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"IS THE YOUNG MAN ABSALOMSAFE?"

A SERMON

PREACHED IN THE CHURCH OF ST. MARY MAGDALENE, STOKE BISHOP, ON SUNDAY, JULY 19TH, 1885;

BY

DAVID WRIGHT, M. A. , VICAR. 

LONDON:HAMILTON, ADAMS, & CO. , 32, PATERNOSTER ROW. BRISTOL: I. E. CHILLCOTT, 26, CLARE STREET. 1885. 

_PRICE THREEPENCE. _

SERMON. 

2 SAMUEL xviii. 29. 

"IS THE YOUNG MAN ABSALOM SAFE?"

The touch of nature comes out strongly here. And it is this touch ofnature appearing always in the Old Testament stories which gives tothem their reality. The writer of ordinary histories has for the mostpart his favourites. These are the heroes of his imagination, and thehistory of their doings is unconsciously tempered by this partiality. And there are others whom he holds in disfavour. And the figure ofthese on his page is darkened accordingly. And the book of anotherhistorian passes over the same ground. But his sympathies are all theother way; and the lineaments are altered; and the heroes aredisplaced; and forms which are not heroes stand where they had stood. And so the readers of history are mystified. They _do_ get at events. But the actors in them wear no fixed shape. Their form varies. 

It is not so with the figures in the Old Testament. It is true theyare seen upon that page only. No second historian of the leastauthority has any place in those scenes. But yet the narrative showsits faithfulness apart from any such test. There are no signs anywhereof favour or of disfavour interfering with fidelity. It is not certainwho the author was of the Books of Samuel. But whoever he may havebeen he was certainly an admirer of David. That illustrious king stoodon a pedestal of his own before all the nation. And this writer tellsthe principal events with which David's life and reign were mixed up. But we can discover without a critical eye that he tells them withrigid and inexorable adherence to nature and to fact. One of the verydarkest transactions belonging to that life, or indeed to any otherlife in those past ages, is related point by point with no attempt atalleviation: only with this comment at the end: "But the thing whichDavid had done displeased the Lord. " If the pen of the writer whotells the story of Absalom's rebellion had been guided by favour orflattery, the fact would have been suppressed or at least toned down, that the King's first word to the breathless messenger who bringstidings of the victory which has saved his crown is this, "Is theyoung man Absalom safe?" It is natural, it is human, it is fatherly, it is pathetic and beautiful, but it is not heroic. 

This young man Absalom comes upon the page a few chapters back, andgathers upon his name quickly the dark stain of murder. It is true hehas received most awful provocation, and the victim of that crime haslittle of our sympathy. But there is no sign of penitence or of sorrowin the mind of Absalom for this deep offence, by which he has violatedGod's most holy law. His course runs on; it is a selfish, wilful, violent, and graceless course, unredeemed, as far as we can see, byany trace of better things. And it ends in base rebellion against thethrone and life of the father who had shown to this son more favourand affection than to any of the rest. And the king fled beforeAbsalom and went over Jordan, and the rebel host followed, and therewas a great battle. And the servants of David conquered in that fight;and we know the fate of Absalom. But who shall tell the king of this?He was lodged in a stronghold called Mahanaim not far from the fieldof battle; and had taken his place in the chamber between the innerand the outer gate. And a watchman on the roof of this chamber keptwatch. 

Who shall tell the king of what has happened? Two messengers ran--onefollowing the other--the first the shorter way by the hills; thesecond the longer way by the plain. But this one outran the other, andthe eye of the watchman on the roof of the chamber caught sight ofthis single figure hastening over the plain, and then of the second inthe farther distance; and it did not need the sagacity of king Davidto know that both of these brought tidings. And how would the tidingsbe given in these days? "We have won the battle, " or words like that. And how were the tidings given in those days? "Blessed be the Lord thyGod, which hath delivered up the men that lifted up their hand againstmy lord the king. " The difference is worth observing. 

But we are looking upon the king and listening to his word. Themessengers have told the good tidings, and the king is speaking tothem very eagerly. "In what state is the army? Was the slaughtergreat? Have any of the captains fallen?" He is not asking thesequestions. The king of the people--the commander of the hosts--mightbe expected to ask such questions. And David was both these. But Davidwas _the father of Absalom_, and all things besides gave way to theyearning of the father's heart. "Is the young man Absalom safe?" Thefirst messenger cannot answer: or rather he evades the answer, for hedoes know the fact. And then quickly comes up the second messenger. And again the king is forgotten, and the interests of the nation areforgotten, and everything else is forgotten, and the voice of the_father_ speaks out again, "_Is the young man Absalom safe?_" Weremember the answer. It is gently said, but very finely, "The enemiesof my lord the king, and all that rise against thee to do thee hurt, be as that young man is. "

We shall not need to follow the history further now. We are listeningto this same word from the lips of the fathers of the earth, and themothers of the earth, and all whom care for young men and young womenchiefly touches and most nearly concerns. Are they safe? We bring thequestion down from the watch tower of Mahanaim, or from the chamberbetween the walls, and give to it shape and interpretation after thetimes in which we live. From the mouth of David it meant I think only, Does Absalom still live? Is he not among the slain? We are not toanticipate the revelation of later ages and say, as some have said, that it was the thought of the future for his son after death whichmoved the king of Israel so deeply. It was just the sorrow of anotherfather at an earlier time, also in the first throes of its bitterness:"I will go down unto the grave unto my son mourning. " And yet I thinkthat without anticipating any revelation, the man whose thoughts aboutGod and holiness were those which the Psalms of David disclose, cannothave lost his best-loved son in the very act and deed of direfulguilt, without an aggravation of his anguish because of this sadthing. If Absalom in the midst of upright walking and works ofrighteousness had been stricken by disease and had died in his bed, the tidings of this when it reached the father might and would nodoubt have moved him to deep sorrow. But I think we should not haveheard that wail of grievous lamentation from the roof of the chamber, "O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom, would God I had died forthee, O Absalom, my son, my son!"

We sometimes hear of the world growing old. Brethren, the world cannever grow old. If by the world is meant the generations of men, itcan never grow old. Its seed is in itself; while it decays itgerminates; as it withers, it grows. The elders fall off, but theirplace is filled and more than filled. The world is and must be whilethings remain as they are now, for ever young. But of what kind isits youth? That is the awful and tremendous question. Shall theAbsaloms abound? or the Josephs and the Josiahs?

The elders have much to say to this. We bring no charge against thefather of Absalom. He was not fortunate indeed as to any of his sons, of whom any record remains. Even of Solomon it can only be said thathe began well. But the ways of an Eastern court are past our knowledgeand judgment. We have to do with English homes. The youth of theworld, that which is now its youth and is keeping it from growing old, of what kind is the influence upon it which they are bringing to bearwith whom the influence lies? And not the influence only, not thatonly which comes from example and (as it were) unconscious agency, butfrom counsel, from authority, from particular guidance? This must ofcourse vary according to the age. The young man or the young womandoes not brook the treatment which is fitting for the child. And theattempt to enforce it will surely show itself wrong. Just as settingthe child on the footing of the young man or the young woman ismistaken also; and that too will appear. As to the mode of treatment, discretion, and (if I may use the word, for there is no other whichanswers to it) _tact_, must decide upon this. But as to the principleof it, as to that which should be the governing purpose of alltreatment of the young, its intention and its end, let us take fromthe lips of the father of Absalom his word "safe. " If it meant only inthat case, is he alive? still the word is to be noted: Is he safe? Oris it well with him? It is the safety of the young--its being wellwith them--which all who have their interests in charge should to theutmost of their power care for. 

And what do we mean by their safety? We know there are some in thesedays who ask the question--"Are you saved?" meaning by that, "Have youthe eternal salvation?" It is a presumptuous question, and if answeredat all is answered presumptuously. It is forestalling the everlastingthings. Safety as we speak of it is not that. But--peril tracks thecourse of the young, peril in some way perhaps of deeper hazard thanour fathers knew. There is that peril as old at least as Solomon, andwhich he expressed in this way: "Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth, and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth: and walk in theways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes. " Follow, thatis--putting the poetry aside--follow the life of selfish pleasure andindulgence to which thou art inclined. There has always been thatperil. It has run upon the courses of the world's youth all down theages. But now its lines are darker--at all events than they were inthe days of the writer of Ecclesiastes--"Know thou, " _he_ said, "thatfor all these things God will bring thee into judgment. " And we maysay this too. But there is a large number of young persons now whowill answer: "We do not know this: we know nothing about God: who Heis, or _whether_ He is. If we are not to walk in the ways of our heartand the sight of our eyes, to please ourselves and care for nothingelse, you must say to us something beyond this, that God will bring usinto judgment. "

Brethren, here is the greatest peril of this age. We may find one hereand another there who, with atheism at his heart, is still upright inlife. But break down the belief in God, and what the morals of thepeople shall be, let that nation answer which set upon her altars nownearly a hundred years ago the image of the goddess of reason. Letfaith in God fall out of the young man's heart or the young woman'sheart, and with it all fear of God, and what shall you put in itsplace? What instead of this shall keep them straight in their way?shall hold them safe?

There is reputation. But this is a shifting authority. It changes withconditions. It has no fixed standard. It depends on opinion. Thatwhich makes the young in the most disastrous sense of the word_unsafe_, may in no way interfere with their reputation--but quiteotherwise--with those among whom they live. 

Then there is what some have called the enthusiasm of humanity. Wecannot form any estimate of this as a power over men, because we haveno sort of understanding what it means. 

And there is civilization. Is it civilization which makes laws oradmits of laws and finds accommodating administrators of laws, underthe action of which the most sacred charge of a State--its helplessand innocent childhood--is left a prey to vile associations of men andwomen, from whose soul within them is obliterated all that was Divine, and all which is not devilish?

Civilization goes on its soft way, and takes under its smilingprotection persons who walk upon the earth's higher places, and findsfor them kind excuse and screens them from harsh frown, as they passfrom their pleasures back to its silvery paths, leaving behind them asthe price of their pleasures misery and ruin of which we may not speakin this place. No fouler crimes debased old Rome in its worst daysthan the crimes which the civilization of England's metropoliscondones. But the heart of the people does not condone them: and if agreat voice does not say this, we shall wonder and be sorry. In themean while let the parents and guardians of the young, and let theyoung themselves, shrink back from civilization as a guide to theirway and as a power for keeping them safe, in the place of the LivingGod. 

And our closing word shall be to the young. I said just now that theworld could not grow old. And because of the world having within itthe seeds of a ceaseless vitality, that is true. The world as it nowis cannot grow old. But a nation may grow old, may decay, and die. Andthe youth of a nation--its young people--carry with them itsdestinies. If there is in these more of wilfulness, of selfishness, ofslothful and luxurious bias--less of energy, of gentleness, ofkindness, of manliness, of purity--than there was in those who wereyoung twenty--thirty years ago, then decrepitude is growing upon thenation. It is sinking. The sap of its life is drying up. 

But the young are not likely to think much of what they do or of whatthey are, as it concerns the nation. Let them think of it as itconcerns themselves. My younger brethren, shall the life that you areliving be a blessing to you and not a curse? Shall it be to thosearound you a blessing and not a curse? Then hold fast your faith inthe Living God. Is it drooping in some minds? Do they ask where theyshall find Him? The Jews of old time wore fringes on the borders oftheir garments, and upon these were written some words of the law. Itwas an ordained thing. "And ye shall look upon this fringe, " it issaid in a noble passage of the book of Numbers, "it shall be to youfor a fringe, and ye shall look upon it, and ye shall remember thecommandments of the Lord your God, and do them, that ye seek not afteryour own heart and your own eyes, but that ye may remember, and do allmy commandments and be holy unto your God. "

We wear no fringes on the borders of our garments. But the law iswritten in every heart. Look upon it, young men and young women, andremember--_That is God_: not a stream of tendency or any such vagueand fantastic shadow. But, _That is God_--the Father of our Lord JesusChrist, and in Him your Father. 

Are you astray from Him? not fulfilling His word? We are all astray. But is your eye towards Him, and your heart and your foot moving thatway? We see no messengers running with tidings in their mouth, oneover the hills and the other over the plain. The father of the son whois astray waiteth not in the chamber between the walls until he mayask of the messengers who come, Is my son safe? But the Father _runsHimself_: "when he was yet a great way off his father ... _ran_. " Thedistance between these two is lessening hour by hour. Let the son whowas and is still astray, bend his steps with earnest will on the trackby which the Father comes; and--it is not my word--it is the greatestof all words which has been spoken upon this earth, the Father shallreceive him "_safe_ and sound. "

I. E. CHILLCOTT, STEAM PRESS, BRISTOL.