Connecticut western news., 1892-10-27
THE FINGER OF GOD.
AN ELOQUENT SERMON FROM THE
 TABERNACLE PULPIT.


 Beauty of Expression.
 BROOKLYN, Oct. 23.-The capacity of the Tabernacle was tested this morning by the vast crowd that filled it in every part as soon as the doors were opened. After reading and commenting on sev- eral passages of Scripture illustrative of Gods providential dealings, Dr. Tal- mage gave out the hymn beginning
 God moves in q mysterious way
 His wonders to perform.
 His sermon was on the text Exodus viii. 19,, "The Finger of God"
 Pharaoh was sulking in his marble throneroom 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 good thing. An old Philadelphia friend visiting me the other day asked me if had ever noticed this passage of Scrip ture from which today speak. l told him no, and said right away, ''That is good text for sermon"
 We all recognize the hand of God and know it is 8 mighty hand. You have seen man keep two or three rubber balls flying in the air, catching and pitching them 80 that none of them fell to the floor, and do this for'several min utes, and you have admired his dexter ity. 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 let ting one fall? Wondrous power and skill of Gods handi 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 it was chisel that cut the ten commandments in that basalt? 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 word he wrote not with pen on parchment, but with his finger on the ground. Yet, though so seldom reference is made in the Bible to part of Gods hand, if you and l keep our eyes open and our heart right we will be compelled often to cry out, ''This is the finger of God" It is my intention before long to begin series of sermons on "The Astronomy of the Bi. ble, 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 Ichthyology of the Bible, or God Among the Fishes;" "The Geology of the Bible, or God Among the Rocks;" 'The Wa ters of the Bible, or God Among the Seas;" 'The Zoology of the Bible, or God Among the Beasts" 1.-The Precious Stones of the Bible, or God Among the Amethysts;" "The Conchology of the Bible, or God Among the Shells;'' 1.-The Botany of the Bible, or God Among the Flowers" "The Chronology of the Bi- ble, or God Among the Centuries" 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 I want to induce you to look for the finger of God in your personal affairs.
 PROvIDENTIAL GESTURES.
 To most of us gesticulation is natural. If a stranger accost you on the street oEy fpo fo y,1 io as natural as to breathe for you to level your fore6nger this way or that. Not one out of 8 thousand of you would stand with your hands by your side and make no motion with your finger. What ever you may say with your lips is en- phasized and re-enforced and translated by your finger. Now God in the dear old Book says to us innumerable things by the way of direction. He plainly tells us the way to go But in every exigency of our life, if we will only look, we will find providential gesture and provi- dential pointing, so that we may conf dently say, "This is the finger of COL" Two or three times in my life, when perplexed on questions of duY after earnest prayer, have cast lots as to what should do In olden times the Lords people cast lots. The land of Canaan was divided by lot The cities were divided among the priests and Levites by lot Matthias was chosen to the apostleship by lot. Now casting lots is about the most solemn thing you can do. It should never be done, except with solemnity like that of the last judgment. It is direct appeal to the Almighty. If after earnest prayer you do not seem to get the divine direction, l think you might without sin write upon one slip of paper ''Yes," and upon another "No," or some other decisive words appropriate to, the case, and then, obliterating from your mind the identity of the slips of paper, draw the decision and act upon it. In that case I think you have 8 right to take that indication as the finger of God. But do not do devoutness that leaves absolutely all with God.
 For much that concerns us we have no responsibility, and we need not make appeal to the Lord for direction. We are not responsible for most of our sur roundings. We are not responsible for the country of our birth, nor for whether we are Americans, or Norwegians, or Scotchmen, or Irishmen or English men. We are not responsible for the age in which we live. We are not re- sponsible for Nour temperament, be it nervous or phlegmatic, bilious or san- guine. We are not responsible for our features, be they homely or beautiful. We are not responsible for the height o1 smallness of our stature. We are not responsible for the fact that we are men, tally dull or brilliant. For the most of our environments we have no more re-