The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1915-06-12
When a King Found His Song.

When a King Found His Song.
The International Sunday School Les
son for June g is THE Blessed of
Forgiveness. Psalm 81.
(BY WILLIAM T. ELLIS.)
In some matters We bow to our
tyrannus modernity; but in all funda-
mentaIs of life we know that there Ia
no change. Essentials of life remain
as they were millienniums ago.. what
was most important in the days OF
King David is still most important to-
day. Three thousand years have
passed since King David sat on his
throne of splendor, and in that day
his supreme concern was his relation
with Jehovah Spiritual values were
placed higher than all material inter-
ests The profoundest utterances of
David had to do with the state of the
human soul. Spiritual peace con-
cerned him more than military glory.
"Ah, but that was long ago., says
some up-to-date youngster- These
modern days are more practical Not
a bit of it, my boy. Look deeply
enough into life and you will find the
same things which mattered in the
stories to illustrate my points.
The first was told me by a good
friend with whom L lunched at the
Union League club on Firth avenue IN
New York My friend had named
'sbig business man, known as hard
and cold and relentless in all his
transactions, a veritable money-mak-
ing machine. One day last FEBRUARY
he was sGing along fr Ffsh axsnus
Look here. You are the very man
want to see. 1 want to talk with
somebody. 1 was over in Philadeiphia
man Billy Sunday. I thought I was
past all emotionalism, but Sunday
stirred depths in me that I didn't
know existed. The spiritual emotions
that I had experienced as young
man came flooding over me again.
confess to you that 1 wept as l listen
ed to him." Can 1t pc that this man
of millions whose time was so
precious was spending daylight hours
and sitting on a board bench listening
to an untutored preacher talk about
sin and forgiveness and the love VI
Christ? All, my friend, there ere
many men of might and money VINO
would give their last dollar to know
the secret of peace which the Gospel
proclaimS.
When the Millionaire Wept.
Here is another story, and it, too, is
related to Billy Sunday. 1t was told
other. 1 had seen them both at the
Billy Sunday tabernacle in Philadel-
phia while the preacher was sway1ng
a multitude. The crowd was moved
nightly. by him; but then, say the
critics, they were only the gullible
masses Yet these two millionaires
have such a standing that there is no
business man in America who would
not admit their practical shrewdness
and modern efficiency. Both are
power in the national life.
+ The other, himself an active Chris
tan, said to me few days later, Il
never saw X. so affected as he was
that night. Tears ran down his face.
He was touched to mis- deepest heart
by that simple message. After the
meeting he went with me to my home
and we talked for long while about
the sermon, and about faith in Christ
and about what it means"
Spiritual peace is still the supreme
concern of mankind. There are I'M
numbered lives today, which ont
wardly seem brilliant and prosperous
and favored, which nevertheless
carry breaking hearts because of the
spiritual unrest and consciousness of
counts but being right with God |
That alone is real success. Mans re-
lation with his Maker is the one
theme worth agonizing over, as King
David agonized and wept over it in |
this Thirty-second Psalm
The Master of Music.
There is a piano in a certain home, |
which is a good piano according to |
market standards, but for the family |
it had never produced any great mu-
sic. The baby thrummed on it. and
the boys played mechanically labored |
tunes. Occasional guests would per- /
form conventionally upon it. Then |
one day there came to visit that home |
a real master of music, a great per- !
former. Then followed a revelation of |
the possibilities of the piano. 1t |
seemed as il the floodgates of har- |
mony were opened. The whole room |
was transformed. The instrument it
self seemed a new creation after once |
the master-touch had been upon it's
keys.
All the while the music was there |
piano. needed a
master-hand to bring it forth. So it |
is with these sin-scarred, sin-re- !
strained lives of ours. They need upon /
them the emancipating touch of the |
master-hand Of Christ. With His CO. !
operation the least of US can be and do |
more than we have ever dared hope |
full possibilities of peace and power |
until his life has been given over to !
Christ.
The Silent Harp.
For a year King Davids harp had |
been silent. 1t had lost its music of
Gods peace. Sin had broken its |
strings. The great minstrel was mute. |
True. he had triumphed in passions |
dead and Bathsheba was his. Yet
David's inward unhappiness was
greater than words could express. He |
knew himself separated from God. |
Nothing went right with him. There |
was strife and unpleasantness in the |
palace The misery of life, the sui |
cides that seem mysterious, can
usually be explained by the one little |
word "sin."
Suddenly as we studied last week, |
Nathan revealed the SHINING king to |
himself. In agony of spirit David |
cried out for forgiveness. He knew |
where to go in his hour of need. Pity |
those whose feet are not accustomed |
to the path to the Mercy Seat. David, |
penitent, confessed and was pardoned. |
Then in new and profound Joy and |
with a fresh understanding of the |
character of God, David broke forth |