Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1900-09-17
THE GALVESTON HURRICANE
THE SUBJECT OF A TIMELY SER
MON BY THE REV. DAVID A.
CUNNINGHAM.
MYSTERIES OF PROVIDENCE
Illustrated in the Recent Cyclone
in Texas-The Great General Laws
That Govern the WOrld-The Les
sons to be Taught.


sons to be Taught.
Yesterday morning in the First Prespy-
erian church the Rev. David A. Cunning
Nam preached very timely sermon on
he Galveston hurricane. The sermon fol-
pws
Psalm So: 6--"Thy judgments are great
leep.''
hthomed by every one who demands 10
nee a why for every wherefore. The Lord
s not to be questioned by us. as to why
his. and why that. He has reasons pul
He does not choose to submit them to
our foolish consideration. Far and wide'
terrible and irresistible. like the ocean,
are the providentiaI dispensations OF God
At one time they appear as peacetui as
the unrippled sea of glass; at another toss
ed with tempest and whirlwind, but ever
more most glorious and full of mystery
Who shall discover the springs of the sea?
He who shall do this may hope to COM
prehend the providence, of the Eternai.
Into thy dark unknown, mysterious caves
And secret haunts, unfathomably deep
Beneath all visible retired, none Went .
And came again to tell the wonders there.
Yet as the deep mirrors the sky, so the
mercy of the Lord is to be seen rejected
in all the arrangements of His govern
ment on earth, and over the profound
depth, the covenant rainbow casts its arch
of comfort, for the Lord is faithful in all
that He doeth.
In our text, we have clearly taught
the mysteries of Divine Providence; and
surely we have had a terrible and visible
illustration of this truth in the trench
dous cyclone which a few days ago
brought frightful ruin and fearful loss of
life to Galveston one of our Southern
cities, and the region round about.
do not know that we could do better
his evening that mediate a little upon
Ibis event, with which you are all famil-
lar. Anything that will soften the heart
anything that overcomes our selshfiness
anything that makes US think of others
ind feel for them, is medicinal and for our
rood
There are in this land, and in all lands,
many calamities which come suddenly
lpon the sons of men, concerning which
hey may bitterly lament, How suddenly
ire my tents spoiled, and my curtains in a
Moment This world at it's best Is not
)ur rest. There is nothing settled below
the moon We call this terra firma, but
there is nothing firm upon it; it is tossed
to and fro like troubled sea ever more
Change is perpetually operating. Moth
ing is sure but that which is divine; moth
ing is abiding except that which cometh
down from heaven. All things change as
they pass before us, and perish in the
using. To-day your garden is planted with
blooming flowers, which are loading the
air with perfume. Rejoice not too much
in their sweetness, for within a short time
nothing may remain; the spoiler may tear
them up by the roots, and your garden
may become desolation. There is moth
ing bright, beautiful fair, lovely or de-
yirable beneath the sun which may not be
speedily withered. Even as a vision, are
all these things; they are. and 10, they
are not. Thy judgments are a great
deep"
l. Why there should be suffering and
sorrow in the world, has been, you know,
question pressing upon humanity in all
ages. If God be omnipotent, why? If God
be benevolent, why? If there be God at
all, why? Read the book of Job, the old
est in the Bible, and you find a constant
argument upon the mysterious, deep and
dark Judgments, and how to reconcile
them with just conceptions of Deity and
of Providence. Into the question of moral
evil, the existence of sin, we will not 60;
but it may be remarked that much physi-
cal. evil is the diracf iSsiIa of sin There
are many forms of suffering in the world
that would not be here but for sin; yet
there are other cases like the present, that
seem to have no relation TO moral evil,
being separated entirely from the will of
any man. and are what we call accident
or the "visitations of God" The anti
supernaturalist may be found Directing to
our Bible, because ii contains so much
that is mysterious; but we would say TO
him, There is as much that is mysterious
in your Bible, the Book of Nature, as
there is in ours" Suppose him TO be one
who believes in personal God, personal
governor of the world, and he says, Il
cannot receive your Bible because 1 read
in that book. such extraordinary things,
about what God has done and said, that
/ am shocked My dear friend, have you
read your own Bible? Do you meet with
no such mysteries there? Can you I'M
derstand all the pages and passages in it?
Are there no terrible facts occurring on
the surface of this earth? Is everything
that happens in harmony with your con-
ception of a benevolent governor? Would
you allow that gallant vessel to be dashed
to pieces on those rocks? Would you have
permitted that earthquake or cyclone to
B2ve desolated so many homes and to
have hurried into eternity so many prec-
ious lives? Your God did not prevent it;
the God of your book, the only book you
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS world. 1t is not fine
and beautiful page always. You may talk
about fruits and flowers, and admire
them, but do not shut your eyes to the
great and terrible facts that confront
you. Do you pretend that your Bible, the
Pook of Nature, will explain these things?
l do not tell you that / have got a Bible
Bible to teach me a great deal more, and
something higher; and It may be that
the Bible comes to me with parallel and
analogous things in it just that I may
understand and know that it comes from
the same God-that the Creator of the
world is the speaker in the Book; and
that it is for me to listen and to obtain
the higher revelation. And perhaps.