Los Angeles herald., 1907-04-22
DEITY DID NOT
DESIGN POVERTY
PREACHER says THERE IS
ENOUGH FOR ALL
Man Himself ls Responsible for PriVa-
tlon and Misery, According TO
the Ideas Of Rev. c.
c. Pierce

Rev. c. c. Pierce of the Memorial
Baptist church preached yesterday on
the Sure Foundation" taking for his
text the first verse of the 2Sd psalm.
THE Lord Is my shepherd, shall not
want" He said In part:
Through what detailed ethical and
spiritual evolution 1t came about we
cannot tell precisely, but certain 1t Is
that for many centuries the best part
of the religious world has had to go
back to the conceptions OF the he
brews for their highest and most un-
alterable conception of the Creator.
From being one of many gods to being
the greatest and the strongest, and
finally the only God, were natural
steps. Perhaps the greatest step of
all was when In the soul of some un-
known devotee of the past was born
the thought that he was a good God,
benefited, loving, holy, merciful and
just, caring for his creatures and ten
derly ministering to their good.
This thought David expresses in the
words of our text, which open the Won
derful 23d psalm. To those who see
In every manifestation of power the
evidences of selfish or malevolent
Deity, this thought that God was the
shepherd of his sheep would come as
a marvellous and satisfying revelation,
and no figure ever used to represent
the unrepresentable God is more apt
and full of meaning.
"a fitting conception of God is most
necessary. Wrong ideas of God have
so often produced degradation and ruin.
The conception of the shepherding
God, representing the highest devo-
tional thought of his people, is one that
has a tendency to produce comfort,
peace, hope and faith, all of which
play a very important part in making
man what he ought to be. 1t is well
to believe that the God of the universe
desires the comfort and well-being of
man.
Man the Highest Object
while it is reasonable for us to sup
pose that he is responsible for all
this creation about us, seen and un-
seen, it is especially uplifting and in
spring to believe that man is the high
est object of his solicitude and care.
While still engaged in world build
ing as intently as ever, the greatest
work which he is carrying on is to pro-
duce a respectable race of men and
women. And it is well for us to reflect
that God is the shepherd of the race
especially rather than of the indtVid-
ual.
IF we can trace Gods love and care
in the case of the individual, as he GER
tainly can who will, much more so
may we find the same thing when it
comes to the consideration of man as
social whole. The leadership of our
infinite Creator when it comes to man
is seen today, If 1t is seen at all. in
what he is doing for the race rather
than what he is doing for the individ-
ual. Man as an individual apparently
reached perfection long centuries ago.
If there has been any decided ad-
vancement in the past 5000 years it is
difficult to tell where 1t lies.
Moses was individually as great a
man as Bismarck, probably greater.
Isaiah was easily the match for any
modern statesman. Whether man ap-
peared upon the earth as the result of
a divine command, instantaneously, as
some hold, or was the flower of a long
evolutionary process, orthodox theolo-
gian and advanced scientist alike
agree that man as an individual came
to his highest estate, his finished con-
dition, long ago. But man as a race
has not attained his majority. He is
still in his childhood. What man is to
be by and by we do not know, for
what he is to be is as yet dimly limited
at, but better things are coming by
and by, and they are coming because
a shepherding God is leading his flock.
In this work we are to assist. We are
to be laborers, together with God, in
this greatest and divinest achieve
ment. If many times we would stop
our spectacular performances which
we call worship of God and turn our
attention to the service Of man, we
should be a great deal more pleasing
to God, and oftimes much more in
line with his purposes. When in France
all sorts of men were erecting churches
in honor of this or that saint Voltare,
the supposed infidel, built one to the
honor of God. We have reached the
time when we ought to erect more
churches, If not to the glory of man,
at least for the service of man.
Enough for All
This text teaches us that God will
care for his race. God has given
enough for all. He never designed
poverty and hunger and want. When
the race finally follows it's shepherd
the crime and degradation of poverty
will forever disappear. When God
leads there will be no longer warfare
and bloodshed. The best material
blessings today are enjoyed by those
who most truly follow him.
with God leading there is no long
er any uncertainty either as to life it.
self or as to the outcome of life. Life
for the individual seems to be a some
what precarious thing, accident or dis
ease may carry it off, but for the race
that keeps the divine law of God,
which is the divine law of nature, there
is no uncertainty. Take a million men
at almost any age and the expert
actuary can tell you almost to a day
just how long they have to live from
any given age.
ITO know the best things, to have
the best things, to enjoy life at it's
fullest, to Danish that which mars and
destroys and perplexes life, to pass
forever out of the hurry and worry
and uncertainty and problems and
pains and mistakes, and terrors of life,
to rest beside the clear streams of
peace and lie down in the green pas
lures of plenty, we must be ready to
follow the shepherd. These things never
have come in any other way, and
they never will. And what this weary