Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1874-10-02
Religious department.
THE DIVINE RecTlTupg.
ny c. D. nELMER.

Psalms ESQ. s"" "ouhtains''
what David needed specially to know, and
wished TO believe, in his time, was whether
900 was an altogether upright being. IL was
prime article IN the ancient Hebrew creed
that the Judge Of all the earth will and docs
do the right. Ia other words, God is riObt.
eous. NO great range Of experience was re.
CURED then' any more than there is now to
ma out that mankind are not altogether 10
be relied upon in the matter of moral recti.
tude. While there are some upright men.
mere are many more who are DOWNRIGHT
The field OF the worlds righteousness is mil
Of qulck'sands; and you do not know what
day you may go down into the pits Of treacb.
cry And so 1t meant great deal then
Whether u does to us now or not, that God
Is righteous. To David il became an nsni.
ration, and he rehearsed the grand sentimen,
in song Aud casting about to SEQ what
might serve as analogy, in the setting forth
OF his idea, his imagination lifted up before
his thought the sublime pictures of the
mountains OF his native land. Hermon, Ia.
Dor Pisgah, Lebanon; peaks and ranges
sun-capPed or cedar-mantled; these were
the'loitiest and grandest objects within the
scope OF the poet-kings knowledge. And
hence ne said" the Righteousness Of Jeho.
yah IS like these" Had David known about
the himalayas, the Alps, the Andes and the
Rocky Mountains, he might have included
them all, and then have written, "Thy
Righteousness is like the mountains of ,Jeho.
van. What have undertaken to do this
morning, Is to interpret this truth for cur
own benefit The Divine rectitude is lust
as vital a matter for us to-day, as il was to
any pious soul three or four thousand wears
ago and we have seen ranges and peaks far
lottier and grander than David ever dreamed
Of.
righteousness, as we are to understand il
IN tins connection, is not an abstract moral
l1ea' hazy aud dim to the vision, but real
righ doing. The word has breadth of
meaning sufficient 70 include the loving AMI
the doing OF the right thing always aud ey-
erywhere. 1t is not to be held as A mere
synonym OF justice; for it includes Justice
aud good deal more. Justice has its spe.
cal relation to law; and 1t is not to be sup.
posed that man is righteous, 10 the lul
sense, who has simply conlormed to the lit
eral requirements of the statute One must
be honest not ouly legally but also morally,
and even to the full measure of the finest
honor lie must be truthful, kind, merciful
running his rightness throughout the whole
circuit OF mora! qualities. And this is that
grand, lofty, and glorious quality of the di.
vine nature, TO which the Psalmist refers.
The human mind finds rest and peace for
mil Al
supreme power Of the universe is allied to
rectltude. Above all the ill.wil, the preiu.
dice and selhshness, all the injustice, treach.
cry and malice to be found among men,
stands the eternal rectitude of the Divine
Being; as the mountain stands, with the
shifting sands and the dashing pillows at its
firm set base.
But ii yeu follow out this analogy, how
does the divine rectitude resemble mount.
aims ? In being conspicuous. Travelling
westward from the shore Of Lake Michigan,
you first cross level prairie that breaks
gradually into bilowy plains, which become
vaster and more uudulating, till they reach
the foothills, beyond which rise the peaks
and ranges Of the Rocky Mountains. On this |
journey the eye sweeps over the broad plat |
eau, noting every swelling upland and min.
iature bluff, anything and everything that |
prevents an absolutely dead level. Bat Mt
the end OF thousand miles, suddenly away |
on the horizon appears blue peak towering
into the sky, and taking its place among the
clouds. That vision sends a thrill of rap.
ture through every susceptible nature. The
plains with all their vastness, their maeni6-
cent sweep, seem to vanish before the rising
subllmity OF the mountain ranges. A hun.
dred miles away Pixies Peak looms up be.
fore your admiring gaze. The plains are not
to be despised. They ARE immense, aud
have their undeniable charms. But they
are not conspicuous any more than the sea
is. They are the sea, fixed in its vast un-
dulations. And it you wish to illustrate the
grandeur of breadth, end the possibilities of
variety without the help OF altitude, the plat.
eaus oil Kansas and Colorado will render YOU
good service. But when the mountains be.
g'n to lift their shining domes aud shoot
their granite pinnaclSs into the heavens,
your gaze is drawn irresstiby toward them
they become the royal figures in the land.
scape. Everything else is subordinate.
Kings indeed are these purple.robed peaks,
attention and homage by their
majesty. Two such mon.
archs hold sway in Colorado Pixies Peak.
king of the south, and Longs Peak, king of
the north reg on; and 70 where you will, the
hrst and last objects Of attention are these
cleaving the clouds aud glowing
with the beams of sunrise and sunset. Now,
David would say, such is the element of
moral rectitude in the Divine character. 1t
Is conspicuous; visible in the heights of
heaven and the depths OF hell beheld ON
The very boundaries Of the universe. Go
you will, the Righteousness of
God shall lift itself upon your vision 10 most
conspicuous moral majesty. In other words
here fingers no doubt Of the divine refi.
ude; aud all history would bear its testi. /
nony to this truth, we're We able to summon
md question this million.tongued witness |
From paradise to the delugo from the flood ,
% the tower, smItten and shattered ON the
'laln and thenceforward to the destruction '
II Jerusalem aud the dispersion of the cho. t
zen people tracing the annals specially mar
ated in the Bible there appears no evidence /
anywhere that the Judge Of all the earth
las been untaithiul to the right. On the n
contrary, His justice, mercy, patience and n
,indness have been most conspicuous through. v
nut the ages And the same will appear h
{ you review your individual careers. Those G
# us most tried and burdened, walking with #
Ieaviest hearts and sorest feet along the A
tony path OF human life, will iind some day.
it be not evident now, that the God of b
eAven and earth never fails to do all things h
ight and we'll. n
There is another thing, also, about these h
Mountains, which interprets pro6tably in the h
nalogy. ] mean now their Je,lefceace. At q
he first look Of the matter it would seem n
hat mountains are immense masses of use.