The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1910-10-30
THE SINNERS TEAR
AN AToNEMENT EVE SERMON
BY IA bhi Samuel Sehwarz

Text: Ps. 80, 13. "Hear my prayer,
. q Lord, and give ear unto my cry; be
Z rot silent at my tears; for a stranger
am ! with thee, soiourner like ell
my fathers"
My Friends. The thirty-ninth
Psalm, from which our text Is taken,
has been called 'the most beautiful
~ all the elegies in the Psalter." 1t
7ias q solemn reflective and meditative
note that is appropriate to this holy
season. IT'S theme is the faith Of the
plous believer In Gods goodness in
Fpite of calamity and in the midst Of
me riddles OF this life, and face TO
face with the impenetraole darkness
resting on the life beyond" 1t
speaks Of mans striving on earth as
vanity, aud tells how he "heapeth up
-Tli3 gains and lnovoth not who will
gather them" And II closes with a
pathehc appeal 10 God for forgive
ness Of trE1sgressions, as of a strang.
or and sojourner who does wrong out
Of sheer helplessness. and sins In
weakness and In Ignorance.
Similar thoughts are in our minds
nj this hour, on this most solemn
night Of all the year. Often enough
we are self-r'ghteous and stifi-necked.
Dui ciWDDuFU DIluP DluS us CuVft
hacjS the consciousness Of our sins.
the Acknowledgement Of our guilt. We
say: 1--WE are as GOOD as our neigh.
bors. II we have done wrong, there
gre many who have done the same, or
worse We do our duty pretty well.
No one can be perfect" Tonight our
pride Is all gone. our self-righteous-
posing has vanished. We are face TO
face with the great problems OF sin
and pain. the insolulabe mystery Of
human SUFFERING. Our hearts are
contrita and broken tonight. We no
CIcrrer saw. 1--WE have not sinned"
We have come here. II indeed we
came With hearts attured Alright, to
acl-nc'ed~o how frail Is our viii in its
cc~ Nict with the Infinite. We feel. ~
we enter al al into the spirit If this
Holy nay, trat tho years have piled
-,rn manv errors for us: that we have
trausgressed In thousands OF ways.
MANY have been orr shortcomings In
tNe activ'tics ~ our dailv lives. FIRE.
'wert hrs been our disregard of friend
md fel'ov-r7r n tho scramble and
hurry Of private wert-setisfaction
. MANY hove been orr sins committed
n seIfsrTcss md IN the heat OF pas
sior; MANY our tr7nsg~essions engen-
TNFff N envy. ~ c0VNTOnGncSS d"l0 IN
rfrf,~stice. " Is di#cuIt 70 do the
rirht: dlwcu1t CROUCH TO know what
= right. AZ we grow IN knowledge.
% We erow IN moral STRENGTH, as we
crow i~ spiritual understanding. We
ereor-re more and more critical or
or eondrct. more and moro an
rrohensivc Of Sin; moro and more
conscious .of falling short. Yea. we
tsys sirnSd: vca, VIC have tran sgress.
"a yea. we have done Dervcrsely.
NS..c9r't Is this coming from our
: I'm toni}ht. rs Of sinners unredeened
\ and unrcdcewqb'o By our. own wills,
Z ssof trrr errcseors thai cannot by.our
own conduct atone We know that
-udafsrl teqcter otherwise; that all
men ere rpsrorsible for their own
Gets. and that the sinner can repent
and make hts peace with God Vet
ere We al poor. frail creatures. and
trc-e Us no ra0 thst doeth good al
wavs ard fr1eth never. In the midst
o. The triumph Of q Roman emperor,
slave would call out. "Pesoire post
te. hcmincm Re esse sns3rento.'
,-TyuoN behind you, remember yoL
arc rortal"0 Yea we are all frail
and sinful rrr and women.
Anc our text speaks of tears--tears
ENN.i UftdNNF VI llst vanity VI uui
short lives ard IN SORROW over our
sins Tear are shed IN many &C.
cas'ors We shed tears Of vexation
when orr wishes arc crossed end our
selash ends defeated We shed tears
Of dtsccufture and defeat when our
chcri1nNd ambitions are frustrated
and our darling plans brought to
rRpght Tears Of discomfort and
envy low from our eyes when we
compare our lot IN life with the more
fortunate position OF rival or neigh
hor Tears fl1 heavily over wasted
opportunities md moments lost and
never 70 return again Tears of dis
appointment. tears If misplaced con
bScnce tears of thwarted affection,
tc1rs OF djsbonor and despair-we
may shed them ell Ard all of us
shed tcarV OF sincere grief and heart
fe't sorrow when dear ones are called
from our side ard q link is broken
IN Tho chain that binds living hearts
together.
when 70 the Sessions Of sweet silent
thought
I summon I'm remembrance of things
Then can 7 drown an eve unused to
Gov.
For precious friends hid in deaths
dlfe'csg richt"
Shakespeare.
Sacred are those tears that we
wcr0 I'm pure affection and In anguish
OF spirit. Sc the tears come in the
most solemn moments Of life. and let
them come when sriri4s are crush.
I'd With woe and hearts writhe In uu.
.utterah'e 0nT-'' b. tears can bring re
lief TIE Nd.7eh s0vs that when
dam and Eve wore dTi from the
Garden. and. crushed with the weight
az their guilt, were giving way TO de.
spGir, God took compassion on them