State Thanksgiving During the Rebellion

24 THANKSGIVING SERMON. land or sea, in heaven or hell—Him, the all- powerful God, the Lord of Hosts, who holds creation in his hands, before whom the flower of Lebanon fades away, and the beauty of Bashan and Carmel languish, and at whose command the sun and the moon stand still, that kings and heroes may be broken in pieces as a potter’s vessel—Him from whom and to whom are all things, who holdeth the waters in the hollow of his hand, and turneth the heart of kings as the rivers of water are turned. In such a one may we glory, not only for these attributes of greatness, but, more than all, for the moral properties of his nature. “I,” says he, “ am the Lord which exercise loving- kindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth.” His greatness fills our minds with reverence and awe; his loving-kindness attracts our love and confidence; it charms us; we glory in it; it is emphatically the glory of his nature. There would be no beauty, no loveliness in his character, were there no kind and benevolent affections. These are his adornment; without them, he would be but “ a consuming fire.” And these, marvelous to be revealed to such a sinning and abject world

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