1 Samuel 30:21-25 And David came to the two hundred men, which were so faint that they could not follow David… There is an impression abroad that the great rewards of the eternal world are to be given to the great heroes, the great philanthropists, the great statesmen — the great men, the great women. My text sets forth the idea that just as great rewards will come to those who stay at home and mind their own business, just as great rewards to those who are never seen in the high places of the field, just as great rewards to those who are never heard of — garrison duty as important as duty at the front. "As his part is that goeth down to the battle, so shall his part be that tarrieth by the stuff." A great many people are discouraged when they read the story of David and Joshua, and Paul and John Knox and Martin Luther; they say, "Those men had special opportunities; perhaps if I had had the same opportunities I might have done just as well; but I shall never be called to command the sun and moon to stand still; I will never be called to preach on Mars' Hill; I will never be called, as John Knox was, to make a queen tremble for her crimes; I will never preside over a hospital; my life is all commonplace and humdrum." And many a woman says within herself, "Ah, you folks on the platform and in the pulpit are all the time talking about heroines, great women, and they were great, but they had a special opportunity; perhaps, if I had the same opportunity I might do just as well; my life is all humdrum, my life is to sew the button on, to prevent the children from being asphyxiated with the whooping cough, to keep down the family expenses, to see that the meals are ready at the right time; I get no chance, it is all humdrum, humdrum." Woman, your reward in the eternal world will be just as great as that of Florence Nightingale, who was called by the soldiers in the camp "The Lady of the Lamp"; because passing through the hospitals she kindled up the darkness with this lamp, and ministered to the suffering, and they all said, "Here comes the lady of the lamp." Your reward in eternity will be just as great if you do your work where you are put as well as she did her work where she was put. Your reward will be just as great as that of Mrs. Hertzog, who endowed the theological seminary for the education of the young ministry. Ah, how many who had ten talents get no reward in the eternal world, and how many who had only one talent will have dominions committed to them! 1. Oh, what consolation there is there for all people who do unappreciated work! Here is a great merchant philanthropist; he is as good and generous as he is affluent; you know his name — do you know the name of his confidential clerk? — the man on whose fidelity that fortune was built up, so that he could accumulate his vast wealth and then generously distribute it? Oh, no, you don't know the name of the confidential clerk. Is he to get no reward? I tell you that in the eternal world the merchant prince, who distributed his millions will get no more reward than the confidential clerk. "As his part is that goeth down to the battle, so shall his part be that tarrieth by the stuff." You know the names, I suppose, of the great presidents of railroads. Do you know the names of the brakeman, of the engineer, on whose wrist last night 300 lives hung; of the switchman, who, moving the switch three or four inches that way, and the whole train goes through in peace and families reach their homes in safety? A good many years ago a Christian woman was seen every eventide going along by the edge of the woods. She had a large family, and her neighbours said, "How can this woman, with all her cares and anxieties, waste her time going along the edge of the wood at eventide?" They did not find out until after her death why she went. She went there to pray for her household, and one evening, while there, she wrote that beautiful hymn sung in all our churches in America, and, I have no doubt, sung in your churches: — I love to steal awhile away From every cumbering care, And spend the hours of setting day In humble grateful prayer. No minister of religion standing in European or American pulpit today giving out that hymn, will have more reward than that woman received for writing it. 2. There is great consolation in the subject for all those who used to be at the front in great enterprises of benevolence and religion. Why, when a subscription paper came round their name was at the top for a good big sum. When a revival came they would pray all night with the anxious. They were strong, healthy, affluent. But not now. Their fortune has collapsed, their health has gone, they are clear discouraged; they do not see how they can help God's work any more. Nay; look at those 200 men by the brook Besor. Just shove back the sleeve and show how the muscles were twisted in the battle. Just pull aside the turban and see the scar where the battleaxe struck. Just pull aside the coat a little and see where the spear went in. They got just as much reward as those who went to the front, and you who were at the front in the old days had the health, the muscle, the high spirits for all that kind of work. God has not forgotten you. 3. What comfort this in for the aged! What have you got to do? Only to wait. Your reward will come. There is great consolation in this for all the aged ministers. I know some of them are preaching the Gospel. A man cannot preach the Gospel for fifty years without showing it in an illuminated countenance. Oh! there has got to be a readjustment of coronets; people who have no coronet in this world to be crowned; people who have great honours in this world to lose their coronet. Oh, there has got, to be a redistribution of coronets! Shall not the child have a crown? the father a crown? the mother a crown? And all ye who are doing unappreciated work the day of your reward is coming. (T. De Witt Talmage, D. D.). Parallel Verses KJV: And David came to the two hundred men, which were so faint that they could not follow David, whom they had made also to abide at the brook Besor: and they went forth to meet David, and to meet the people that were with him: and when David came near to the people, he saluted them. |
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