The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-10-24
THE FINGER OF GOD.
REV. TALMAGE PREACHEs ON ITS
MIGHTY POWER

tional Career Pointed Out
BROOKLYN, Oct. 23.--The capacity Of tn o
tabernacle was tested this morning by the
vast crowd that filed It in every part. as
soon as the doors were opened. After read
ing and commenting on several passages Of
scripture illustr ative Of Gods providential
dealings, DIR. Talmage gave out the hymn
beginning
God moves in a mysterious way
His wonders to perform.
His sermon was on the text Exodus
viii, 10, "Ths Finger of God"
Pharaoh was sulking In his marble throne
room at Memphis. Plague after plague had
come, aud sometimes the Egyptian mon
arch was disposed TO do better, but at the
lifting OF each plague he was as bad as be-
fore. The neoromancers Of the palace,
however, were compelled to recognize the
divine movement, and after one of the most
eXasperating plaques Of all the series, they
cried out in the words Of my text: This
10 the finger of God, not tho first nor the
last time when bad people said good thing.
An old Philadelphia friend, visiting me the
other day, asked me il had ever noticed
TINS passage OF scripture from which to-
day SPEAK. told him no. and / said right
away, That Is good text for a sermon. ;"
We all recognize the hand Of God and
know 1t is mighty hand You have seen
man Keep two or three rubber balls flying
In the air, catching aud pitching them so
that none OF them fell to the floor, and do
this for several minutes, and you have ad-
mlred his dexterity. But have you thought
how the hand Of God keeps millions and
millions OF round worlds vastly larger than
our world flying for centuries without
letting one fall9 Wondrous power and skill
OF Gods handl But about that am not to
discourse My text leads me to speak Of
less than fifth OF the divine hand. This
is the finger of God" Only in two other
places does the Bible refer to this
division OF the omnipotent hand.
The rocks on Mount Sinai are basalt and
very hard stone. Do you imagine il was q
chisel that cut the ten commandments In
that basalti No. in Exodus we read thst the
tables Of stone were - written with the
finger OF God.n Christ says that he cast
out devils with 1.-THE finger of Gcd." The
only instance that Christ wrote a word be
wrote not with pen Oh parchment, but with
his finger on the ground. Yet though so
seldom reference is made in the Bible to a
part Of Gods hand, IL you and | keep our
eyes open aud our heart right, we will be
compelled often to cry out. this is the
finger Of God.n 1t Is my intention before
long to begin a series Of sermons on the
Astronomy OF the Bible, OF God
among the Stars; the Ornithology
of the Bible. or Cod among the
God among the Orchards; the Ichthyology
OF the Bible, or God among the Fishes the
Geology OF the Bible. or God among the
Rocks; the Waters of the Bible, or God
among the Seas; the Zoology of she Bible,
or God among the Beasts; the Precious
Stones Of the Bible, or God among the
Amethysts; the Conchology Of the Bible, or
God among the Shells; the Botany Of the
Bible, or God among the Flowers; the Chro-
nology of the Bible, or God among the Cent
uries. and | want this coming winter to
get you and got myself into the habit Of
seeing the finger Of God everywhere and in
everything; but tnis morning | want t. in-
duce you TO look for the finger of God in
your personal affairs.
To most Of US gestioulation is natural. II
a stranger acoost You on the street and ask
you the way to some place it is as natural as
TO breathe for you to level your fore.hnger
this way or that. Not one out OF a thousand
OF you would stand with your hands by
your side and make no motion with your
finger. Whatever you may say with your
lips Ia emphasized and reinforced and
translated by your finger. Now God,
in the dear old book, says to us
innumerable things by way Of direc-
tion. He plainly tells us the way 10 GO
But In every exigenoy OF our life, IL we will
only look, we will find providential
gesture aud providentisl pointing, so that
we may confidently say, This Is the finger
Of God" Two or three times In my life,
when perplexed on questions of duty after
earnest prayer have cast lots as 60 what
should do. In olden time the Lords people
cast lots. The land OF Canaan was divided
by lot. The cities we're divided among
the priests and Levites by lot. Mat thias
was chosen to the apostleship by lot. Now,
casting lots is about the most solemn thing
you can do. It should never be done, ex-
cept with a solemnity like that Of the last
Judgment. IL is a direct appeal to tho
Almighty. IL, after earnest prayer you do
not seem 70 get the divine direction, 1 think
you might, without sin, write upon one
slip OF paper YES" and upon another
"No,n or some other decisive words appro-
pirate to the case, and then celebrating
frcm your mind the identity of the slips OF
paper draw the decision and act upon it.
In that case | think you have "A right 20
take that indication as the finger Of God.
But do not do that except as the last resort
and with adevoutness that leaves absolutely
all with God.
For much that concerns us we Lave no
responsibility, and We need not make appeal
TO the Lord for direction. We are not re-
sDonsible for most Of our surroundings. We
are not responsible for tho country OF our
birth nor for whether we are Americans,
or Norwegians, or Scotchmen, or lrishmen,
or Englishmen. We are NOT responsible for
the age III which we live. We are not re-
sponsible for our temperament, be 10 nerv-
GUS or phlegmatic, bilious or sanguine. We
are not responsible for our features, be they
homely or beautiful We are not re-
sponsible for the hight or smsilness OF
our stature. We are not responsible
for the fact that we are mentally dull or
brilliant. For the most OF our environ-
meuts, We have no more responsibility thau
we have for the mollusks at the bottom Of
the Atlantic ocean. o, / am so glad that
there are about FIVE hundred thousand
things that we are not responsible for. DO
not blame us for being in our manner cold
az an iceberg, or nervous as a cat amid
pack Of Fourth of July fre.crackers. II
you are determined TO blame somobody,
blame our great-grandfathers or great
grandmothers, who died before the reyolu-
tionary war, and who may have
had habits depressing and ruinous.
There are wrong things about Us
ALL which make me think that one
hundred and fifty years ago there was soma
terrible cranks in our Ancestral line. Realize
that, and it will be a relief semi-int0ite.
Let US take ourselves as we are this mos
ment and then ask, (which wayP Got all
the direction you can from careful and con-
slant study OF the Bible, and then look up
and look out and look around, and see II
you can fad the finger OF God.
1t Is a remarkable thing that sometimes