Evansville daily journal. (Evansville, Ind.) 1863-1866, 1864-11-26

And jet, says tpe historian, lin closing
up his brief account Of this period
of IsraeIs history, notwithstanding
all these appatent cal&nities-'in Judah
things went we'll 49,
]. The FIRST thought, then, which we
gsther fFonsthis history. r. that over and
above all the councils and policies Of
.'neuS there is=saRsszideucs that directs
the tide 81 national Affairs.
l. The s.atsmsnt Is made freausntlv.
and NJ vafidss wsys, in the Scriptures
that there Is a providential government
exercised over nations and people II
- found in the snblime expression. s'the
Lord hath -prepared=iHs throne in the
nsayens and his kingdoms ruleth over
81 = And in The joyous acclaim the
Lord re9gneth, lee the earth rejoice, let
the multitude Of isles thereof DC glad.
And when David deeelars that ali the
ends, Of the world shall turn unto the
lord and all the kindreds Of the ma
tons worship before him, the reason
be assigns, IS that the Kingdom is
the Lord = andhe is the Governor among
the natromss
: But there Is a-vast difference be-
tween Preeept and example, between the
theoreueal encouragement Of the provi-
Dental government Of God and the am
pie .pEaesical illustration Of. the doctrine.
presented in much, if not the whole.
history Of the world In the Sacred
Word Il is announced that God refgns.
that he Is the governor among the ma.
irons, that his Kingtl0fa ruleth over ALI
This Is the theoretical part But then
whence are these expressions derived.
but rom observation. Did not David
see that the Lord reigned3 Did he no,
reign over Egypt and destroy Pharaoh
and>his hostsf Did he not reign over
the ancient faananites and utterly ex.
terIniHate them as be promised 70 Abra.
ham, his seryant2 And was not there a
Providence over the nations Israel came
IN edntact with in the wilderness. and
after her settlement as much as over
Israel herself2 II was Providence that
+ restrained their enemies, or saf
Tered them to come and take them cap
tives. And up to the time of the division
Of the kingdoms Immediately after The
/ death Of Solomon, there was an eaual
providence over them and over all sur
rounding nations In the very instance
before us, rot sonly do We see Provi
dence sundering the Kingdom, but Shi
shak, now besieging the gates Of tbs
capital of Judah, has been summoned
there from Egypt By the same Divine
/ Providence And so God il in judah
God is in Israel, God is in Egypt, God /.
in Assyria; His kingdom ruleth over al
and Hs Is the Governor among the na
tong
| 3. This providence Is above all the
councils and pfovidences Of men. Re
hoboam, on coming TO the throne, Wal
advised BY the old men-the old State
officers OF Solomun--men Of large expe
| Renee and practical wisdom--to adopl
q conciiafory policy. He chose 10 pur
sue A different course, AMI adopted 8
policy Of rigorous severity. Shishak, il
| his prssspt Invasion, bad bis policies
and designs bot they we're subordinAtet
and accomplished only 20 far a. Provi
/ denee permitted Aud thus il is nlwayi
and everywhere
! II, The second thoughl which the tex
suggests to as is, that in the midst Of /
4 terrible civil war, and the tefspo-ar,
disruption Of The government, we hav,
abundant cause Of thanksgiving becans,
| things are going veil ID the land.
i j. It's frequently true that things ar,
going on well when apparently the re
verse is The case IN judah, to the hu
man view, everything was tending 1,
ruin. Yet to Him who stood upon III,
highest post Of observation, the tide o
affairs was moving in the right direction
/ Ia All material blessings things we're veil
The early and The later rains came /,
theirseasons, and distilled upon The held
/ Of the wilderness, making the little hill
70 rejoies on every side Their pasture
we're clothed With Aoeks, and tho VALLEY
were covered over with cora. vineyar.
aud olive groves upon mountain al,
/ vale, with their bnrdensd boughs, We
proclaimed thas God vas not dealin,
with them after their sins, nor rewardin,
| them according % their iniquities
! z Ia . nation ike ours, il may b
said that things are gong on well wher
| the general good is being secured. Ia
I digidual interests for the time being ma,
be scifering. Commerce. saav Be inter
Fupied. Oar vessels may no longer >.
freighted to distant elimes with The bro
daets of our soil Our mannfsc,oris
may be silent Our swollen rivers ma,
in vain course their way 10 ocean an,
gulf, and sur inland lakes and seGs ma
be clear Of sail from pors to port. moth
ing may invite the labor Of tie husband
man aud the laborer. and yet al thing
be going on veil in the land.
1 Much depends upon The standard B,
which We measure our veil being. God
= purposes IN land or nation. il shoult
be remembered, are chiefly OF a mora
character. National prosperity NAV 5,
81 gwen 20 secure these ends And ",
may therefore conclude that that natio,
only Is on the road to prosperity. whicI
Is omplishing the great mission as
signed Il Of God. Ia this view are Their,
4 pot abundant reasons to lead US to con
elade that in the very midst of war
things are going on well ia our land
Look, FOR instance, at our material pros
peFlsy. When was there ever such bonn
y 10 the laad7 No blight has been %
! on our fields Our skies have bee.
healthfuL The needfuI diversions Q
/ wealth aud ssrangth from the fields .
4 peaceful industry to the national isfenc,
have not arrested the piow, the shuttl,
or the shap The axe has enlarged "a,
/ borders OF our settlements, an,
the mines Ct iron and coal. a
Of the precious metals, har,
yielded even more abundantly than here
tofore. Population has steadily iscreas
ed, Notwithstanding the waste tha, hal
been made in the camp, the siege. ans
/ the battlefield. Never since we hav.
| beSn nation have we seen such pros
,perity as since the war commenced. O
no period of our history can il be .aje
more smiueutly than of this. g TbiDg,
I wentlwell in the land" Oar Chief ET.
I ecutiye, in surveying these things. vel
says: No human counsel hath DESIGN.
ed, nor hath any mortal hand vorksd
oct, these great things They are the
igraeions gifts of the Most High God
who, while dealing with as in anger for
cur SINS, hath nevertheless remembered
mercy. Surely, If ever there was a ns.
| ton of people uGder the whole h@avens
/ called upon for ihaaksgiv:-k to Al.
mighty God, II IA the Arsriean nao-l.