Los Angeles herald., 1907-08-05
REV. w. HORACE DAY.
breaches ON MERCY
Draws Text from HE Showed Mercy
to Davld"-Expounds Glowing
Kindness" as Shown
by the Bible

At the First Congregational church,
VIM. Horace Day, pastor, preached yes
terday morning on "David's Experience
of Mercy" His text was from 2, sam
1851; HE showed mercy to David" he
said in part:
"There is in the Bible the terrible word
sin; beside 1t we find the glorious WORD
mercy, or, loving kindness, as 1t Is In the
revised version. David's experience IL
illustrates Gods mercy to .-.e successfui
man. to the sorrowful man and to the
sinful man.
at is by the mercy Of God that man
has his chance for success To David He
gave wonderful chances for success. be-
cause he behaved himself more wisely
than all the servants Of Saul his name
was much set by
"These initial successes gave him op
portunities for the development OF lead
ership, but such chance could not nave
been his except as he had received II
humbly. We again understand why Goo
found David a man after His own heart
| in the way he received these mercies.
His reverend spirit shines through who
am I that thou hast brought me thus
far?'
God shows mercy no less in the send
ing of adversely. The man who succeeds
Is ant to forget unless that 1t Is the gift
of divine mercy Only the sting OF ad-
versity can bring him back to dependence
on God. Did you ever find man whose
success was perfect? The sudden calami-
ty falls.
"In such an hour all David's success
seemed lost and he came to Jonathan say
ing. as thy soul liveth there is but step
between me and death He fed for his
life and endured the seventies of Adult
lam in place Of Injuries of the court, and
vet the mercy of God was in his loss
OF Saul's favor
Mercy In Sorrow
when death came into David's home
he was heart-broken. But David, the
mourner, found the mercy Of God ade-
u,rate for comfort to a Borrowing father.
Later in his life he suffered the sorrows
worse than death. Absalom lead re-
bellion and drove his old father out of
his citadel. The old king had been driven
out of Jerusalem by his rebel son Abb
SALON.. There are griefs worse than
death. The weeping man mourned not
alone for the loss of his power. or his
wealth, but as king for his broken realm.
THE national unity which he had spent
his life in cementing was about to perish
because his son led the south in rebellion
against the north. The sorrow of the
father was even deeper-was 1t not his
son who threatened his life, the son
whom he had loved, whom he had show
cred with most generous gifts all his
days.
1.-THE evil way of that son filled the
maternal heart with woe far greater than
that which death itself can give. In such
hours as these David discovered the death
of the divine mercy. Many man In the
hour of his sorrow has found how much
his friends loved him and then how much
God loved him. So with this Hebrew
king.
1.-The divine mercy shows itself in the
Punishment of sin. Thank God we never
entirely escape from the consequences of
wrong Many a man who today is re-
spected and leading splendid life would
not have been in the path of rectitude
II the bitter cup of exposure had not
been pressed upon his lips.
'Sin is the terrible fact in each life.
Whether 1t be in the new theology of an
immature but brilliant man who tells us
that sin is self-ward and love all-ward,
God-ward, and that there is conflict be-
tween the two, the atoning process by
which man is won from selfish life to
real love to God, must go on.
THAT process is as eternal in the heart
of God as His mercy is eternal. 1t APP
pears in the publican beating his breast
SAYING, God be merciful to me, a sinner
1t finds the supreme manifestation in the
CROSS"