The Hawaiian gazette., 1900-02-06
OUR SATURDAY SERMON.

peoples who pray Tor victory IN iaith
; that prayer L. answered and invoke the
snmc God with an earnest protest Of
the roctltudo III their Intent. The Eng
iish nation has been, since the South
African war took its bad turn, in a
supplicatory religious attitude and Is
now on the point OF asking the Queen
to proclaim day Of national humilia-
ton, fasting and prayer. On the other
hand those modern Coyenanters, the
Beers, are always appealing to the
throne of grace and in the very midst
of battles hold such meetings for pray
er and praise as Cromwell's Ironsides
were wont to do. Here we have what
might be called, in diplomatic phrase,
theological impasse. ASK and we
shall received" Both of the war-worn
combatants are asking. Both, as
Christian nations, have an especial
right to ask Yet both cannot hope
for the answer they seek Both can
not have victory. One must succeed
and the other fail In the final analy-
sis what is puzzled humanity to do
accept the cynical apOthegm of Ma
poleon that God is always on the side
that these questions in the governance
of the world are insoluble, and timid
ly leave them alone?
The problem of Gods ala N war, as
thus presented, is one that interests
too many millions of people to be left
in the background of religious mys-
terry. Always since Christianity be-
came a vital force, it has been theme
of speculation and it always will be.
The theologians have written libraries
to show that God answers prayer but
in His own way; and that what seems
| to be denial of favor is oItentimes
the supremest blessing. The children
of those who prayed for triumph at
went down in defeat would not now
wish to have had those battles turn out
differently. They realize that what
| happened was for the best good of the
nation. 1t is the same way with the
descendants of the prayerful ooutnern-
ers, who, like Stonewal Jackson, in
voked Gods favor on the cause of the
Confederacy. They, too, begin to see
that God answered their fathers mer-
cifully; for II the Confederate arms had
won and new nation had been found
ed on the principle of disunion, II
would, in subsequent days of internal
difference, have Jared to pieces. Tri-
umph would have ended in misery and
ruin; in failure was the safety of the
stricken State. If we take this view
OF the question, the problem of the
efficacy of prayers addressed to the God
of Battles becomes clearer. though it
does not obviously meet the promise
upon which the supplicant for aid and
favor relies ASK and We shall re-
ceive," is very explicit text which
admits of few mental or spiritual res
ervations.
Perhaps in wiser theology it may be
resolved that Providence has estab-
lished certain principles for the good
of man and that only they who labor
or battle for the maintenance of those
principles need pray in the hope of be-
ing answered. A delegation of clergy
men went to Lincoln in the dark days
of the Civil War and one of them said:
Il hope God Is on our side" The SOL
emn and pregnant answer was: Il
hope we are on Gods side" 1t
Is the prayer of the Just" man
and presumably the just cause
which avails much. There Is no
efficacy in prayers for what is wrong
or vicious. If this view is taken, con-
ticting prayers need raise no question
of metaphysics. They become in the
spiritual court what the pleadings of
litigants become in the temporal court
Both sides appeal with faith; the
Judge Sits the merits OF the claim;
the just man gets the verdict Does it
not appear through all history that con-
fiicting prayers for national well-being
have been answered in this way? What
decision has been handed down which
has not, in the long run, brought the
greatest good to the greatest number?
The Englshman prays for victory
over the Boer; the Boer prays for vie
tory over the Englishman. Both can
not receive the blessing sought, and in
one case 1t would not be blessing but
a curse. God has His own purposes;
and he who prays most in accordance
with them is the one for whom the
mama in the wilderness will fall and
TO whom the ravens, even of the bat
tlefeld, will bring the bread OF life.
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