The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-12-26
The International Sunday
 School Lesson for Tomorrow
WHAT IS DOING IN THE RELIGIOUS WORLD AND WHAT THE
 CHURCH PEOPLE ARE TALKING ABOUT

. own. entered upon a heritage made ready for him by the wars and heart breaks of his father, David. Both kings failed. Why?
 The answer ia 50 simple so eommon- place. that it's tremendous significance is likely to be overlooked. They were selnsh--with just the plain ordinary. every-day sort of selfishness which makes you and me take the best piece of celery from the dish, or rush for tho first seat In the dining car, or the best place at the bargain counter: or that prompts us to allow, mother or wife or sister to walt on us and sacrifice for us. or that makes us enter upon even the social and church relations ot life with the thought of our own personal advantage uppermost That was Saufs sort. and, in a worse de- gree, soiomon's sort. They missed the mark because they were looking out for number one. The old proverb that when every man is for himself the devil gets the hindmost is utterly wrong; when it is every man for himself" then the devil gets the fore most. The chief in selflshness Is the worst failure.
 Our Days New spirit.
 Sheer egotism wrecked Solomon and Saul, They were looking out for them E~Nf 1ef avs bNE1ks QWH RUWrF ana HAOIY and weii-beinE rather than for the welfare of the Kingdom. The cardinal sin is simply seltishness- A business man was talking about a preacher who Is candidate for q certain pulpit. and said: "oh, he is ali right. except he is utterly selish." All right!e exclaimed his friend T say hs Is all wrong. There Is no hersy so great as eelHsh- ness; it utterly invaiidates his Gospel ! A NAfAah al In the pulpit he cannot [ sincerely preach the message of Jesus" selash- ness is the supreme sin and unseIfish. ness is the supreme Christliness.
 This new soeialistic trend of our own times Is an expression of the spirit of Jesus. The days battle of aitruisn against self lf-interest is the war of Christ against all the allied forces of evil. And. by the example of Saul and Solomon, and ten thou. sand others like them. we know that the selfish Is doomed to failure. The might of Saul and the wisdom of Solo, mon could not save them from a shameful end. because their hearts were fixed upon themselves
 The Poets Heart.
 Over against the other two kings of the story must be placed David. big, blundering. peniteht David. Why ia he the Rreatest of the three. when he sinned worse than either? He had not SauPs native regalness nor Soiomon's wisdom: and he saw the Kingdom torn by internal factions and rebaIItons and by outward wars, Yet out of the dryness of dim history. he emereess in warm humanness and we love him de- spite his failures and most grlevous iniquities, he was headed right. For every drop of sims indulgence that he quaffed. he dr&nk deeply of the cup of remorse. To borrow a phrase from the doctors. his trouble was functional. and not organic. Ills heart meant right. He loved and served his nation supremeiyi second only to his love and service of Jehovah.
 Two poems figured in the quarters lessons. One was David's heart-cry for forgiveness. and the other his ex- precision of trust in the shepheardly- care of God. There spoke the real David He learned in suffering what he taught in song. He lived his life in relation to God. To see David clearly we must look at him on the Godward side. He did not build a great temple; but he lived A great life. He did not always sit secureiv on his throne, but he never ceased to be deep lover of his people. He. of all men. has most perfectly expressed In song the profound reality of Cod
 Lord Northcliffe. the celebrated Lon don publisher. remarked to a New York reported the other day the death of great writers on both sides of the Atlantic. There are plenty of faeiie pens. but no great voices speaking through the printed page. Men and women are not taking the time. or paying the price, to enter into the heart of humanity or into the heart of God. Tn no other way does great writ ing, or great living come. The mess age for our own times Is one with the message from ancient Israel that the only greatness is to realize God tre- mendously.