Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1886-06-21

o might not perish for lsck OF water, an
that the herds and focks might not perish
The family rose from the altar Mr.. Birds
o eye, the old man, took his staff and vals
!. ed over the hills, and in a place where b
q had been scores of times without noticing
: anything particular, he saw the groud wa
; dark, and he took his staff and turned ul
the ground, and water started; and b.
. beckoned to his servants aud they cam,
! aud they brought pals and buckets unit
sll the family and all the Aocks aud th,
herds were cared for, and then they mad,
! troughs reaching from that place down Il
the house and barn, and the water foweG
and it is living fountain to-day.
Now, call that old grandfather E6ish
and call that brook that began to roll
then, and is rolling still, the brook Cherith
and the Lesson to me and to sll who hear
1t, when you are in great stress of circum
stances pray and dig, dig aud pray, pray
and dig. How does that passage goi
The mountains shall depart and the hills
be removed, but my loviug.kindness shall
not fell" If your merchandise, If your
mechanism. il your husbandry fail,
LOOK OUT FOR RAVENS,
if you have in your dependency put God
on trial and condemned Him as guilty Of
cruelty, | move this morning for new
trial If the biography of your life is ever
written, | will tell you what the first chap
ter aud the middle chapter and the last
chapter will be about, if it is written sccur.
ately. The first chapter about mercy,
the middle chapter about mercy, the last
chapter about mercy. The mercy that
lowered over your cradle The mercy that
will hover over your grave. The mercy
that will cover all bstween.
Again, this story OF the text impresses
me that relief came to this prophet with
the most unexpected aud with seemingly
impossible conveyance. If it had been
robin.redbreast or musical meadow lark,
or meek turtle dove, or q sublime alba.
tross that had brought the food to Elijah, It
would not have been so surprising But
no. 1t was bird 60 fierce aud insuspi.
cious that We have fashioned ons of our
most forcetul and repulsive words
cut Of it - rsvenous That bird
has a passion for picking
out the eyes of men and Of animals. 1t
loves to maui the sick and the dying. Ii
swallows with vuturous guzzle everything
it can put its besk on; and yet all the food
Elijah gets for six months or year is from
ravens. So your supply is going TO come
from an unexpected source. You think
some great-hearted generous man will
come along and give you his name on the
back of your note, or he will 60 security
for you in some great enterprise. No, be
will NOT God will open the heart OF some
Shylock towards you. Your relief will
come from the most unexpected quarter
The Providence which seemed ominous will
be to you more than that which seemed
auspicious II will not be chailinch with
breast and wing dashed with white and
brown and chestnut, it will be q black
raven.
Here is where we all make
OUR MsTAEE,
and that is in regard to the color of Gods
providence A white providence comes TO
us and we say: 20, 1t is mercy" Then
black providence comes toward us and We
coy: "Oh, that is disaster!" The white
providence comes 10 you, and you have
great business success, and you have fifty
thousand dollars, and you get proud, and
you get independent Of God, and you begin
to feel that the prayer, Give me this day
my daily bread. ia Inappropriate for you,
for you have made provision for hundred
years Then a black providence comes,
and it sweeps everything away, and then
you begin to pray, and you begin to feel
your dependence, and begin to feel humble
before tod, and you cry out for treasures
in heaven. The black providence brought
you salvation. The white providence
brought you ruin That which seemed to
be harsh and 6erca and dissonant was your
greatest mercy. 1t was raven.
There was
A CHILD BORN
in your house All your friends congratu.
lated you. The other children OF the family
stood amazed looking at the new conner,
and asked great many questions, genna.
logical and chronological. You ssid-snd
you ssid truthfully-thst white angel
fow through the room and left the little
one there. That little one stood with its
two feet in the veyy centre of the ssnctu.
ery of your affection. and with its two
hands it took hold Of the altar OF your soul.
But one day there came one of the three
scourges OF chldren-scsrlet fever, or
croup, or diphtheria-and all that bright
scene vanished. The chattering, the strange
questions, the pulling at the dressAss as you
crossed the foor-sll ca..sscd. As the great
friend OF "sr.,uren stopped down snd
ltsned towards that cradle, and took the
little one in bis arms and walked away
with it into the bower OF eternal
summer, your eye began to follow Him,
aud you followed the treasure he carried,
and you have been following them ever
since; and instead OF thinking of heaven
only oncs c ssek, as formerly, you are
thinking OF it all the time, and you are
more pure and tender.hearted than you
used TO be, aud you are patiently waiting
for the daybreak. 1t is not self-ighteous.
ness in you TO acknowledge thst you are
better nan tnsn you used to be-you are
better woman than you used TO he What
was it that brought you the Sanotifying
bIessing2 Oh, Il gas the dark shadow on
the nursery it was the dark shadow on
the short grave it was the dark shadow
on your broken heart; i, was the broodipg
Of a great black trouble; it was 8 raven
il was o raven Dear Lord, teach these
people that while proSidsnces do not al
ways mean advsn ament, and that black
providences do not always mean retrogros'
sion.
Children Of God, ge; up
OUT or YOUR DEsPoyDESCY.
The Lord neves had so many ravens as
he had this morning Fling your fret and
worry to the Winds Sometimes under the
vexatious Of life yo7 feel like my little girl
of four years, Who ssid unde, soms child
ish vexstion oh wish ! could 20 TO
heaven ana see God and pick fowersr
he will let you 90 Shsn the right time
comes to pick ao=ers Until then, What.
ever yoa want, pray for. suppose Elijah
prayed pretty much all the time. Tremen
dous work behind him. Tremendous york