“&\)C .Sljirlbs of tijr Eartij belong unto ffiob.” AN ELECTION SERMON DELIVERED BEFORE HIS EXCELLENCY JOHN D. LONG, GOVERNOR; HIS HONOR BYRON WESTON, LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR; THE HONORABLE COUNCIL, AND THE LEGISLATURE OF MASSACHUSETTS, In King's Chapel, Boston, January 4, 1882. BY JOSEPH F. LOVERING, MINISTER OF THE OLD SOUTH CHURCH, WORCESTER, MASS. BOSTON : JSant, gi&erg, Sc Co., Printers to tfje Commontoealtf), 117 Franklin Street. 1882. Commonimaltl] of fllassaclmsctts. House op Representatives, Feb. 1, 1882. Ordered, That a committee of three be appointed to present the thanks of the House to the Rev. Joseph F. Lovering, for the interest- ing and instractive discourse preached before the executive and legislative branches of the State Government on the 4th of January last, and to request a copy of the same for publication. GEO. A. HARDEN, Clerk (Eommontoealtfj of fHassadjusctts. House of Representatives, Boston, Jan. 13, 1882. Reverend and dear Sir, The undersigned have been appointed a committee in behalf of the House of Representatives, to return to you the thanks of the House for the instructive, patriotic, and valuable discourse delivered by you in King’s Chapel, on the 4th inst., before the executive and legislative branches of the State Government, and to ask a copy of the same for publication. Truly “ the shields of the earth belong unto God.” Very respectfully, A. R. MARSHALL. JOHN McFARLEY. O. A. ROBERTS. To the Rev. J. F. Loveking, Worcester, Mass. To A. R. Marshall, John McFarley, O. A. Roberts, Committee of the House of Representatives. Gentlemen, —l am glad to acknowledge the receipt of your letter, informing me of the generous approval of the House of Representatives, expressed by its vote of thanks, of the sermon I had the honor to deliver on the 4th inst. in King’s Chapel. In compliance with the request of the House, I send you, with this, a copy of my sermon for publication. I am, with great respect, Very truly yours, J. F. LOVERING. Worcester, Mass., Jan. 16, 1882. SERMON. “The princes of the people ake gathered together, . for the SHIELDS OF THE EARTH BELONG UNTO GOD.”— Ps. xlvii. 9. God witnesses to himself in nature and humanity. The course of nature and the history of mankind give an immediate and supreme confession of God. When Coleridge, the English philosopher and poet, stood in the vale of Chamouni, and saw the sunrise glorify the majestic summit of Mont Blanc, he sang a hymn. Those who read it, and picture to themselves the august scene, who look up to the bald and awful head of that dread and silent mount; who trace out the features scarred by avalanche and glacier; who hear the organ tones of the Arve and Arveiron ; who feel the gloom that folds itself about it like a robe where the shadows of the night still linger ; who can see above the forehead the mountain the fading of o glimmer of a star, fading as the golden light of the morning comes forth from the gateways of the east, — 8 Election Sermon. they can enter into the reverent and solemn spirit of the poet, and can understand, with him, the august lesson of the hour. He sees all, and questions questions the troops of stars, “ the five wild torrents fiercely glad,” the icy caverns and the jagged rocks; and then, turning to the glaciers, the ice-falls sloping adown enormous ravines, he exclaims, — “Motionless torrents! silent cataracts! Who made you glorious as the gates of heaven Beneath the keen full moon ? Who bade the sun Clothe you with rainbows? Who, with living flowers Of loveliest blue, spread garlands at your feet? God ! let the torrents, like a shout of nations, Answer! and let the ice-plains echo God ! God ! sing, ye meadow-streams, with gladsome voice! Ye pine groves, with your soft and soul-like sounds! And they too have a voice, yon piles of snow, And in their perilous fall shall thunder God.” In this way the impressive “ Hymn before Sunrise, in the Yale of Chamouni,” records the confession nature everywhere and always makes. We cannot spell out even the alphabet of creation without reading some declaration of the power, the beneficence, the wisdom, and the majesty of God. Such conclusion has added emphasis when we turn to study the history of man- kind. God rules and reigns. lie determines the des- Election Sermon. 9 tinies of humanity. He judges the life of nations. Before him every people must bow. By him alone can any government endure. The history of the world is a revelation ot God’s dealings with mankind. This is no denial of human freedom and responsibility. 1 The state, however it may be named, whether it be an empire or a canton, —is built by its citizens. Its civilization is the average of its life. Its laws are the average of its conscience. Its education is the average of its intelligence and culture. Its pros- perity is the average of its thrift, energy, foresight, endurance, and enthusiasm. Its character is just what all these sum up, with all else that may be incorpo- rated in its existence. Nevertheless, it is true that God utters himself in human civilization. God, of his sovereign will, ordains the state. 2 Involved as the terms of the equation of life may be, and perplexed as the problem of human achievement and advancement may be, it is impossible to eliminate the divine. With broad and generous patience God spares not his blessing. 1 “ slan is the free and intelligent artificer of a work which is not his own.” “By the hand of man, the designs of Providence are wrought out in the government of the world.” Guizot’s History of Civilization, vol. i. p. 230. 2 “ The nation has a divine foundation, and has for its end the fulfil- ment of the divine end in history.”—Mui.fokd’S Nation, chap. iv. 10 Election Sermon. With searching wisdom he detects and discloses in- sincerity and sin. His finger touches and reveals the obscure weakness. His strength supports and encour- ages all honest work. We may render him service ; He suffers in Christ for us: and only as the state is both robust in manhood and devout in obedient con- secration, can it wear the seal of Heaven’s benediction. Max Muller says 1 that an “ ethnos,” or nation, is not the development of a family merely, or the possession of a common language merely, but the possession of one religious faith. It was the unity of worship which bound the tribes of the Greeks into the great Hellenic nation, and gave the Jews the name of “ the people of God.” This recognition of God in national exist- ence cannot be regarded as a religious or intellectual prejudice ; there is the clearest warrant that it has been the source and motive of national life. 2 The psalm in which our text occurs witnesses to it. It is a song of triumph. It thrills with the joy of the people 1 See Science of Beligion, third lecture. 2 Plutarch. Against Colotes, 31: “In the constitution of laws and poli- cies, the first and most important article is a belief and persuasion of the gods.” Again, in the same section: “I am of the opinion that a city might sooner be built without any ground to fix it on, than a common- wealth be constituted without religion or faith in the gods.” Hegel, Phi- losophy of History, to the same effect, declares, “The idea of God consti- tutes the general foundation of a people.” Election Sermon. 11 because God had blessed them with success. Judah had been victorious. The Moabites, the Ammonites, and t; a great multitude from beyond tire sea,” had come in battle against them. The people were panic- stricken. Jehoshaphat, their king, was dismayed. lie proclaimed a fast, gathered the people in the house of the Lord, and prayed, 1 “ O Lord God of our fathers, art not thou God in heaven 1 and rulest not thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen X and in thine hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to ? withstand thee . O our God, we have no might against this great company that cometh against us ; neither know we what to do : but our eyes are upon thee.” God heard the cry of his people. The enemy were overwhelmed. “ A whirlwind of confusion sent them flying like stubble before the storm back to their native haunts.” 2 So complete was their defeat that “ every man of Judah and Jerusalem, and Jehoshaphat at their head, returned to Jerusalem with joy." Was it not fitting that a psalm should be sung X The fate of a nation is a revelation of divine judgment. No nation is born unless God sows the seed of its life. No nation continues without announcing by its con- 1 2 Chron. xx. 6, 12. 2 Stanley, History of the Jewish Church, vol. ii. p. 430. 12 Election Sermon. tinnance the commandment of God. And when a nation comes to ruin, when the broken walls of its palaces are the sad monuments over its sepulchre, the inscription upon its tombstone is the verdict of God upon its life. God does not forget. His righteousness has sleepless vigilance. Beneath the throne on which wrong with sceptred authority exults, the fires of the volcano are kindled. Belshazzar calls for the golden vessels from the temple of the house of God; and his princes and wives and concubines drink from them, and praise the gods of gold and silver, and of brass and of iron and of wood and of stone : but in the same hour come forth the fingers of a man’s hand, and write the sentence which makes the king’s counte- nance change and his knees smite one against the other.