The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-09-30

this sermon the preacher finds les-
 &-@ son amid the mountain peaks and
 valleys. the breeding places of storm and
 tempest The text is Psalm lxxxi, !. "l
 answered thee in the secret place of thun-
 der.'
 I wonder where the sweet singer of
 Israel caught his inspiration for my text 7
 Was he herding his sheep one day In the
 valley or the lowlands, where the shep-
 herds, a thousand years later, watched
 their floeks by night and heard the angel
 of the nativity say, Fear not, for behold
 bring you tidings of great joy, which
 shall be to all people, for unto you IS
 born this day in the city of David
 Saviour which is Christ the Lord?' While
 he was sitting upon a rock in the fields
 did he not look up and see the storm
 clouds gathering over the surrounding
 hills? Then away off in the distance did
 he hear the muttering of the thunder?
 And while the valleys remained dry did
 he see the rain falling in torrents upon
 the mountain heights? Then did he see
 a beautiful rainbow in great arch lift
 itself above those mountain tops Ana
 then did he remember the words which
 God spake unto Noah thousand years
 before the psalmist was born. T do se1
 my bow in the clouds. and 1t shall De TOT Ia token of a covenant between me and the
 earth, and I will remember my covenant
 which Is between me and you ana every
 living creature of all flesh, and the waters
 shall no more become a flood to destroy
 all fiesh?" Then when David saw the rain-
 bow and witnessed the storm clouds dls-
 appear did he feel that God was his pro
 tector and never failing friendE was ne
 filled with the divine peace which passe'h
 all understanding?
 Or it may be different scenes that sug-
 gested to the sweet singer of Israel the
 image of my text. Perhaps 1t was on
 day when one of his sheep went astray'
 He counted the flock over and over agaln'
 and he found that one was surely Ios'.
 So he started up the mountain siae Io
 hunt it. Higher and higher he went. ne
 plunged through this thicket ana lna'
 Then at last he found if. But in the meah-
 lime the night settled in. Then the stars
 of the heavens were shut out by the piack
 clouds Then the thunder began to growl'
 Then, with his bleating sheep iohoMlne
 close at his heels he saw the lshtmhss
 flash and shatter a huge tree Just slol
 distance off Then he said; An tnae
 must have been the way God Noioo
 sounded to Moses when he spoke to hliu
 among the cayerns and the deep ravines
 of old Sinai This is truly one or the
 secret places of thunder" personally
 believe that the psalmist did not ca1eh .ne
 meaning of my text when he was tehaihs
 his sheep down in the valleys, put Wlei,
 he was hunting for lost lamb In one oI
 the secret places of thunder, upon one
 of the highest peaks of the lJudean noun
 tains overlooking the little village or
 Bethlehem. where he was born and where his family at that time dwelt.
 Secret Place of Thunder.
 We do not know what were the scenes that caused these words to spring rom the lins of the ancient poet. but since ms time the child of God has often been reminded of them In times Of troupe ana crisis. It is well to know that there are secret places In which Gods voice may be heard by the discouraged soul anere ere are times when the heart of the falthlul is depressed by the noises wrangiing around him; when his ears are filled with the loud babble of the worlds disputings with the fierce cries of contention' With the silly utterances of society frlVonty, with the vain and foolish sophistry of learned philosophers proclaiming that there Is no God. Then happy is he if he can retire Into his closet or some other secret place and hear the voice of God answering his perturbed spirit in thunder tones.
 The words suggest lllaL dOu Setlel places of thunder are far away from the ordinary haunts of man. They are so far away that for a little while at least we can get away from the selfish nesses and meannesses and sordidness surrounding us, We can live upon high CT plane. We can be- as I was some time ago, when l climbed the San Bernardino mountains to camp in the noted Little Bear valley of southern California After we had gone up 1000, 2000, 5000 40O0 5000 feet suddenly we came to the summit. There we were able to stand upon the rocks and with sweep of eye take in the hot plains dotted with cities and I villages and ranches. There we could see < where men were toiling and struggling } in the work of everyday life. but we were above them all and above their tur- moil. We were in the flesh, yet we were so far up that when the mlsts began to 3 gather they shut out the whole world beneath us. These msts looked like a a great sea, with here and there a moun- \ tain peak pushing itself up reminding us of the world beneath us as the Azores 4 rising above the Atlantic remind us of tbe continent of Atlantis sunk beneath the waves It was a strang experience that of withdrawal from the world and all it's concerns. It is necessary at times, when our vision is c1ouded and our spirits warped by the worlds principles and < maXims. to climb beyond its reach into | lne upper ar or lIOQ'S presence, where in the secret place of thunder we may 2 hear his voice. Thus in order to reach Gods secret places of thunder we must \ get out of the world. We must lift our N selves above its meannesses and sins. We must lift ourselves from earth and walk with God and commune with God upon the mountain tops of lave and gen. \ tleness and kindness. We must learn upon these mountain tops of spirituality to breathe the pure air of the purposes for which we were born and for which we can live through all eternity.
 Professor Curle's Death.
 My friends, would like to ask you a blunt question: Have you ever tried to seek God far away from the haunts of | man? Have you ever tried to commune with Him in the secret places of the thun- der? In order to do this you do not have
 to climb the Matterhorn or Mount Shasta . | or Mount Rainier or Baldy Peak of New = Mexico You do not have to leave the city
 walls and hie yourself to the hills and \ listen to the songs of the thrushes and the wooings of the brooks. A man can live In the city and yet not be in the city. We should do so if we were really ab- sorbed in spiritual things Some time ago 9 Professor Cure, the great discoverer of the element radium, was walking through \ the streets of Paris with his mind so con z centrated upon his scientific problems that he was utterly unconscious of his sur roundings. When a heavy truck rumbled