The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1912-02-09

with God - and
this man called on his soul to witt
upon God.
The psalmist recognized within him.
self something to which many AN
very indiferent-a soul that rela,ed
him to God. and differentiated bin
from the brute creation. Whether
that which he recognized was In ITSELF
immortal or only contained the pos.
sibility OF immortality need not inter.
est us now. but II was another sen.
an alter ego, what some might cali
the subliminal self, and which has ID
those who have lived a life OF pur.
poseful sin, been stiGed, and yet cries
out constantly for recognition, and
nourishment. and ultimate perfection.
II Is not the imbecile who thinks of
his soul, but 1t Is the mar who recog
nizes his true humanity. II YOU please;
as In this case. oftentimes the man d
affairs, OF parts, Of high ambition
And this mar Is frequently quite oil
OF patience with those who profess u
be physicians OF the soul and vi
prescribe little or nothing that benz
fits the soul.
Great statesmen, fl~nanciers, railru
magnates, Inventors, artists, mans
facturers, etc, when they 10 ba
church, want soul feod. something II
which the soul responds. A leading
lawyer recently said with reference b
the message that should be given
from the pulpit: TT should come from
God. and should relate to the innef
life, 1t should be food for the soul"
The call was not to something I'd.
definite: Walt thou only upon God
Here is the recognition Of the cor
relative to the soul, the spiritual God.
This recognition was not Of an alb
stract idea, but of a personality--E
gave no opportunity for quibbling and
doubling. There was no suggestion n
any little IT" This man OF affairs
and great parts was not the only bis.
toricai character who has thus tfossSs
and acted. Some men may be like
Job and ask where they may lind
God. but many others have had direct.
and constant intercourse with the
spiritual God. they have seen him who
is invisible.
Can this not be said of our three
martyr presidents7 or Gladstone. Of
Bismarck, OF William Of Germany, u
Justice Harlanf And as we glance
back over the past do we not have
Chinese Gordon, stonewall jackson,
Oliver Cromwell, Gustavus Adolphus,
Savonarola, Paul. David, Moses. ABR.
ham and a host of others7 Granting
that these men waited on God. for ~
they all professed. their achievements
are not an enigma
What Is 1t to wait on God? rs 1t not
keeping silence before him? LET all
the earth keep silence before him
And such silence before God is an Of
sential element Of prayer. One has
recently said that prayer is not tho
claiming q hearing. It is giving a hear
ing; 1t 10 not speaking to God. 1t q
listening to God. 1t ia true that
Whatever is best for me. my God will
bring to me,
II ] do only wait, and trust, and pray,
What'er seems lark to me. shall end In
light for me:
IT'S but the cleaning. which fore-runs
the day"
This waiting before God, too, sug
gests a readiness to respond to Tho
call of God MS the old retainers would
respond to the call OF their iiege
lords. And was there aver a period
OF the history Of the race when tho
likelihood Of a call was as great7 The
world is open to men spirlt-flled to 50
to the thousand million human beings
who as yet do not know the trrs
God.
Another suggestion is that OF tarryt
ing. How impatient we arel A msn
must make his first millions in ten
years Of business. Ten more millions
must be made In the next Ave years
Who now tolls for the slow increase
on an investment, except the man
who lacks the speed Of action OF 10
days tradingG And this il largely
true Of christian work--we will not
work to the limit and be patient a.
long as the fruits do not fall into our
laps In great quantities. And how
impatient we are in trial! We will
not wait until God gets through bis
process Of realizing for us our best
until the purifying fire has burned
away our dross. And this waiting %
God would not be honoring to him 40
less our waiting was with confident
expectation. The soul OF David would
never have received a blessing II be
had waited before God INDUCING Y
perhaps.
And this naturally brings us to tho
last thought Of the textile argu'
ment employed. Why did David call
on his soul to walt on God? Because
his expectation was from him. That
does not simply mean that David was
Just then holding out his hands ~
receive an anticipated blessing. but
that in his past experience his expecs
tation had always been realized. ~
had proved God. And this expectas
ton had not always been with refer
ence to things religious OF spiritual
Nowadays men see to be willing ~
soncede, In a way. that God Is tnsl
source Of spiritual blessings, but rule
him out OF the balance Of their Lives