Milford chronicle., 1908-03-06
Caln1aQe
sermon
BY Rev.
Frank De Witt Talmage, DID.


and should be bold and outsnokan =,
our stand against sin, no matter how
much we may love the sinner. is til,
lesson Of this sermon, the text fo
which is taken from | Samuel xvi /
How long wilt thou mourn for SauI9.
Who has not read with thrilling in
terest Sir Walter SCOTS story of .Ieanie
Deans? l was much interested in
learning that the heroine Of that story
was real character, a girl who lies
buried near Dumfries, on whose tomb
stone is an epitaph written by Scott
himself. 1t is impossible to refrain
from tears as we read the story. The
girl, whose life is wrapped nd in that
OF her young sister, gives evidence
against her that cOnvicts her of a cap
ftal Offense and then walks all the way
to London to obtain a pardon for her.
The brave girl could not tell a lie even
TO save her sister from a shameful
death, but could undergo hardship TO
deliver her. That is herOism, the hero
ism of fine soul that loved intensely
but feared to sin. Few of us could
have done a thing so heroic. We try
to shield our loved ones. We shrink
from exposing them We sometimes
shrink even from reproving them lest
we cause them pain. We try to shield
and cover up their ~wrongdoings even
as you sometimes see foolish mother
shields from her husband the wrong /
doings of her prodigal son because she
Te q fpain fnn fn Il. a..
boy
1t was in this way that Samuel chung
to his prOtege, Saul. Most of us think
of Samuel as a stern faced, grim Wis
aged mentor to the young king. We I
picture him standing before the offend
er implacable as a goddess of justice
with blinded eyes holding high the
scales and ready without a particle of
personal regret to execute the sentence
when the scales indicate guilt But
this stern set iron muscled
of Samuel was heart Of
deep tender, faithful love. Though he
must denounce Saul's sins. he could i
not cease to love Saul. His heart SEEM S
ed to cling to Saul, and he would have |
been glad, had it been right, to cover 1
up Saul's misdeeds Thus in the text I
he Lord finds the old prophet ana I
iays practically this: Samuel. how \
ong are you going to grieve for Saul? l.
lie has done wrong. Are you going to 0
continue to stay at home and grieve? V
IRE you not going forth to try to rec II
ify the evil Saul has done? Come. W
amuel, be a man. BE brave and true b
0 your nObler and better self. Come II
have selected another king for Is f;
ael." AS God came to Samuel in a.
ines of old God is coming to us and C
idding us refrain from useless grief. HI
Saul Born King. re
In the first place you must remember W
lat Saul was a handsome man. lie 10
as not only a king by election, but a'
2 was one Of those wonderful men 81
no are described as every inch ye
ngs because of their physical pres &c
ice. He was not only tall. standing 10
.ad and shoulders above all his COM 10
MONS, but he was perfectly formed. w
ld his face in its beauty must have
1ked like the features chiseled out of
arble by Phidias to form the beaut- Sa
cOuntenances of Greek gods. His Sa
airing when he first came before ed
muel was so humble and pure that mi
en- in the eyes of the stern faced all
ophet, nothing was to be criticised, VIZ
thing was to be apprehended. CO..
saul had the refinement in his make trr
which came from a cultured life. tn,
was the son of one of the repre- re,
ltative men Of his tribe. His blood brt
S of the best. He walked with the w,
lscious gait Of one well born, who to
S natural leader among men. His be;
,estors for generations had been be,
at men. If you turn to the record, stit
i can read these words: Now, there kin
S a man of Benjamin, whose name WI
S Kish, the son Of Abel, the son of Sta
or, the son of Bechorath, the son Of a n
liah, Benjamite, a mighty man of suf
YER. And he had a son whose name ruu
) SAUL a choice young man and pol
dly, and there was not among the era
dren of Israel a goodlier person to alst
I upon than he. From his shout resi-
J and upward he was higher than 1
Of the people" Can you not see por
l moving along, the cynosure of all wit
)? Cannot you see him, handsome drei
IN Apollo Belvedere? Was it any Chi
der that Samuel the prophet should ed &
him and hate to give him up? 1t LAND
D easy to excuse the sins of man stat
a woman when they are beautiful beir
graceful But because Saul, the Mai
lsome man, was a sinner, was that not
reason why his sins should not be "Elt
iemned by God just as much as If wee
vas an ugly dwarf? in q
Mary, Queen of Scots. nlln
Ike, for instance, the life of Mary, 1 spee
n of Scots. There is a lot of III III
din sentimentaIity expended over - -
sinful life. But was not John -t.sg I
< right when he used to stand up ,'-a
e Scottish pulpit and denounce her 1o W."
igacies until that beautiful queen v vs
d drive the nails into the palm De-,
II hand and her teeth into her lips nc
the blood came? And should not ,,oss
IS and hundreds of our women to- roId
T.. I. Il.