The Tupelo journal., 1908-09-11

o~ho yHu, Lie Lulu llAi HiS uoly
temple. For, behold. the Lord cometh
forth out of his place, and will come
down, and tread upon the high places
Of the earth"
AS he had spoken his message Of
pleading and warning, and threaten
ing, 1t had seemed to him as though
he could even then feel the tread Of
the Almighty's footsteps as he passed
through the land.
He shall tread upon the high
places"
How could the king in his place
keep from trembling? Didn't he know
that his throne would totter under
the tread CT that mighty football?
But the king had gone on his way
OF pleasure and sin as before. The peo-
pie had continued to follow the
strange gods of the people about, and
were content to live in the conditions
into which sin had cast them. So
great, in fact, was their need that
they knew no need.
And Micah had marveled. 1t was
the first severe testing of the proph
cts faith, and in the %seclusion of
the mountain Businesses whittier
he betook himself he had learned
his lesson and had come to know that
it was for him to speak the word as
God gave 1t to him, and not for him
to become the time keeper upon the
movements OF the Almighty.
But God shall tread upon the high
places. The mountains shall be
molten under him, and the valleys
shall be cleft, as wax before the fire
and as the waters that are poured
down a steep place." he had exclaimed
over and over again to himself, as
though he would nerve his fainting
heart ard strengthen a weakening
faith.
And so he had gone on in his lonely
mission. How much alone he felt only
the servant of the Lord who is faith
full in his ministry can understand,
for he who walks with God wholly
lives a separated life.
And that evening as he sat there
outside of Jerusalem's gate the mem
DRY of all this came back to him with
peculiar vividness and force, SO much
so, in fact, that he felt utterly discon-
solate and wretched.
What is there to show for all this
preaching of the word+ 1t is as
though one had talked to the wind.
The peoples hearts are as hard as
that stone yonder," and with a vehe-
that startled the prophet him
self, he gave it a push that sent it
rolling down the rocky hillside into
the brook Kedron below. AS it
touched the bottom there came echo
ing back 10 him the ~reverberating
sounds of it's impact with the rocky
ground.
Hard. Yea, indeed. But the hearts
of this rebellious people shall be
broken wen a that stone hath
crashed to its destruction. And the
nations about will be the instruments
in Gods hands of doing this thing.
All, Gow they wax fat on the spoils of
battle. Nation lifts up sword against
nation, and the one rises upon the de-
caying heaps Of the enemy's dead
And in vision there passed before
him the bloody horrors Of battle as
even he in his short life had witnessed
it. He remembered the coming of
the hordes of the Assyrians. He wit
messed their devastating work. In
the anguish of his SOU he cried out
at last:
"Oh, God, shall it always be so? Will
there be no end to the wars that give
one nation power over another? Will
the spirit of conquest continue ever to
blight the land?"
The voice f1oated out upon the
silence of the evening darkness, and
it semed to the prophet as though
his spirit followed the ascending
echoes Of the sound as they sped up
and ever upward. 1t seemed to him
he must seek the very presence of
God for answer, for he alone could
answer Suddenly the darkness seemed
to flee away, and turning to seek the
reason for the change he saw away off
in the distance a respondent city.
'This can be nothing but the city
of God" he whispered to himself.
Then as he looked he beheld what
seemed all the nations of the earth
marching towards the city, while
they raised their voices in one mighty
chorus, saying:
Come, and let us go up to the
mountain of the Lord, and to the
house of the God of Jacob; and he
will teach us of his ways"
And from out the respondent city
there came the response:
Nation shall not lift up a sword
against nation, neither shall they learn
war any more"
The vision faded, the voices ceased;
Micah was again alone with his
thoughts. "But God hath been here"
he exclaimed, %fervently, and the
mouth of the Lord of hosts hath
spoken"