Democratic Northwest and Henry County news. [volume] (Napoleon, O. [Ohio]) 1894-1905, 1897-04-15

transatlantic. TO preserve the peaoeFuI
equipoise which such men are disturbing,
we need divine balancing, for which all
good men on both sides the sea ought TO
be every day praying.
A Mighty Service.
Again, prayer to God for those in au-
thority is our only way of being of any
practical service to them. Our personal
advice would be to them, for the most
part, an impertinence. They have all the
facts as we cannot have them, and they
see the subject in all its bearings, and we
can be of no help to them except through
the supplication that our text advises. In
that way we may bo infinite re-enforce
ment. The mightiest thing you can do for
a man is TO pray for him. If tile old Bible
be true, and f it is not true it has been
the only imposition that ever blessed the
world, turning barbarism into civilization
and tyrannies into republics-I say If the
old Bible be true, GOD answers prayer.
You may get letter, and through forget
fulness or lack of time not answer it, but
God never gets genuine letter that he
does not make reply. Every genuine
prayer is child's letter to his heavenly
Father, and he will answer it, and though
you may get many letters from your child
before you respond, some day you say:
"There! / have received ten letters from
my daughter, and / will answer them all
now and at once, and though not in just
the way that she hopes for, will do it in
the best way, and though she asked me
for sheet of music, will not give it to
| her, for I do not like the music spoken of,
| but will send her deed to house and
| lot, to be hers forever" So God does not
| in all cases answer in the way those who
sent the prayer hoped for, but he in all
cases gives what is asked for OF something
| better. So prayers went up from the north
| and the south at tho time of our civil war,
and they were all answered at Gettysburg.
You cannot make me believe that God an
swered only the northern prayers, for there
were just as devout prayers answered south
of Mason and Dixon's line as north of it,
and God gave what was asked for, or
something as much more valuable as O
house and lot are worth moro than sheet
of music. There is not good and intelli
gent man between the gulf of Mexico and
the st. Lawrence river who does not be-
lievo that God did the best thing possible
1
glorious unity, never to be rent until the
waters of the Ohio and the Savannah, the
Hudson and the Alabama, are licked up
by the long, red tongues of world on fire.
Veal God sometimes answers prayers OH
large scale.
In worse predicament nation never was
than the Israelitish nation on the banks of
the Red sea, the rattling shields and the
clattering hoofs of an overwhelming host
close after them. An army could just as
easily wade through the Atlantic ocean,
from New York to Liverpool, as the Israel
ties could have waded through the Red
sea. You need to sail on its waters to real
ize how big it is. How was the crossing
effected? BY prayer. Exodus xiv, 15:
"And the Lord said unto Moses: Where
fore criest thou unto mep Speak unto the
children Of Israel, that they go forward"
that is, "Stop praying and take the an
swer." And then the waters began to be
agitated and swung this way and that
way, and the ripple became billow, and
the billow climbed other pillows, and now
they rise into walls of sapphire, and in
visible trowels mason them into f1rmness,
and the walls become like mountains, top
ped and turreted and domed with crags
of crystal, and God throws an invisible
chain around the feet of those mountains,
SO that they are obliged to stand still, and
there, right before the Israelitish army, Is
turnpike road, with all tho emerald gates
swung wide open. The passing host did
not even get their feet wet. They passed
dry shod, the bottom of the sea as hard as
the pavement of Pennsylvania avenue, or
l 10 10
Strand. Oh, what God they had! Or
think will change that and say, "What q
God we have!"
What power put It's hands upon astron-
omy in Joshua's time and made the sun
and moon stand still? Joshua K, 12,
"Then spake Joshua unto the Lord. "
Prayer! AS giant will take two or four
great globes and in astounding way swing
them this way or that, or hold two Of them
at arms length, SO the Omnipotent does
as he will with the great orbs Of worlds,
with wheeling consultations and circling
galaxies, swinging easily star around star,
star tossed after star, or sun and moon
held out at arms length, and perfectly
, still, as in answer to Joshua's prayer. To
God the largest world is pebble.
; Righteous Selflshness.
Another reason why we should obey the
Pauline injunction of the text and pray
for all that are in authority is that so very
much Of our own prosperity and happi-
ness are involved in their doings. A selfish
reason, you say. Yes, but righteous
selfshness like that which leads you to
take care of your own health and preserve
your own life. Prosperous government
means prosperous people. Damaged gov
ernment means damaged people. We all
go up together or we all go down together.
When we pray for our rulers, we pray for
ourselves, for our homes, for the easier
gaining of livelihood, for better prospects
for our children, for the hurling of these
hard times so far down the embankment
they can never climb up again. Do not
look at anything that pertains to public
interest as having no relation to yourself.
We are touched by all the events in our
national history, by the signing Of the
compact in the cabin of the Mayfiower, by
the small ship, the Half Moon, sailing up
the Hudson, by the treaty of William
Penn, by the hand that made the "Liberty
bell" sound its first stroke, by Old Iron
: sides plowing the high seas. And if
touched by all the events of past America,
certainly by ell the events Of the present
day. Every prayer you make for our rul
ers, If the prayer be Of the right stamp and
: worth anything, has a rebound Of bene
diction for your own body, mind and soul
Another reason for obedience to my text
is that the prosperity Of this country is
coming, and we want hand in helping or
its coming. At any rate I do. 1t is a mat
ter Of honest satisfaction to soldier, after
some great battle has been fought and some