Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1908-12-24
GOD, AND COME MEN.
The International Sunday School Les
son for December 81 is a Review.
Prov. d: 20.
~ WILLIAM T. ELLIS.

! posi- lnoie WHICH gave Hllll HdllOilGl
reputation. Il tell YOU he declared,
! the government at Washington has
learned that there is a God Almighty"
| That was rather a graphic way Of
expressing the, deeper meaning of the
thew sense of idealism which has come
over the United States, and over the
whole of Christendom of recent years
Everywhere it is felt that the hand Of
God is in our marvellous contempt
rary history. even as it was in the his
! tory OF ancient Israel. And that Is
the lesson of these lessons. When
we review this course of Old Tesla
ment studies we find, looming above
all else, this, truth of our own times,
| that the God of nations still sits on
| his throne. dealing with peoples IS
well as with individuals. When we
| look back upon these troublous begin
| nings OF lsraers history we find that,
even as today
| Behind the dim unknown.
| Standeth God within the shadow,
| Keeping watch above his own"
What Makes Men Great.
F, 1t is a procession of persons, rather
! than a panorama of history, that a
contemplation of these lessons calls
to mind. SIX months of studg, has coy
cred three reigns in the Kingdoms
history, and it's greatest epochs. Nov,
as we leave the Old Testament for d,
year OF work in the New, we recall
| how brief has been the period consid-
cred, and how few the principle actors
therein In addition to the three kings,
Saul, David and Solomon, we have the
great king-maker and prophet, Samuel.
the fearless Nathan. and the princes,
Jonathan. Absalom and Adonijah.
t Take this list to pieces and it is a;
once made plain that the men We're
small or great, according to their rela-
tons with Jehovah. Another illustra-
ton of the oft-neglected truth that u
mans religion is the most important
4 fact about him. Literally it matters
less what man owns or does, than
what be believes His faith is of more
Importance than his fortune. TIE
king on his throne, lie Saul and David
iand Solomon, and the peasant al his
4 plcw. arc made or unmade by Their
religious convictions. What says II i,
quarters golden text Keep tie
heart with all diligence, for opt o. it
are the issues of life" Well for tho
nation which learns, as the colonel &c
marked at the breakfast fable. that
there is a Cod: for only Oh The
Foundation Of this living faith can =
people build a worthy society. States
and men are great only IN proportion
to their possession of God.
Some Selfish Sovcre;ers.
! Some day tho worId-the little worll
which knows us-is going to sit IN
i Judgment unon these ancient Hebrew
kings. In the clear light Of history.
we see that Of tho great trinmvira'o.
I Saul and Solomon had the best chance.
/ Saul assembled the throne amid tn /,
hrzzas OF united enthusiastic aud
expectant people Solomon by no ST
fort of his own, entered. uron a herit-
age made ready for BIN BIZ the vars
and heart-breaks Of his father. David.
Both kings failed, Why
4 The answer is 50 simple. So cow
1 monplace. that ifs tremendous Sirnif-
canoe is likely to be 0cer'oolcd. They
4 were sellish-with inst the plain. o-ii,
nary. everyday sort OF se!fishnes1
which makes YOU ard me take the
best piece of celery from the dish ~
4 rush fer the first seat In the dinin 8
car or the best place at the bargain
4 cornter or that prompts Us To alo":
mother, or wife. or sister TO wait on u,
and sacrifice for us: or that makes
lis enter upon even the social and
church relations OF life with the
thought. Of our own personal advantas sc
upDermost. That was Saul's sort and
in a worse degree, Solomon'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 hind
most is utterly wrong; when it Is
every man for himself then thu
devil gets the foremost. The chief II
selfshness is the worst failure.
Our Days New Spirit
Sheer egotism wrecked Solomon and
Saul. They were looking out for them
selves, for their own power and glory
and wellbeing rather than for tht
welfare of the kingdom. The cardinal
sin is simply selfshness. A business
man was talking about a preacher
who is a candidate for a certain pu
pit, and said: "Oh, he is all right, eX
cept he is utterly selfish All right
exclaimed his friend Il say he is 1T
wrong. There is no heresy SO great
| as selfshness it utterly invalidates
, his Gospel. A selfish man has abso
i, lutely no business in the pulpit; IL
cannot sincerely preach the message
: of Jesus" Selfishness is the supreme
sin, and unselfshness is the supreme
Christliness
This new socialistic trend Of our own
times is an expression Of the spirit
; Of Jesus. The days. battle of altruisn
against selfinterest is the war o.
, Christ against the allied forces u.
.. evil. And, by the example Of Sau
and Solomon, and ten thousand Others
like them. we know that the self1st
. is doomed to failure. The might o.
Saul and the wisdom of Solomon couii
not save them from the shameful end
because their hearts were fixed upor
themselves.
The Poets Heart.
Il Over against the other two kings o
the story must be placed David big
laundering, penitent David. Why j,
/, ne the greatest of the three, when hi