The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1911-07-29

in mine heart, that / might not sin
against thee.-Ps. 119: IL.
In the Second Book OF Kings Jo-
siah's crusade against idolatry is
placed after the finding of the book of
the law in. the temple. 1t is probable
that the work of destroying the pagan
affairs was begun before the finding
of the book but was not completed
until some time afterward.
The Lesson Text In Everyday Dress.
One day Shaphan. the royal secre-
tary: Maaseiah, the mayor of the city,
and Joah. the court chronicler, who
had been commissioned by Josiah to
supervise the repairing of the temple,
called upon Hilkiah. the high priest.
for the repair money which had been
deposited in the temple for safe keep
ing. Hilkiah had apparently hidden
it in an out of the way place in a
heap of rubbish, and when he went
to get il he seems to have explored
the place further to see what else ne
could find Presently he appeared
bearing in one hand the bag Of gold
and in the other an ancient manu-
script which on examination proved
to be the book of the law. II have
found the book Of the law" he ex-
claimed, as he handed the roll to
commissioners had distributed the
money among the overseers to be paid
out to the workmen, Shaphan return
ed TO the palace. and after report
ing TO the king what had been done,
showed him the roll which the high
priest had given him. The king was
deeply interested, at his command
Shaphan read parts of the manuscript
to him. Apparently the last seiec-
ton was the twenty eighth chapter
of Deuteronomy, for when J0sia h had
heard Of the terrible curses which
should come upon Israel If they dis
obeyed the law, he was overcome with
horror and grief. 'Hilktah." he said,
and YOU, Asaiah. go ana inquire OF
q prophet of Jehovah about this mat
ter. for sflrely the curse Of God rests
upon us because our fathers have not
kept this law" There were several
prophets IN Judah in that day, but
or some reason the messengers went
to Huld2h, the prophecies. who lived
nearby Thus saith Jehovah" said
the proDhetness. when they had told
their story; tell the man who sent
you to me. Thus saith Jehovah: Be
hold | viii bring evil upon this place,
including ali the curses that are writ
ten In the hook OF the law. because
these people have forsaken me and
have worshiped other gods. But as
for the king OF Judah, say 10 him.
Because thy heart was tender and
thou didst humble thysef before God
when thou heardest his words, thou
shalt GO to thy grave in peace. neither
shall thine eyes see all tna evil that
j viii bring upon this place"
When the king had heard the mes
ssge he gave orders TO gather all the
people together, and when they had
Assem- hled he read 10 them Cor caused
to be read by the priest1 all the words
Of the book OF the law. Then on his
own behalf and in behalf Of his peo-
Pile he entered into O solemn cove
mart with Jehovah. 10 walk according
TO hIF law. When he had done this
he called upon the people 70 stand
to it. which they dIG, perhaps by
rising Il they were sitting on the
ground1, or hv raising their hands
And the people kept the covenant and
Josiah cleared the land Of heather
a liars and caused the people "a serve
Jehovah theeir God. And this they
did for the rest of his days
Tho Heart of the Lesson
This story of the finding of the book
Of the law In the temple reminds us
very forcibly of similar incident
which has happened more than once.
perhaps III our own INeS.
The Bible was lost For months no
one had seen anything Of It. II was
not lost In the sense that Its exis-
tence was unknown bat it had been
pat out of sight--as in the case Of
the book OF the law in the temple
and the next thing followed as mat
ter Of course. out OF sight out Of
mind During this period the thought
of God gradually oozed ont Of the
brain and disappeared. The SUBJ
stance dried out Of the daily prayer.
and left a dry skeleton. Duty lost
its welcome as guest and finally
slipped away humiliated. The hands
grew very heavy at the sound OF the
call to Christian work. The ears
grew SO duh Of hearing that there was
no way 10 pass the time at church
except in optical excursions. The
mind bent earthward. The vaults Of
heaven took on the cold. forbidding
look of brass, II was easier to look
dawn than 10 look up.
Time passed amounted. One day
while searching through a trunk, the
lost Eib1e cans to view 1t was al
the hottom--a place to which il had
steadily gravitated since the day il
had been laid temporarily or
as a matter of convenience" The
sight of the volume awoke Memory.
Memory gazed awhile upon il and
then sighed and awoke Conscience.
Conscience awoke Regret, who brush
ed away the gathering tears and turn
ed and spoke t. Duty. Then Duty
opened the Book. And then there
was a turning unto the Lord. That is
what the Book does for every man
who takes hold Of 1t in such a mood.
1t leads him TO inquire of the Lord
He realizes that things have gone
wrong; that he has made terrible
mistake. that he has wronged God
and he wants To get look at Gods
face or he wants to find out from
who is in the sight OF Gods
face If there is a frown upon It, That