Democratic messenger., 1888-10-06
CLOUDS HIS CHARIOT.
BEAUTY AND GRANDEUR OF SOUR.
RYING FLEECEs OF vAPOR.
Dr. 1almage Discourses Eioquentiy ON .
Metaphor Found In the Psaims-W
All the Creatures Of the Earth
Man the Only One Contracted
TO Look Upward.

BRooKLyS, Sept. 3O.-The hymn sung
at the opening Of the services In the Brook.
lyn Tabernacle this morning was:
"Welc0me, sweet day Of rest,
That saw the Lord arise"
After expounding appropriate passages
of Scripture, the Rev. r. Dewitt Talmagc,
ID. D., took ioi his text; Psalms civ. 8:
"Who maketh the clouds his chariot"
DR.. Talmage said:
Brutes are constructed so rs TO look
down. Those earthly creatures that have
wings, when they arise the earth still look
down, and the eagle searches for mice in
the grass and the raven for carcasscs In
the field. Man alone Ia made to look up.
To induce him to look up God makes the
sky pic,nre. gallery. Dusseldof, a Lou.
vrc, a Luxembourg, a Vatican that eclip.
scs all that German, or French, or Italian
art ever accomplished. But God has fail.
ed so far to attract the attention OF most
Of US by the scenery of the sky. We go
into the raptures over flowers Ia the soil.
but have little or no appreciation Of the
morning glorlts" that bloom on the wall
of the sky at sunrise or the dahlias In the
clouds at sunset. We are In ccstacies
over a gobelin tapestry or u bridal veil Of
rare fabric, or q snowbank of exquisite
curve, but see not at all, or see without
emotion, the bridal wells Of mist that cover
the face Of the Catskills. or the swaying
upholstery around the couch Of the dying
day, or the snowbanks of vapor piled up
In the heavens.
My text bids us lift our chin three or
four inches and open the two telescopes
which under the forehead, are put on
swivel easily turned upward, and see that
the clouds are not merely unintcresting
signs OF wet or dry weather. but that they
are embroidered can"pics Of shade; that
are conservatories Of the sky; that they
are thrones ofpomp; that they are crystal.
line bars; that they are paintings In water
color; that they are the angels Of the mist
that they are great cathedrals Of light
with broad aislcs for angelic feet to walk
through and bow at altars of amber and
alal'astcr; that they are the mothers OF the
dew that they arc ladders for ascending
and descending glorics; Cotopaxis of
bclchins flame, Niagaras Of color. that
they are the masterpieces Of the Lord
God Almighty. The clouds are favOrite
Bible simile and the sacred writer's have
made much use of them. After the deluge
God hung on clond In conccntric hands
the cOlors Of the spectrum saying: " / do
set my bow In the cloud" As II noun
tain is sometimes entirely hidden by the
vapors so, says God, ~ have blotted out
as thick cloud thy transgressions."
David measured the divine goodness and
found 1t so high lie apostrophized "Thy
faithfulness rcaclicth unto the clouds"
As sometimes there are thousands Ot
feeces Of vapor scurrying across the
heavens so, says Isaiah. will be the con-
verts in the millennium las clouds and as
doves" As In the wet season no sooner
does the sky clear than there comes an.
other obscuration so, says Solomon, one
ache or ailmcnt OF old folks has no more
than gone than another pain comes las
clouds return In the rain" 4 column Oi
illumined cloud led the Israclitcs across
the wilderness. In the book of Job Elihu,
watching the clouds. could not unde r.
stand why they did not fa!l or why they
did not all roll together. the laws of evap.
Grafton and condensation then not being
understood, and he cries out; "Dost thou
know the balancing Of TIE clOudg' When
I read my text il suggests 10 me that the
clouds are the Creators equipagc, aud
their whirllng masses are the wheels, and
the tongue Of the cloud is the pole Of the
celestial vehicle, and the winds are the
harnessed steeds, and God Is the royal
occupant and driver "who make,h the
clouds HIS chariot"
| THE CHARIOT of OLD.
To understand the psalmists meaning
in the text you must know that the char
lot of old was sometimes sculptured
brilliancy made ont of ivory. sometimes
oi solid silver. and rolled on two wheels
which were fastened to the axle by stout
pins, and the awful defeat Of oenomau'
by Pelops was caused by the iaci that 4
traitor0us chariotecr had inserted a Inch
pm Of wax instead ofa linch-pin OF ..iron
All the 600 chariots Of Pharaoh lost theil
Inch. pins In the Red SEA. for the Bill,
says: "The Lord took of their wheels
Look at the long flash of Solomon's | ,4Ot
cliariois and the $4,000 chariots OF III,
Phillslincs. Ifyou have ever visited th,
buildings where king or queen keeps
the coaches of state. ~ have, you know
that kings and queens have great varieties
OF turnout. The keeper tells you "rhi'
IL the state carriage, and used only Or
great occasions" This Is the coronation
carriage, aud In II the king rode an Tho
day he took the throne" "ln this thu
queen went to open Parliament" "Thi'
is the coach in which the cyar and III,
sultan rode ON the occasion oitheir visit
All costly and tesselate'l and enriched and
emblazoned are they, and when the driver
takes the reins Of the 10 white horses Ia
his hands, and amid mounted troops and
bands In full force sounding the national
air. the splcndor starts and rolls an under
arches eniwined with banners, and amid
the huzxas Of hundreds Of thousands OF
spectators, the scene is memorable But
my text puts all such occasions into In
Significance. as ., represents the King oi
the Universe coming TO the door Of Ills
palace and the gilded vapors Of the heay'
ems rolling up to Ills feet, and he stepping
In and taking the reins OF the galloping
winds In Ills hands. starts In a triumph ride
under the arches Of sapphire and over the
atmospheric highways OF opal and ehryso-
lite, the clouds Ills chariot.
- "a ks