The weekly chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Craig County, Okla.) 1905-1913, 1912-03-29
DAVID. THE ADuLrERER AND
MURDERER.
The Downfall And Restoration of the
lsraelitish King.
By Paul Norton.
paper No. p


Paper No. p
Thank God, this condition of heart
was not to continue or be perpetual
And so the sin-hating God sought TO
reclaim His wicked, wandering child
But the story is too familiar to repeat
save this much, that through the in
strumentality of the faithful and fear
less Prophet Nathan, David was made
to see the enormity of his sin. The
scepter fell from his hands; the crown
tumbled from his guilty, wretched
kingly head, and David REPENTED
The 51st Psalm records the language
of hearth oxen man. There is moth
ing to comnare with it in all the an
nails of human history. | have look d
very generally through the whole realm
of the worlds best literature, and have
never yet met with language so sin
cerely penitential in it's character as
this lamentation of the King of Israel.
In moment, under the accusing words
of the prophet, David sees all that he
had done, in light in which he had
never beheld it before. AS the solemn
indictments fall upon his ear, he ac-
knowledges the truth of each, until,
humbled to the very dust, he cries, in
severest agony, q have sinned against
the Lord!'
A famous writer once said of the
51st Psalm:
The heart appears in every line;
and the bitter anguish of a wounded
conscience discovers itself by the most
natural and convincing symbols. Let
but the Psalm be read without pref
udice, and with a view only to collect
the real sentiments expressed in ii,
and the disposition of heart that ap-
pears throughout the whole of it, and
no man of candor, l am confident, will
ever suspect that it was the dictate
of Hypocrisy, or could be penned from
any other motive but a strong convic-
tion of the Nervousness of the offense,
and the earnest desire of Gods for
giveness, and being restrained from
the commission of the like transgres-
sion for the future
But perhaps this testimony may be
criticised as being religiously parti-
san. Then hear this incident connect
ed with Voltaire:
"Voltaire once attempted to bur-
lesque this Psalm, and what was the
result? While carefully perusing it,,
that he might familiarize himself with
the train of sentiment which he de-
signed to caricature, he became so
oppressed and overawed by its solemn,
devotional tone, that he threw down
his pen and fell back senseless on his
couch, in an agony of remorse." So
writes the faithful historian DR.. Le-
ander Van Ess.
The difference between David and
Saul of old was this: David heartily
repented of his sin, while Saul con-
tinued right along in his unbelief and
inquities and at last died in remorse.
When a child of God falls into sin, he
rises out of it, and cries to God for
pardon, purity and help; but when the
ungodly man plunges into sin, he con-
tinues in it, and delights in it. 1t is
the difference between the sheep and
the swine. The former, if it accidently
falls into a mudhole will struggle to
get out, but when a hog gets into the
like mudhole it stays there as long
as it can, and delights to wallow in
the Shiny mess. There is a difference.
Thomas Carlyle wrote:
"David's life and history, as written
for us in those Psalms of his, | con-
slider to be the truest emblem ever
given of a mans moral progress and
warfare here below. All earnest souls
will ever discern in it the faithful
struggle of an earnest human soul to-
ward what is good and best. Struggle
often baffled sore, baffled down into
entire wreck, yet a struggle never
ended; ever with tears, repentance,
true, unconquerable purpose begun
anew. Poor human nature Is not a
mans walking in truth always that
a succession of falls? Man can do no
other. In this wild element of a life
he has to struggle upward: now fall
len, now abased; and ever with tears,
repentance, and bleeding heart, he has
to rise again, struggle again, still on
ward. That his struggle has been a
faithful, unconquerable one, that is
the question of questions"
"one sin destroyeth much good"
Terrible evils sprung out of this
bloody criminal iniquity David re-
ceived forgiveness, but forgiveness
does not arrest the consequences of
the deeds which we nave committed.
1t does not prevent the natural law
from operating, whereby sin works
ever toward misery and retribution. It
is true ii restricts the punishment of