The Gospel Trumpet - 36:23

              So will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out ot all places where they havo been scattered In the cloudy and dark day. -Ezck. S4: 12.
And they shall be my people, and I will lle their God.-Jer. $2:38. At evening time it eball be Ugllt.- Zech. 14: 7.
Volume XXXVL Anderson, Ind., U.S. A. Thursday, June 15, 1916. Number 23.
MEDITATING ON GOD'S GOODNESS
By James Turner
"JI:t:y meditation of him shall be sweet : I will
be glad in the Lord" (Psa. 104: 34). So spoke
David in the dim light of the Old Testament
dispensation, but David's heart was the heart
of one who delighted in his God.
It has been said that it is not the food we eat
that mnkes us strong, but that part of it which
we digest. Spiritually speaking, meditation
bears the same relation to so11l-building that
digestion does to body-building.
Meditation is the process of enjoyably turning
over in the inner consciousnoss of the soul the
great truths the intellect has perceived. Pro­longed
thought upon God's goodness, holmes~,
power, and love will weave these things into
the texture of the soul till they are a part of
our bcing and it is natural for \tS to live in a
medit~tive frame of mind.
Great are the hindrances to meditation, but
great are the blessings when they are overcome.
The devil is against us when we try to develop a
devotional, meditative spirit. He knows that
"many a Christian's activity is the grave of his
spiritual life," so he gets us in a hurry. There
is apparently so much to be done that there is
no time to meditate until the sweet fra,."l'ance
of heaven fills the soul. Then, there are times
when it seems the mind refuses to think about
holy things. Other images intrude upon us; ·
we can not see the face of God. What shall we
do in such a case t As in all other battles, we
must fight on in the name of the Lord. He will
not leave us comfortless; he will co,me 1m to us.
Then again, there is danger of our spoiling
our sweet meditation by doing foolish things
or indulging in some pleasure not to the glory
of God. Some claim they can read sensational·
fiction without suffering spiritually, but those
who 'Yalk close to God will find little room for
such things. The reading of questionable litera­ture
has a tendency to fill the mind with inlages
that will take the place of holy thought when we
come to meditate.
Lay aside your thoughts of business and work.
Come into the audienc~ohamber of the Most
High. Let the serene and ineffable thought of
hia infinite majesty calm your soul. .Adore him
and think on his wonderful ways till your soul
is a flame of transporting devotion. You will
then know the sweetness of meditation. LQok
at those saints who have lived lives of medita­tion.
What giants they were for God! Fletcher,
Wesley, Frauccs Havergal, and others. The
holy odors of their sweet thoughts still perfume
this world and urge ns on to deeper commuJJion
with God, the fountain and the everlasting, un­failing
source of eternal blessedness.
SENTENCE SERMONS
By Mat·y E. Cropsey
.A normal faith is maintained by exl\rcise.
Isolation, to the saint, means closer and
sweeter fellowship with Christ.
Fellowship with Christ's sufferings gives to us
a realization of their nragnitude.
Every new day brings new opportuniti~ for
acquiring a richer and deeper experience of
salvation.
Walking trustingly with the LQrd in the wil­derness
will surely reveal to us new aspects of his
uttermost salvation.
Receiving the truth as a little child and walk­ing
in its light gives one a foretaste of the glory
awaiting every trusting child of God.
God's promises of deliverance from trouble ap­propriated
and assimilated will produce a faith
that will not be dismayed at anything.
The vast multitude is blind to the tremendous
events which issue from this short life, else they
would bend every effort to qualify for eternity.
The person who goes on year after year with
an "up and down" Christian experience be­trays
an unwillingness to meet the conditions· for
perfect salvation.
Higher cr~tioism · and the iniquity that
abO\mds have no power to shake the faith of the
transformed child of God, because he sees in
them the fulfilinent of h.ts Father's word.
The man who forgets to be thankful has fallen
asleep in life.-R. L. Btev61Mon.
The cross of Christ ia God's offer of a fresh ·
start in life.-J oim DO'U{Jku Adam.
"He that is afraid of solemn things has proba­b1y
solemn reason to .be afraid of them."
TRUE HAPPINESS: WHERE IS IT FOUND}
By WaltM" T. Rimm.er
Some one has said that there are "three kinds
of happiness- pleasure, joy, and blessedness.
Pleasure is the happiness of the animal nature ;
joy, of the social nature; and blesse.dness, of the
spiritual nature. Pleasure we share with the ·
aninlals; joy, with one another; blessedness, 'vith
God. These three types· of happiness are not
inconsistent. One may have them all."
ALI, MEN SEEK HAPPINESS
The desire to be happy is as natural as the
love of life itself. This fact argues, in part, that
man's normal condition is a state of happiness.
.A person's success in his purslrit of happiness
depends entirely on his ideals and his methods
of realizing them. Some men seek happiness in
wealth, others in P.Osition, others in honor, oth­ers
in tr uth, others,..m citizenship, others in God
and his goodness. Only those in the last-named
. class can be fully satisfied.
That position does not always yield happiness
is the testimony of the ages. Look around you.
The fruit-seller en the street is, in many in­stances,
happier than the banker who hastens to
his place of business to see whether fortune
favors him or not. Pharaoh, on one of the
highest eminences of power in his day, was in
trouble because his subjects wearied of brick­making.
Han1an, chief officer to the king of
Persia, high in authority, was 1niserable because
one of his subjects would not bow to him. .A.hah
became sad because his wealth could not huy
his neighbor's vineyard. Darius was more mis­erable
on the throne than Daniel in the lions'
den. Nero, ruling his millions, was constantly
haunted by dreams of coming tronbie, while
Paul, his prisoner,. was happy in the dungeon.
Herod found the birth of an infant to be suffic­ient
cause for much uneasiness. Felix trembled
when righteousness, temperance, and judgment
were discussed. Napoleon in his last moments
asked one of bis attendants to put his military
boots on him, that he might have one last taste
of the only thing he ever considered worth liVing
for. Voltaire, whose witty eloquence dealt out
poison to the nations, died in misery. His as·
sociates ve1·y carefully guarded his door that
others might not see how awful was the death
of an infidel. His nurse declared that for the
wealth of Europe she would not see another in­fidel
die.
With the testimony of these men, contrast