, 1874-11-01
PROF.. SWINGS WEDNESDAY EVEN
ING LECTURE.

:. ING LECTURE.
The Wednesday evening praEer-meetius a
tho Fourth Presbyterian Church, corner OF Rust
and Superior streets, was well attended, Prof
Swing read the 42d Psalm. taking as his te1l
morc especially the l1th verse
Why art thoo cast down, mr. eon1 ? aud why a1a
sha sc: praise Him, who is The aealth Of my counte
nance, and my God.
He eaid: This psalm is eaid to have been
written while in exile, when his enemies we're
ashins David where Lis God was,-written, per.
baps, with heathen surroundings where there
were many gods Els desire is for the living
md srue God
In reaiing the psalms We must remember th at
hey we're composed for the music Of the Temple.
md that the repetit1ons were often the chorus
ef tho music. They should always be read as
hymns; in the original Hebrew they are ar
ranged in rhythmica1 form in some sense. go
that they could he easily ehanted. The chief
thought iu this psalm is the constantly
verse:
Hope thou In God, for shall yet p,ase Him ,xbo s
the health c6 ny oountonance.
There is little doubt that religion is designed
Tor the happiness OF mar. That must be tho
great meaning Ut it. And think those philoso.
phcrs ware not far wrong who found that happ-
ness is the end of every human movement, Ths
only arroE may be in this: that happiness ia the
moral motive OF life. It does not seem prob
able that happiness is the highest motive Of life
but that We should do the right because it is the
right. Although that may be the highest motive
OF life, yet happiness lies at the end of every
path which God requires US to follow; 80 thar.
whatever may be the motive OF living and of
setting, happiness is always before the human
being that God made: that is. it is the expana-
tiou Of his existence God would not create in
tel!isent and sensitive beings expressly for a
career Of misery. + We should como to
career Of misery and Of final unhapplnees, it
viii have to be considered departure from
Gods plan,-one OF the dreadful devistions from
HIS method. We caunot conceive of God except
aa being Of happiness. The meaning of tho
word "god is good. II God we're not being
Of happiness He would be Satan--the false ere
ator- God. therefore. being the absolute ideal
Of happiness, and religion being as all feel antl
know, the chain that binds us to God, religion
nlrst be chain that binds ns to a supreme hap
p'ness: It is the golden cord that fssteus us al
TO the hapniest dcEtiay.
Now, religion has very often been thought of
IS SORT OF Offset for bad deeds. Persons who
have lived wicked life feel that they must make
some compensation for i BY becoming religious.
But true religion, true Christianity is no sort OF
compensation for b bad Life; it is the object of
life from the very outset; it is a form Of our
happiness; ; it is nothing else than human happi-
ness going away from tue ordinary fields, aud
climbing 3 step higher. As your loro of nature
enables you to draw happiness from the fields
from plants, from the sky, and from the ocean,
erd Is your love Of truth enables you to drar
happiness from all the sciences And
all the books, so religion comes simply
to enable you to draw happlness from d patI
above other paths it is happiness found IL
tie uearer to God.-the highest happiness Of
mind, of soul, of spirit.
But, Of course all moments OF life cannot be
full Of Joy. Here Is where we make great mis-
take. The Christian expects all moments Of life
70 be full OF serenity. peace-a consciousness of
Gods presence. And have met Christians who
nave monrne6 that they have no. felt happy in
ther religion for weeks or for months, But NOT
ali OF the moments OF life can be- ful] NJ
s, active happiness No one eau 60 through
tho world with heart oyaraov16c
vain 3oyousness- No refec1ius person does
ana for several reasons, tile chief one ha;1rs
this: That this world is educapoual. And ~
the purl,ose Of education mxuy tri.1s co,,s ~
That is my explanation of it. THIS worL, - a.
most part, iaborions process There i mir; ,uo 20
It. Il ION try 10 bend crooked tree ~ =
straight form. it is painful; the cells OF If are
twisted; 1t ID racked. And go it is with The
human mind; these educational processes ,re
for the most part laborious aud pain
fnl Hence, in this large human |
Nfs that We live, although religion
b great path destined to lead ia the m Mn to |
happiness. snd leading to happiness for The |
most patt, Jet, this world being educational, and