No. 62. 
 GOD'S PROVIDENCE A SOURCE OF 
 COMFORT AND COURAGE TO CHRIS- 
 TIANS. 
 
 There are few persons who deny, in terms, the 
 Providential government of God. But many adopt 
 theories which are, in truth, a practical denial of it. 
 
 I, Some contend that God governs the world ex- 
 clusively by general hues. That, in creation, he 
 imparted to the various forces, physical and moral, 
 certain qualities which continue unchanged and un- 
 changeable, and by their interaction produce the 
 entire series of events. 
 
 Whatever glory this theory may be supposed to 
 reflect upon the Creator, it is utterly inconsistent 
 with the idea of Providence. It represents God as 
 flinging the Universe from his creative hand, to work 
 out its destiny unguarded and xmchecked. It is, in 
 fact, but a disguised form of the doctrine of fate. 
 Every event is the result of necessity. As the watch 
 marks the hour, or the vane veers to the wind, be- 
 cause they are formed to do these things, so man and 
 all other -beings only accomplish their predestined 
 and necessary ends. 
 
 II. Others advocate a complex theory. As to 
 ordinaiy individuals and common events, their exist- 
 ence and end result from fixed laws — the laws of 
 nature-«-but God interposes to raise up distinguished 
 
characters, and to bring to pass great events. His 
 Providence, they say, resembles a map upon which 
 are marked the mountains and large rivers, the towns 
 and cities; while the hills and gently undulating 
 vallies, the smaller streams, little villages and the 
 habitations of the people are unnoticed. National 
 calamities God orders and controls, great men for 
 important crises he raises up and guides. . But there 
 is no eye ever watching over the multitude, no hand 
 providing for their wants, administering to their hap- 
 piness and soothing their sorrows. God may enter, 
 the nalace of the prince, but he passes, unheeding, 
 the novel of the peasant. 
 
 It needs but little reflection to perceive the ab- 
 surdity of this theory. Great events are but the 
 aggregate result of innumerable trivial causes. Dis- 
 tinguished characters spring from a long line' of un- 
 noted ancestry. The revolution in which our fathers 
 battled with Great Britain for their birthright of 
 freedom, and which gave existence to a nstion late so 
 prosperous and happy, biit now dismembered and 
 groaning under wrong and oppression, even as the pen 
 of history traces its origin, sprang from no one 
 mighty iniquity, but from a long continued series of 
 comparatively slight grievances. If* Washington 
 were the Chief of a special providence, to what 
 shall we ascribe the soldiers who fought his battles ? 
 Could he have achieved his success without them ? 
 
 III. It is alike the doctrine of reason, and of 
 God's word, that God governs the world. He " hath 
 prepared hi^ throne in the heavens, and his kingdom 
 ruleth over all." By general laws, and by direct 
 
interpositions, he works out his purposes. "HedoeA 
 his pleasure in the armies above and in the earth 
 
 ^'present in detail the proofs of .this, ^$>^J 
 attempted. Two passages of Scripture will sut- 
 Sy illustrate tie teaching of the sacred volume^ 
 T In the prayer which Jesus taught his disciples. 
 occurs this petition, "Give us day by day our -d«lj ■ 
 bread " Here then, the provident care of God is 
 Lokcd for the supply of one of the most — and 
 constantly recurring wants. . The. P^ B «PP°?" 
 God to control all the agencies which enter into he 
 production and distribution of food This prayer is 
 I be uttered by the thousands of christian^ n ail 
 times and among all nations. Who can fail to see, 
 £ the Hght of this simple and sublime direction, that 
 Jesus regarded the providence of God as at once 
 snecial and universal ? . . 
 
 1 2 Those accustomed to read the Bible anticipate, 
 as the second reference, that discourse of our Saviour 
 in which he would fortify his followers against anx- 
 ious cave- " Behold the fowls of the air ; for they 
 sow not, neither do they reap nor gather into barns ; 
 vefryour heavenly Father feedeth them Consider 
 Se allies of the held how they grow ; they toil not 
 netther do they spin: and yet I say «**££* 
 Solomon in all his glory was not agi &? one oi 
 these." " The very hairs of your head are all mug 
 'bered." Could language be more, exp licit ( tou d 
 lustration be more forcible ? God adorns the lily 
 with its beauty.. God .garners the food of the pan- 
 dering sparrow. God number, the hair* of hi* people. 
 
Yes, God's hand is every where, and in every thing. 
 "Thou openest thy hand and satisfieth the desire of 
 every living thing." Anon, God would punish a 
 people for their sins. The heavens become as brass, 
 and the earth as iron. Famine, gaunt and ghastly, 
 stalks forth in her work of desolation. " The pesti- 
 lence that walketh in dlfrkness" sweeps a generation 
 to its doom. War, ensanguined and horriffic, spreads 
 terror and death on every side. 
 
 IV. In order to derive comfort and courage from 
 this great truth, it must be firmly believed. A weak, 
 or a wavering faith may serve us when skies are 
 bright, and favorable winds fill our sails. But when 
 the dark temj)cst howls and rages around us, we need 
 a> firm, unyielding trust. Such a faith the Christian 
 should ever maintain. The Scriptures at once de- 
 mand its exercise, and furnish the amplest ground 
 upon which to rest it. The character of God as 
 therein revealed; express declarations; incidental 
 proof, and narratives illustrative of the divine gov- 
 ernment, all combine to originate and -sustain such a 
 faith. 
 
 And yet the pious, even, in periods of gi*eat dis- 
 tress, come to doubt of God's providential care. 
 David records of himself many such periods of dis- 
 trust and despondency. In the xxxi. Psalm he says 
 " I said in my haste, I am cut off' from before thine 
 eyes." Such despondency is not peculiar to him. 
 Asaph felt it. His experience is recorded in the 
 lxxiii. Ps. As he witnessed the oppressions of the 
 good, and the prosperity of the wicked, and writhed 
 under personal suffering, he exclaimed, ■■" Verily I 
 
have cleansed my heart in vain and washed my hands 
 in innocency." But when he drew near to God in 
 his sanctuary, his doubts were removed, his complaints 
 hushed, and with adoring gratitude he acknowledged 
 the continued care of his heavenly Protector. "Whom 
 have I in heaven but thee ? and there is none upon 
 earth that I desire besides thee. My flesh and my 
 heart faileth, but God is the strength of my Iteart 
 and my portion forever." Thus, too, David soon re- 
 covered his confidence and felt strong and joyful in 
 God. " I trusted in thee, Lord : I said thou art 
 my- God. My times are in thy hand." My times of 
 suffering and deliverance, of sorrow and of joy — all 
 my times are in thy hand. Nothing can befall me 
 but by thy appointment, or permission. Here I rest 
 confident and secure. 
 
 V. To our comfort and encouragement it is also 
 necessary to acquiesce, heartily, in God's providence. 
 
 One may feel that God reigns, and that it is useless 
 to contend with him, while yet the heart shall rebel 
 against his government whenever it crosses its own 
 purposes, or mars its happiness. To man, with such 
 a spirit of sullen submission, there is, there can be 
 nothing but apprehension and misery. Like the serf 
 of an Eastern despot, he trembles though he dare not 
 resist, he shudders though he dare not complain. 
 
 Several considerations may be mentioned as con- 
 curring to produce. a feeling of joyful acquiescence 
 in the providence of God. 
 
 1. God has a right to reign. 
 
 When we admit the right of government, every 
 correct principle and ingenuous feeling prompts to 
 
submission. He who rebels against. rightful autho 
 lty is a traitor. Resistance to usurpation and tyrant 
 _is a virtue, but to resist rightful authority is amor, 
 the greatest crimes. Whenever the heart recoo-nizt 
 God s absolute right of government, nothing b 
 depravity can lead to resistance or complaint, • 
 
 God made all things, and he has the right to gover 
 them. & 
 
 2. God reigns in Wisdom. 
 
 Human rulers, with the best established authorit 
 and the purest intentions, may err. But God'' 
 government is ordered in perfect wisdom. Ever 
 reflecting man feels that he is incompetent to self 
 protection. The intricate and multiplied machines 
 of events we cannot comprehend. There are forces 
 known and unknown, constantly at work within anc 
 around us, which we can neither control nor with 
 stand.^ " It is not i*n man that walketh. to direct hi? 
 stepn." Who can calculate the issues of an hour '< 
 Who, with prevision and steady hand, can direct his 
 bark over life's changing and billowv ocean to a pre- 
 determined haven ?— Alas ! we are blind and need a 
 guide. We are helpless and need a protector. For 
 these wants the all-wise government of God provides. 
 He seeth the end from the beginning:" - He can 
 make no mistake. He is too wise to err. . 
 3. _ God reigns in Goodness. 
 
 His providence is, generally, kind to all. " He 
 maketh his sun to rise upon the evil and upon the 
 good, and sendeth his rain upon the just and upon 
 the unjust." How vast and" numerous are the bles- 
 sings bestowed upon mankind— life, and health, and 
 
1 W ., ' 
 
 friends civil protection and domestic happiness. 
 WX « His paths drop fatness." Thus God, by his 
 Goodness, is constantly calling men to repentance. 
 True n'any afflictions befall us. The good and he 
 bad suffer. But the severities of God's providential 
 government are rather corrective than retributive. 
 Especially is this the case regarding God s people 
 Thev may not enjoy a greater measure of earthly 
 motpe it, or happiness than others. But their af- 
 nX^ permitted by paternal love to chasten and 
 purify them, are part of the process by which their 
 Father is preparing them for fuller and sweeter com- 
 munion with' himself in this world, and for heaven at 
 th e end "All things work together for good to them 
 that love God, to them-that are the called according 
 to his purpose." When the pious man can realize 
 these truths he joyfully acknowledges God's provi- 
 dence At times mists may gather and obscure his 
 vision but he has only to recall the « exceeding great 
 anTprecious promises" of the -Holy One-to remem- 
 ber how, through shadows dark as midnight he ed 
 old Jacob until, with tears of joy, he fell upon the 
 neck of beloved Joseph and exclaimed « I thought 
 not to see thy face, but God hath shewed me by seed 
 also " to reflect upon the mercies of God to inmselt, 
 and'soon faith will re-assert its power and exclaim, 
 "The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble, 
 and knoweth them that trust in him." _ 
 
 VI Such a firm, acquiescing faith in bodsfio- 
 vidence prompts to earnest, believing prayer David 
 s-iid "But I trusted in thee, O Lord ; I said, Thou 
 art my God. My times are in thy hand. 
 
PROVIDENCE OF GOP. 
 
 1 God moves in a mysterious way, 
 
 His wonders to perform : 
 He plants his footsteps in the sea, 
 And rides upon the storm. 
 
 2 Deep in unfathomable mines 
 
 Of never-failing skill, 
 lie treasures up his bright designs, 
 And works his sovereign will. 
 
 3 Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take, • 
 
 The clouds yj3 so much dread 
 Are big with mercy, and shall break 
 In blessings on your head. 
 
 4 Judge not the Lord by feeble sense 
 
 But trust him for his grace, 
 Behind a frowning Providence 
 He hidesa smiling face. 
 
 5 His purposes will ripen fast, 
 
 Unfolding every hour : 
 The bud may have a bitter taste, 
 But sweet will be the flower* 
 
 6 Blind unbelief is sure to err, 
 
 And scan his work in vain ; 
 God is his own interpreter, 
 And he will make it plain. 
 
 [Causer,