Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1909-11-05
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14 |PB7iT3
THE POWER OF A PRESENCE.
By Rev. Cornelius Woelfkin'

me, PSalm XVI: 3.
There is a timeless element in this
little Hebrew poem. We may pass
by the questions of authorship, date,
historic setting and local coloring.
They have a passing interest The
homiletic value lies in the permanent
principle. Some soul in that long ago
walked the highway of life's expert
ence and left this song for our guild
ance and inspiration. Since his day,
living saint and dying martyr, crown
ed monarch and homeless wanderer,
have caught the note and been COM
forted in strength. Twice in the BOOK
Of Acts this psalm is quoted in refer
ence to Jesus Christ. Even His life
felt the pulse beat of this abiding ele-
ment.
The crisis of experience had brought
the Psalmist to this confidence. He
had not come to his high place with
a bound He had passed through the
vanities and tragedies of life. First,
he began as we all do, with the out
ward emphasis of life Pleasures and
possessions had the first attraction.
Then he learned the subtle forces Of
change and decay, and found that he
must shift the emphasis if he would
permanently triumph. Disappoint-
ment, perplexity, signing and tears
had driven him from temporal ambi-
tions to eternal aspirations. Second,
he had noted the tragedies of those
men who, In the pursuit of the lower
passions, had followed other gods; men
whose religion is driving force, har-
messed to their personal desires. The
evil issues Of such policy has had dra-
matte illustration in history. This ex-
perience drove him in upon God. His
soul made it's highest choice in Je-
hovah. God became his dwelling place.
Jehovah was a refuge, his satisfying
portion and his song. He contemplate
ed nothing beyond God. To him God
was all and in all.
It Is ever so in the souls progress.
It is the accent of antithesis that
makes us wise. We need the sharp
contrasts of life. Tribu1ation and
temptation are crucibles in which
Gods good things are converted into
His best things.
Divine immanence was the great
secret which the Psalmist discovered.
When Jacob awoke at Bethel he was
surprised, and said: "The Lord is
In this place, and I knew it not He
had localized God to certain times and
places. This Psalmist saw Him ever
before HMM nature, history, provi-
dence and experience. And that con-
seriousness became the dominant note
of his life
This sense Of the divine presence
becomes a hidden motive in life. We
are constantly broken between sur
prise and disappointment, as our fell
1ow-men rise above or fall below our
expectations. Saul, with all the emo
1uments of royalty, is bitterly disap-
pointing; while David, a hunted fugi-
tive, is splendidly surprising. So, fire.
quently, people whose surroundings
should cradle contentment chill us
with murmuring complaint. And 9th
ers whose circumstances might nurse
a bitterness viii sing us into good
cheer. The motive is hidden from
view.
Every religious hero knows the mo-
tive power of the divine presence.
Faith is the sense of the unseen. This
was the secret of Abraham's greatness.
Lot walked by the shrewdness of the
visible, while Abraham set the Lord
before him. OF Moses it is written:
He endured as seeing Him who is in
visible" This is only a paraphrase on
the text. This same consciousness I'M
derlay the achievements of Joshua,
Samuel, David and the prophets. In
the Book of Daniel it is written: 1.-The
people that do know their God shall
do exploits"
This presence is power. Every
presence is a stimulating and a re-
straining influence. Some PERSONAL
ties stimulate our evil propensfties and
chill the good, while others draw forth
our virtues and check our vices When
the consciousness of the Lords pres
ence is upon us, our better self is de-
veloped and our evil is mortified. Be
fore we can deliberately indulge wrong
we must forget and rid ourselves of
the sense Of Gods presence. And that
void is the very essence Of atheism
Not a man with sincere intellectual
embarrassments concerning God, but
the man who lives and acts as though
there were no God, this man is the
practical atheist who meets condemna-
ton
The issues of this presence are prac-
teal and inspiring.
Such a soul cannot be moved. It
finds no immunity from the tempta-
lions and sorrows of life, but it knows
the secret of strength. When Joseph
was tempted, the Lord was with him,
and His presence made him strong un-
to victory. When Paul was afflicted,
the Lord stood with him and made his