Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1892-01-16

IL
He replied it would not be so wonder
flllto have the SIN go down. forit al
ways does go down sooner or later.
He asks that it go backward. In
other words, let the day. instead of
going on toward shutdown, turn and
go toward sunrise.
l;seesthe invalid king bolStered I'D
and wrapped in blankets looking out
of the window upon tho sundial in
the Courtyard While he watches
the shadow On the dial the shadow
begins to setreat. Instead of going
on$toward SIX O'Clock in the EVENING"
goessb back steward six O'clock in the
morning The fig poultice had been
drawing. forsssp,ne time, and sure
enough the boil broke and Hezekiah
gotSsssNflls S5W ] expect you will |
cone On WITH your higher criticism
and to explain this away and say
twas an optical delusion of Heze-
-i III. end ,shadcy only. seemed to
/ SO back or a cloud came over and it
was uncertain which way the shadow
did go. and rs Hezekiah expected it
togo back he took the action of his
own mind for the retrograde move
ment. No: the shadow went back
on;all the dials of that land and other
lands.
Turn to II Chronicles xxi, 81. and
find that away off in Babylon the
mighty men of the palace noticed
the same phenomenon. And if you
donot like Bible authority turn over
your copy of Herodotus and find that
away off in Egypt the people noticed
that there was something the matter
with the sun. The fact is that the
whole universe waits upon God. and
suns and moons and stars are not
very big things to him. and he can
with his little finger turn back an
entire world as easily as you could
set back the hour hand or minute
hand of your clock on watch.
At the opening of a new year peo-
pie are moralizing on the flight of
time. You all feel that you are moving
on toward shutdown and many of you
are under Il consequent depression.
propose this morning to set the hands
on your watches and clocks to going
the other way. propose to show
you how you may make the shadow
of your dial: like the shadow on the
dialof Ahaz, to stop going forward
and make it go backward. You think
l have. q big undertaking on hand,
butt can be done, il. the came Lord
who reversed the Shadow in Heze-
kian's courtyard moves upon us.
While looking at the silndial of
sffI$zekiah. and we find tue shadow
rereating, we ought to slearn that
Cpd controls the shadows We are
al ready to acknowledgehis manage
I6ent OF the sunshine. Ne srj2pd in
glow Of aad--
i TEiscst is', is ..ssss
This warmth is from eyd. or we
have rush of prosperity, and we
say: These successes are from God.
What a providential thing it was !
bought that lot just before the rise
Of real estatel How grateful to GolSI
l am that ! made that investment
Why, they have declared ten per cent.
dividend What a mercy it was that
| sold out my shares before that col
lapsel"
Oh. yes, we acknowledge God in
the sunshine of bright day or the
sunshine of great prosperity. But
suppose the day is dark? You have
to light the gas at noon. The sun
does not show himself all day long.
There is nothing but shadow. How
slow we are to realize that the storm
is from God and the darkness from
God and the chill from God. Or we
buy the day before the markets re-
treat, or we make an investment that
never pays. or wo purchase goods
that we cannot dispose of, or crop
of grain we sowed is ruined by
drought or fieshet, on when we took
account of stock on the first of Jan
uary we found ourselves thousands
of dollars worse off than we expected.
Who under such circumstances says:
This loss is from God. Unjust have
been allowed to so into that rlnfor.
tunate enterprise for some good rea-
SOL; God controls the east wind as
well as the west wind
A LESSON TO LEARN.
My friends, cannot look for one
moment ON that retl' ,gade shadow
on Ahaz's dial without learning that
God controls the shadows and that
lesson we need all to learn. That he
controls the sunshine is not so neces-
,saly a lesson, for anybody can be
happy when things go right. When
you sleep eight hours night and rise
with an appetite that cannot easily
wait for breakfast, and you go over to
the store and open your mail to read
more orders than you can fill, and Ill
the next letter you find u dividend
far larger than you have been prom.
ised, and your neighbor comes in to
tell you some fattering thing ho has
Just heard. said about you, and you
find that all the styles of goods in
which you deal have advanced fifteen
per cent. in value, and on your way
home you meet your children in full
romp and there are roses on the cen
ter of the tea table and roses of health
in cheeks all round the table, what
more do you want of consolationG
l don't pity you bit. You feel as
if you could boss the world. But for
those in just opposite circumstances
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