For as he
was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, his two sons smote
him with the sword, and there was an end of all his pride and
conquests. . . . Now Nisroch was the name of a star--the star which
we call the planet Saturn; and the Assyrians fancied in their folly,
that whosoever worshipped any particular star, that star would
protect and help him. . . . But, alas for the king of Assyria, there
was One above who had made the stars, and from whose vengeance the
stars could not save him; and so even while he was worshipping, and
praying to, this favourite star of his which could not hear him, he
fell dead, a murdered man, and found out too late how true were the
great words of Isaiah when he prophesied against him.
Yes, my friends, this is the lesson which the Jews had to learn, and
which the king of Assyria had to learn, and which we have to learn
also; and which God will, in His great mercy, teach us over and over
again by bitter trials whensoever we forget it; that The Lord is
King; that He is near us, living for ever, all-wise, all-powerful,
all-loving; that those who really trust in Him shall never be
confounded; that those who trust in themselves are trying their
paltry strength against the God who made heaven and earth, and will
surely find out their own weakness, just when they fancy themselves
most successful.
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