking the shackles
of sorrow which have bound him hand
and foot, as the Roman captives used
to be bound to the chariots of their
conquerors in the triumphal entries
into the capital of the Caesars. And
thus my friends, if you and 1 want to
be truly helpful to our friends in their
time of trouble, we should not try so
much to pet them and sympathize with
them, but we should go as General
Joab went to King David to compel
them to go forth and do something.
Work as a Panacea.
Work is the best panacea for grief. |
Many years ago a great trouble came |
10 my fathers home. The best COM
forter my father had was not to be
found among those who came to weep
with him and to sympathize with him,
)ut the best comforter was the old
,lassmate who came and said: DE
Witt, 1 am going through trouble far
worse than yours. My wife for ten
ears has been in the insane asylum.
want to give you the only cure l
NOW to help you at this time. Do
lot stay at home and cry. Go forth
lto Gods great harvest field and work.
Work for God in the morning, work
or God at noon, work for God at night,
york and keep on working for God all
be time, and the blessed comfort from
iod will be yours" Thus, my brother,
rhen you and l are going to carry true
omfort to our friends in their time of
rOuble do not go to them to pet them.
10 to them and rouse them out of them
elves by urging them to do something
)r some one else. 1t was by work
lat David overcame his grief, not by
elfsh tears and sobs and weepings in
le silence Of his bedchamber.
And by the same reasoning, if there
2 any blessing above all others for
hich you and l should be thankful in {
II days of adversely, it is for the
essing of work By imposing on us
Ie necessity of earning our daily bread
I'd caring for those who are depend
1t upon us God is able to throw off
e heavy burdens of our grief. And
wv near those burdens were once to J
.stroying us! l today would have a
II treasure your necessity of work I
g for your daily existence. Sorrow 1
Id trouble raised their axes and V
lote at you. At first you were stun K
d by the cruel blows. But hardly j
d the blows of trouble and sorrow n
when, like David, you had Ii
be up and out and doing. And in II
ur necessity for daily toll you found a
e of Gods great panaceas for grief. ii
j, my friends, thank God today that II
u have to work and continue to work b