Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1891-12-03
Tabern acIe Pulpit.


''Beasts, and all cattle; creeping things
and flying fowl: both young men, and
maidens; old men, and children, let them
praise the name of the Lord
What a scene it was when. at the call
of the President and Governors, this ma
tion assembled to chant the praises of
God. But the day was too short to cele-
brate the divine goodness of such year.
So / add to that day this Sabbath morn
ing service, and with the fruits and har-
vests Of the earth still clarifying the
pulpit and the galleries ask you to con-
tinue the rehearsal of the divine good
ness.
Although nature is out Of joint, yet
even in its disruption | am surprised to
find the almost universal happiness OF
the animal creation. The whole earth
is filled with animal delight-joy feath-
cred and scaled and horned and hOofed
The bee huns it, the frog crOaks it. the
squirrel chatters it, the quail whistles it,
the lark carols it, the whale spOuts it,
The snail, the rhinocerOS, the grizzly
bear, the toad, the wasp, the spider, the
shellfsh have their homelY delights
JOY as great to them as our Joy is to u.s.
Goat climbing the rocks, anaconda crawl
ing through the jungle, buffalo plunging
across the prairie, crocodile basking in
tropical sun, seal putting on the ice, os-
trich striding across the desert are so
many bundles Of joy; they do not go
moping or melancholy; they are not only
half supplied; God says they are filled
with good.
Winter is not allowed to come until
the ants have granaried their harvest
and the squirrels have filled their cellar
with nuts. God shows the hungry ich-
neuman where it may find the crocO-
dies eggs; and in arctic climes there are
animals that God so lavishlv clothes that
they can afford to walk through snow
storms in the finest sable and ermine and
Chinchilla, and no sooner is one set of
furs worn out than God gives them a
new one. He helps the spider in it's
architecture of its goSsamer bridge and
takes care of the color of the butterfy's
wing and tinges the Cochineal and helps
the moth out of the chrysalis
The animal creation also has it's army
and navy. The most insignificant has
it's means of defense-the wasp it's sting;
the reptile its tooth; the bear it's paw;
the dog it's muzzle; the elephant it's tusk;
the fish its scale; the bird it's swift wing;
the reindeer it's antlers; the roe it's fleet
foot. We are repealed at the thought of
sting and tusk and hoof, but Gods good
ness provides them for the defense of
the animals rights.
Yea, God in the Bible announces his
care for these orders of creation. He
says that he has heaved up Notifications
for their dcfenSe-Psalm civ, IS, 1.-THE
high hills are a refuge for the wild goats;
and the rocks for the conies.'' He
watches the birds nest-Psalm CIV II,
GAS for the StOrk, the fir trees are her
house" He sees that the cattle have
enough grass-Psalm civ, H. He caus-
eth the grass to grow for the cattle He
sees to it that the cows and sheep and
horses have enough to drInk-PSalm civ,
10, IL: ''He sendeth the springs into the
valleys, which run among the hills; they
give drink to every beast of the field.
The wild asses quench their thirst"
Amid the thunders of Sinai God uttered
the rights of cattle, and said that they
should have a Sabbath. Thou shalt
not do any work, thou nor thy cattle"
He declared with infinite emphasis that
the OK on the thrashing floor should have
the privilege of eating some of the grain
as he trod 1t out, and muzzling was for
hidden. If young birds were taken from
the nest for food, the despoilers life de-
pended on the mother going free. God
would not let the mother bird suffer in
one day the loss of her young and her
own liberty. And He who regarded in
olden time the conduct of man toward
the brutcS, to-day looks down from
Heaven and is interested in every minnow
that SWims the stream, and every rock
shat cleaves the air, and every herd that
OleatS or neighS or lows in the pasture
Why did God make all these and why
make them so happy? How account for
all this singing and dancing and friSking
amid the irrational creation? Why this
Heaven for the animalcule in a dewdrop!
Why for the condor throne OF Chin
&Dorazo? Why the glitter of the phos-
Ephorus in the ships wake on the sea,
which is said to be only the frolc of mill
lions of insects? Why the perpetual
chanting of so many voices from the
irrational creation in earth and air and
ocean-beasts, and all cattle, creeping
things and flying fowl, permitted to join
in the praise that goes up from seraph
and archangel? Only one solution, one
exclamation, one anSwer-God is good
t"The earth is full Of the goodness Of the
Lord.
| take step higher, and notice the
adaptation Of the world to the comfort
and happiness of man. The sixth day of
creation had arrived. The palace of the
world was made, but thee was no king
to live in it. Leviathan ruled the deep,
the eagle the air, the lion the field, but
where was the scepter which should rule
all? A new style Of being was created
Heaven and earth were represented in
his nature. His body from the earth
beneath; his soul from the Heaven above.
The one reminding him Of his origin, the
other speaking of his destinv-himself
the connecting link between the animal
creation and angelic intelligence. In
him strange commingling of the tenn
poral and eternal, the finite aud the in
finite, dust and glory. The earth for his
floor and Heaven for his roof; God for his
father; eternity for his lifetime