Milford chronicle., 1905-12-08
Ca(n1aQe
Sermon
By Rev.
Frank De Witt Talmase. D. D.


in the battle of life and to give way to
unavaiIing regrets. The text is II Sam
uel xix, 10, so 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 you?' 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 about?
Was not my metal all right until you
pounded a crack in my side? And, fur
thermore, would not the world think I
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 denouncing 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 fight
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 unutterabe 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
DedO is exploded under his wheel, or
for the sea captain who will not keep
his eye 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 skulking 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 off
the swaying branches. It is no sign Of
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 go
forth to grapple with the wrongs and
scatter the causes which are bringing
forth evil results.
General JOab was not a common
scold; neither was he one of those
wishy washy. effeminate, pusillanimous !
characters who are afraid to say that !
their souls are their own. He could .
speak out boldly and bravely when it :
behoOved him so to speak When the .
king did right, Joab was ready to say, i
''Thou art right, o my king" When
the king did wrong, Joab was also !,
ready to say, "Thou art wrong, o my ;,
king" And because he was ready to ;,
denounce the kings follies just as en- :
phatically as he was to praise the q
kings virtues he was able to exercise =
the far reaching influence on David's =
life that is described in the chapter Of =
my text. -
In the first place, the iconoclast open Il
ed the eyes of the king to the many -
blessings with which he was surround =,
ed. With one herculean blow Joab :,
shattered the idol of the kings grief =,
and made him stop worshiping at the "
shrine of his wayward sons grave NJ
With the keen, sharp words of friend ii
be went into the royal bedroom and NJ
,ut and slashed that weeping parent a
with his verbal stiletto until at last the VI
King realized that even a father has no VI
light to spend a lifetime bemOaning a m
lead Absalom if by such a course he is w
loing an injustice to his living friends. ba
Ind yet, my brothers, how many men AL
md women there are Just like David! To
They never seem to be able to turn Of
heir weeping eyes away from the To- sa
us Of tombstone. They never seem tb
0 be able to see the laughing eyes and err
be smiling lips or to hear the loving tb,
7ords Of those who are living for them yo
1 the nurseries and sitting rooms Of fri
heir own homes.
Dav1d's Greatest Battle.
The greatest battle of David's career =
as over. 1t was an awful fight Dur A.
g the hours Of that day the kings A. A.
rome had been tottering upon its foun- A.
atoms. As Alfred the Great had to 49,
20 his capital when he was defeated a.
? the Danes at Athelney, and as Rob -,
: ,o--0e "es ~ eNi,e IN lreiahu lor VIII
s Scottish throne, and as Charles II. t,'a az
as wanderer upon the face OF the tEa e.''
rth when Cromwell was dictator at .'s -
estminster, so King David, on ac- boa
unit Of the uprising Of his son Absa- To-, To-,
n, was fugitive from his Jerusalem -
lace. 1t was not a mere playful squalI i,or
lich had strucIr his ship Of state. 49, 49,
was a tornado, which was ripping tha,
, sails aud making the gunwales sink It.,
der the foaming, raging pillows. - =
ng David's head was in danger, and - =
; whole royal family were menaced a.
the insurrection Of which this dis -
use Plinee was He ieauer' Inc well
|. 4"s - pilnces - .ne Aoneon lower to 4