Richmond Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1862-1865, 1865-03-10
A. EeistS ;Asst;ka 2lSEY 4 ihs yJiX1ihR W. Ih7


am.
..If thou take away from the midst of thee the
yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking
vanity and thou draw out thy soul to the hungry
and satisfy the afflicted soul then shall thy light
rise in obc urity, aud thy darkness be as the noon
day and the Lord shall guide thee continually, and
satisfy thy soul in drought and uake fat thy bones;
and thou shalt be like to swatered garden and like
a spring of water, whose waters fail not '--5sth
chapter Isaiah.
Two instances only are cited to show the signal
blessing of God upon this means When properly
used. TIE first is found in the book Of Jonah.
The wiekednesS of the nha bitapts 81 Nneveh
was great, and God sent Jonah TO declare that in
forty days Nineveh should be destroyed. $50 the
people Of Nneyeh believed God, and proclaimed
fast and put on sackcoth, from the greatest of them
even unto the least OF them. For word came unto
the king of Nineveh and he arose.frOm his throne,
and We laid his robe from him, and covered hip
with s1ckcloth, aud sat IN ashes. And he caused it
to be pLoc laimed and published through Nineyeb
hy the decree OF the King and his mobiles, saying
let neither man beast herd mol flock, taste any
thing let them not feed, drink water: but let
m
nightly unto God yea, let them turn every one
from his evil way, aud from the violence that is in
their hands Who can Tell IT God will turn and re-
pent, and turn away from his fierce anger that We
perish not And God their works that they
turned from their evil way; and God repented him
of the evil that he had said that 10 wogd do unto
them; and he did it not"
Thus, although God had proposed to overthrow
the city, by the general observance Of fast con
nected with prayer qpq q kesrIY repentance, this
awhlcalamity Was averted'
I The second case is found in the goth chapter of
Second chronicles.
The combined armies Of Moab, and AmmOn, and
others beside, threatened Judah with an invasion,
and Jehoshaphat, becoming alarmed at the prospect
before him, proclaimed fast, and seRalred to the
bouse of God aud standing ~ the midst of the con-
.,regation. where all Judah stood before the Lord
with their little ones their wives and their children,
nrayed and used the following significant language :
:. d Lord God of our fathers, art not thou God in
heaven aud ruest not thou over all the Kingdoms
NJ ,be heather and in thine hand is not there pow.
or and might 70 that none is able TO withstand
thee o our God, wilt thou not Judge them for
we nave no might against this great company that
eometh against as mother know We what 70 do;
but our eyes arc upon thee" The result wasan
immediate answer to prayer for the spirft of the
Lord came upon one OF tho prophets, who said TO
the people aud TO the King; Hearken ye, all Ju-
dab. and sc, inhabitants OF Jerusalem, and thou
King Jehoshaphat, thus saith the Lord unto you; Be
not afraid, nor dismayed by reason of THE great
multitude for the battle is not yours, but God ,
The next day when they went forth 10 battle, the
Lord sent confusion into the ranks Of the enemy, so
that they fought against each other until their a.
mics were utterly destroyed. Thus the victory
proyed TO be not theirs, but the Lords.
If the people of this oonfedcracy will but exer-
else themselves properly, and lay their cause before
God onr deyerance is sure. But will the people
keep this tast VIII all the people keep 1t While
Gods people are really the " salt of the EARTH, il
il very doubtful whether He viii hear Them in be.
half of this nation unless there be general hui
initiation among the people. God SAID concerning
that nation which he had chosen before all others,
and al a time when they had departed from Him;
- Though Moses aud Samuel stood before me, vet
my mind could not DO toward this people Cast
them ont OF my sight, and LEI them go forth. Such
sword. to the sword aud such as are for the fam
me, TO the famine and such are for the captvi-
Is, 10 the captvity."-l5 chap. Jer.
Again, vh5n they were guilty OF ldoiatry, which
* the case with many in this land-for covetuous-
ness is idolatory-the- Lord said to Ezekiel :
Though these three men, Noah, Daniel and job
were in it, they should deliver but their own souls
nv their righteousness, saith the Lord God. They
shall deliver neither sons nor daughters, but they
only shall be delivered themselves. Ezekiel, 18th
chapter.
The individual sins Of the people make up tho
sum Of the sins Of the nation, and unless the people
individually repent,we cannot expect help from God.
Great blessings in store for ii faithful
To our high trust and We shall he instrumental in
accomplishing much good for the Advancement of
Christianity and civilization but if uniaithful in
stead Of blessing, We shall have judgment and,
perhaps, without mercy.
wiz the people generally obey this call of the
President, and thereby obey the call Of God 70 re-
pent If so, we may expect great blessings TO fol
low the national fast But if the call is Disregard
ed, we have no right to expect that our armies will
be successful, or, indeed anything better than sub
jugation.. E..
o that the Spirit Of the Lord may move the
hearts Of the people that, By thorough repent
ance, and firm trust in our Lord Jesus Christ, we
NAV as individuals trust in him for salvation-uia
king up nation Wherein dweieth righteousness,
and thereby avert the storm which threatens.
EVANGELIST.
AN INVOCATION FROM THE ARMY
CAMP OF DAVIS BRJGADE,l
Petersburg March LIST, 1865.
To The Editor Of Tie Wig:
The 10th instant has been set apart for national
II nd hov noIt