The enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 188?-1899, 1892-10-26
THE FINGER OF GOD.
Sermon by Rev. T. Dewitt Tai
mage, D. d.
Tho Wondrous Power and Skill OF tho Om-
nipotent Hand-The Finger OF God In
Our Personal Affhirs-Innumora
BILE Things which Move by
Divine Direction.

lyn tabernacle last Sunday was based
on the text, Exodus viii, 10, 1.-THE Fin
ger Of God" Following is the sermon:
Pharaoh was sullking in his marble
throne room at Memphis. Plague after
plague had come, and sometimes the
Egyptian monarch was disposed to do
better, but at the lifting of each plague
he was as bad as before. The necro-
mancers Of the palace, however, were
compelled TO recognize the divine move
ment, and after one of the most exas-
perating plaques of all the series, they
cried out In the words Of my text: "This
is the finger of God"-not the first nor
the last time when bad people said a
good thing An old Philadelphia friend
visiting me the other day, asked me II
had ever noticed this passage of Scrip
ture from which I to-day speak. told
him no, and said right away, THAT is
q good text for 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 and
pitching them so that none of them fell
to the floor, and do this for several min
utes, and you have admired his dex-
terity. 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 fallP Wondrous power and
eli ~ n,,N oh thot II
am not to discourse. My text leads me
to speak of less than fifth of the d.
vine hand. "This is the finger of God"
Only in two other places does the Bible
refer to this division of the 0mnipotent
hand. The rocks on Mount Sinai are
basalt and very hard stone. Do you i'm
agine 1t was chisel that cut the ten
commandments In that basalt2 No; In
Exodus we read that the tables Of stone
were written with the finger Of God"
Christ says that He cast out devils with
"the finger OF God" The only instance
that Christ wrote q word, He wrote not
with pen on parchment, but with His
finger on the ground Yet though 80
seldom reference is made In the Bible
TO part Of Gods hand, II you and I
keep our eyes open and our heart right,
we will be compelled often to cry out:
"This is the finger Of God" 1t is my
intention before long to begin series
of sermons on the Astronomy Of the
Bible, or God among the Stars; the
Ornithology Of the Bible, or God among
the Birds; the Pomology Of the Bible,
or God among the Orchards; the Ichthi-
ology 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 the 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 Chronology
Of the Bible, or God among the Cen.
turies, and l want this coming winter
TO get you and get myself into the habit
OF seeing the finger of God everywhere
and in everything; but this morning
want TO induce you TO look for the
finger Of God In your personal affairs
To most Of US gesticulation Is natural.
II q stranger accosts you on the street
and asks the Way TO some place, it II
as natural as TO breathe for you Il
level your foreAnger this way or that
Not enc out Of q thousand Of you would
stand with your hands by your side ant
make no motion with your finger
Whatever you say with your lips il EN-
phasized and reinforced and translateS
by your finger Now, God, in the deai
old book, says TO us innumerable thing
by the way Of direction. He plainl,
tells us the way TO go But in ever!
exigency OF our life, II we will onl,
look, we will find a providential gestur,
and providential pointing, so that W,
may confidently say, "This is the finge
Of God" Two or three times In my life
when perplexed on questions Of dut,
after earnest prayer, have cast lots a
10 what l shouldd In olden times tn
Lords people cast lots The Land o
Canaan was divided by lot The cite
were divided among the priests and lie
vites by lot Matthias was chosen h
the apostleship by lot Now, castinl
lots is about the most solemn thing 20,
can do II should never be done excep
with solemnity like that Of the las
Judgment II is direct appeal 10 tn,
Almighty. II, after earnest prsyer, 20,
do not seem TO got the divine direction
think you might without sin, writ
upon one slip Of paper "Yes," and upo
another mo" or some other decisiv
words appropriate to the case, and the
obliterating from your mind the ident
ty Of the slips Of paper, draw the deci'
ION, and act upon It In that case
think you have right TO take that II
dication as the finger Of God. But d
not do that except as the last resort an
with devoutness that leaves absolutt
ly oil with God.
For much that concerns US we hav
no responsibility, and we need not max
appeal TO the Lord for direction. "
arc not responsible for the country {
our birth, nor for whether we are Anne
leans, or Norwegians, or Scotchmen, 9
1rishmen, or Englishmen. We are nc
responsible for the age In which weliv'
We arc not responsible for our tempe
nment; be II nervous or phlegmatic, bi
ious, or sanguine. We are not respoi
aible for our features, be they homel
or beautiful. We are not responsibl
for the height or smallnsss Of our. STA
pre. We are not responsible for u
fact that we are mentally dull or bri
Liant For the most Of our environment
we have no more responsibility than "
have for the molluslss At tho bottol