Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1906-09-27

Se1'11 ION
BY Rev.
Frank De Witt Talmaae. d. d.


sermon the preacher finds a lesson
amid the mountain peaks and valleys,
the breeding places of storm and tenn
pest The text Is Psalm lxxxi, Z, 81 an
swered thee in the secret place of thun
der"
wonder where the sweet singer of
Israel caught his inspiration for my text?
Was he herding his sheep one day in the
valley or the lowlands, where the shep-
herds, Il thousand years later, watched
their focks by night and heard the
/ angel of the nativity say, Gear not
for behold bring you tidings of great
JOY, which shall he to all people, for
unto you is born this day in the city of
| David a Saviour which Is Christ the
Iord?" While he was sitting upon Il
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 mutterng
of the thunder? And while the valleys
remained dry did he see the rain fall
ing in torrents upon the mountain
heights? Then did he see q beautiful
rainbow in a great arch lift Itself above
those mountain tops? And then did he
remember the words which God spake
unto Noah thousand years before the
psalmist was born. II do set my bow
in the clouds, and it shall be for a token
of covenant between me and the
earth, and / will remember my cove
nant which is between rue and you and
every living creatur of all flesh, md
the waters shall no more become a
food TO destroy all finsh?" Then when
David saw ,he rainbow and witnessed
the storm clouds disappear did he feel
that God was his protector and never
failing friend? Was he filled with the
divine peace which passeth all under
standing?
Or it may be different scenes that
suggested to the sweet singer Of Israel
the image of my text. Perhaps it was
on day when one OF his sheep went
astray. He counted the flock over and
over again, and he found that one was
surely lost So he started up the noun
tain side to hunt it. Higher and higher
he went. He plunged through this
thicket and that. Then at last he found
It. But in the meantime the night set
tied In. Then the stars of the heavens
We're shut out by the black clouds.
Then the thunder began to growl. Then,
with his bleating sheep following close
at his heels, he saw the lightningS fash
and shatter huge tree just short dis
lance off Then he said: "Ah, that must
have been the way Gods voice sounded
to Moses when he spoke to him among
the caverns and the deep ravines of old
Sinai. This is truly one of the secret
places of thunder" I personally be-
lieve that the psalmist did not catch
the meaning of my text when he was
tending his sheep down in the valleys,
but when he was hunting for lost
lamb in one Of the secret places of
thunder, upon one of the highest peaks
Of the Judean mountains overlooking
the little village Of 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 from the lips of the ancient
poet but since his time the child of
God has often been reminded of them
il times of trouble and crisis. 1t is
| we'll to know that there are secret
places in which Gods voice may be
/ nd lv hn II al
are times when the heart Of the faith
full is depressed by the noises vran-
Cling around him; when his cars are
filled with the loud babble of the
worlds dsputings, with the fierce cries
of contention, with the silly utterances
Of society's frivolity, with the vain and
foolish sophstry OF learned philoso-
piers proclamng 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
bis perturbed spirit in thunder tones.
The words suggest that Gods secret
places of thunder are far away from
| the ordinary haunts of man. They are
so far away that for little while at
least we can get away from the selfish
nesses and meannesses and sorddness
surrounding us. We can live upon q
higher plane. We can be, as | was
some time ago, when ! climbed the
san Bernardino mountains TO camp in
, the noted Little Bear valley of south
crn California. After we had gone ND
1000 1000, 5000, 1000, 5000 feet sud
denly we came to the summit. There
we We're able to stand upon the rocks
md with sweep of eye take in the hot
plains dotted with cities and villages
ana ranches. There we could see
where men and women were tolling
and struggling in the work of everyday
life, but we We're above them all and
above their turmoil. We were in the
flesh, yet we were so far up that when
the msts began to gather they shut out
the whole world beneath US. These
mists looked Ike q great sea, with here
| and there a mountain peak pushing IT.
self up. reminding us OF the world be-
nea tn us ms the Azores rising above the
Atlantic remind us of the continent OF
Atlantis sunk beneath the waves. 1t
| was a strange eXperlencc-tha of with
drawal from the world and all its con-
Germs. 1t Is necessary at times, when
| our vision Is clouded and our spirits
| IL