1 Samuel 5:12

The cry of the city.

The cry of the city

There is a hum of the city in its ceaseless activity, a shout in its occasional excitement, a song in its periodic mirth, but a cry in its constant want, distress, pain. Paul heard it at Athens and his “heart was stirred”; Jesus at Jerusalem and “He wept.” Do we not hear it in every city, and is not the cry somewhat thus?

I. I am sensitive and might be touched with truth and love.

II.--I am restless and so always seeking some unattained good.

III.--I am strong and might be powerful for God and humanity.

IV.--I am sinful and must have religion or ruin. Does anyone fail to hear these cries, let him listen to “The Bitter Cry of Outcast London,” or gaze sadly at “Horrible London,” or pendent “The Politics of the very Poor.” (Homilist.).