The Pleasantville press. (Pleasantville, N.J.) 1912-1929, 1927-12-09
SERMONETTE
THE IDEAL MAN
BY R. ASHLEY CAKE.
~ Man after Gods own Heal

~ Man after Gods Own Heart.
Among all the characters to
whom reference is made in the
Word of God, we find none more
fascinating than that of the Psalm
ist. 1t is to the Psalms, we oftimes
inadvertently turn and find Ian
guage that expresses our different
moods in praise and prayer, much
better than our own.
II is in David's experiences of
victories and defeats we find our
lives epitomized. Notwithstanding
he was so ample in his faculties,
and abundantly blessed in his re-
sources, he suffered some of the
sharpest agonies imaginable, until
his stormy passions slew him.
Although he dwelt and moved
among the people with a fascin-
alton that was well-night irresist-
able misfortunes, failures, defeats,
overlook him. He fell from the
highest heights of honor to the
deepest depths of sin, misery and
shame.
Heart-broken, he became
wanderer, lost in the wilderness.
Whereas he had been so greatly
. beloved because of his lovely
! traits of character. together with
his bravery and chivalry, he be-
came as a fugitive with a price set
. upon his head.
l have wondered if King Lear.
mourning because his daughters had
ceased to love him, left his palace
beautiful, went out into the pitiless
cold winter storm with a broken
heart, experienced greater sorrow
or deeper grief than David when
he realized and thought how he
. had yielded to his passions, and of
his own free-will allowed luxury
and flattery to weaken his moral
. character until sin had swept like
a terrible lconflagratfon through
his whole being.
i Well do | remember in earlier
years my mind was puzzled as to
: how David could be called the
Ideal Man, "a Man after Gods
own Heart Today however, the
question is no longer puzzling,
Gods mercy, patience, long-suffer
ing and willingness to forgive sin
is more than a match for the whole
universe.
! We know of men shallow in
their thoughts, coarse in their
natures, who would despise him
4 because his name is enrolled
among the heroes of faith.
Hear him, even when in the
FJnonnrf he of CT ord baf
90 my soul, why art thou disquiet-
: ed within me. Hope Thou in God for
/ shall yet praise Him who is the
health Of my eountenance.
Il will bless the Lord at all
times, his praise shall continually
sbe in my mouth" Mark his renen-
tance-not Lord. We have sinned,
but Il have sinned and done this
great evil in thy sight" s,
This with his restitution, self
abasement and consciousness of
the terrible sins he had committed,
also his pleading for Gods mercy
enabled him to fight his way back
to the Shepherds fold, and thence
he became "a Man after Gods own
heart
@ss We are all men of like passions,
had ii not been for Gods mercy
we would have been wrecks on the
strand.
aGod heard our signs, as with
David He knows and accepts the
general tenure or tread of our
lives, and heals all our infirmities.
However, we are not to lose
sight of the fact, that the Divine
does not wink at sin. Whatsoever
we sow that shall we also reap"
Life on earth and life beyond are
perfectly blended. Life beyond is
but a continuation of the same
kind of life we are now living. A
selfish, ungenerous, inconsiderate
and austere, exacting kind of a
life here, void of all painstaking,
gives us no ground for expecting
any other kind of life on the other
side.
Sow pure thoughts, noble am
billions, breathe pure and holy as