St. Tammany farmer., 1906-08-18

with thee of the elders of Israel: and
thy rod wherewith thou smotest the
river, take in thine hand and go. Be-
hold! l will stand before thee upon
the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt
smite the rock, and there shall come
water out OF 1t, that the people may
/ drink"
And in the face Of the derision and
the angry complaining Of the people,
Moses had gathered the elders together
and went forth with them to the rock.
There It had stood rugged and forbid
ding. How was 1t that the hard, dry,
cold rock could pour forth its flood Of
waters? But in the face of the op-
position and the doubt of those with
him, Moses had gone bravely and bold
~ forward and when they had come to
the rock he had bowed his head rever-
emily. Then was It that a strange
thing happened, for the Cloud, which
up to this time had rested over the
camp, came and stood upon the brow Of
the great rock, and as he lifted his
eyes Moses knew that the Lord was
there to show forth his marvellous
grace and power.
Behind him was people perishing
for water. Shut in the wilderness
there was no escape. No human hand
could succor. They could not go back.
To go forward meant death on the
burning sands. But before him there
on the rock was the glory Of Gods
presence.
In that moment a new thrill Of
gladness had stirred his heart, and
while the elders gathered about him
had watched expectantly, he had
reached forth his hand apd with the rod
struck the rock, at the same time cali
ing upon God and reminding him of
his promise to send forth stream Of
refreshing water from the hard, f1inty
rock.
Down from the overshadowing Cloud
had flashed the flaming finger Of God
cleaving the mighty rock in twain,
and forth had gushed the life-gfving
waters.
Overcome by the majesty and glory
of the scene, the .elders had fallen on
springfng waters surged about their
feet they had suddenly realized what
God had wrought for them, and leap
ing to their feet had bounded back to-
wards the camp, shouting as they ran:
Water at the rock! Water at the
rock! Water at the rock!"
And Moses as he stood there now re-
called the eager Joy with which the
people had streamed forth to that
fountain which God had opened up for
them. They had drank deep and long
and then, rushing back to the camp,
had returned with all the skin bottles
and Jars they could find to fill them,
"lest," they said, tt'the water should |
fail.''
But the1e was the water now gush-
ing forth. with undiminished flow.
Never before had he seen SO abundant
a fountain. Out of the rift ii the rock
it poured as though the source of sup
ply behind was inexhaustible. AL
ready the waters had cut for them
selves channel In the yielding sands
and were flowing on and on towards
the camp. His eyes followed the
stream and thence on he turned his
gaze to the tents of the sleeping Israel
ties. Above them hung the pillar Of
l1re.
"God in our midst, indeed" Moses
whispered softly to himself, "and God
here, too," he exclaimed, turning to
the rock and speaking as though it
were a thing of life. God here, too,
FOR these waters speak of his unbound
ing grace. The God who 80 abundant
y supplies the needs Of the body will
also provide for his people refuge"
And as the faint glimmer Of light Of
Gods abundant mercy stole into his
heart he rejoiced, for the cleft rock in
he wilderness had given him .new
7ision of God.
l