Durango semi-weekly herald., 1906-01-04


: arch adversary in 1906.
4. Observe that the occasion wa
to emphasize the promises OF Goo
New Year had forward look, Israe
at the first celebrated the festival h
The tabernacle. which was a symbo
Of their transient sojourn in the wi
derness, but the place of conventio,
soon got TO be the synagogue. whicl
was symbol OF their permanent Sc,
tiement in Canaan. There the servic,
was begun with the eighty-first psalm
which was rendered with full orches
tral accompaniment in obedience Il
the verse: Take a psalm, and brina
nither the timbrel. the pleasant hart
with the psaltery;" and the service
was meant to be an expression of con
| ndence In God. Thus the people were
10 snow the world that their faith
which was the substance of things
| noped Tor. enabled them to realize
that the events about to fall out To
them In the coming days, like the tim
brel and harp which blend with tho
voice OF man. would merge themselves
into harmonious Providence.
This. too, should be characteristic
Of us. God is thoughtful of us. though
we are forgetful of Him. and a re
view OF our lives shows as much We
might take some of the phrases of the
eishty-hrst psalm to express our own
experiences as follows: "'Thou calledst
in trouble and | delivered thee" or
i answered thee In the secret
place. or. Il removed thy shoulder
from the burden" and our experienc
es should quicken in us the sense OF
reliance on God. God. who has dealt
well with Us in the last three hundred
ana siNty-five days, promises TO deal
Wen with us in the next three hundred
and sixty-tye days. His pledge has
the guarantee of the past, and. taking
the past as an argument for the flu
lure, we should silence our fears with
the opening words of the psalm:
Sing aloud unto God"
Besides the negative side of the
thought should warn us. II we meet
this exhortation with a refusal. we
are going to have to suffer Retro
spection without anticipation is bound
TO retard our growth. We may com
piain; oh, a year ago our pocket
book was full, and there were nc
hard times in the household" we
may complain: "Oh, year ago there
were the merriest of friends here and
their laughter filled our hearts with
mirth. but, while we complain. we
should hear in mind the oriental prov
erb: "Remembrances of past delights
are the wrinkles of the soul" For us
TO grieve over by-gone felicities at the
expense of hope is for MS to shrink
Progress shrivels up in our slough OF
Despoud.
Nor is there tine least reason for
you TO despond. The conditions among
YOU now are better than the condi.
tions were year ago. God is stlll
at the helm: the sky overhead Is
clear: so you should allow the dead
past to bury It's dead and cheer up
Brighter days await you, and, instead
of murmuring because OF wnut has
been, you should reach out TO the mob
Ter pleasures to come to you throurH
faith in God
] may illustrate the thought as fol
lows; Israel was overtaken by numer.
Gus evils during their wanderings In
the wilderness. When comparison
was drawn between their lot there
and their former homes, not few
of them wished themselves back
around the fish pots of Egypt. Dis
contented ones complained: "Oh. just
TO sit down about our tables In our
cottages of old when the good men
brick yard, and eat our mess of leeks
and lentells together" But none of
them would have made an attempt to
have justified the complaint in the
time of the Psalmist. Oh, no then
the haze on the northern horizon OF
their vision had arisen like the mists
of the morning. Happy homes capped
the nils: fertile fields nestled at the
base of the mountains: and To- on
yonder heights were the vineyards
Eschol. Progress!
SO these lessons from the expert.
ences of the chosen people should rest
with us. We should remember that
the season is a call to prayer and both
young and old should prepare to meet
for this purpose every evening; we
should remember that revelation con.
ditioDs its promises on obedience 10
its precepts; we should remember
| that. since an atonement has been
made for our sins, though transgres
sions do scar our record, none should
permit his sins to hinder him and We