Kings, priests, judges, whatever men succeed to, or usurp, or are
thrust into power, come immediately under that eternal government which
the God of the nation has established, and the order of which cannot
be violated with impunity. Every ruler who ignores or defies it saps
the national life and prosperity, and brings trouble on his country,
sometimes swiftly, but always surely. There is the perpetual presence
of a King, with whom rulers and people must come to a reckoning in
every national crisis and convulsion, and who is no less present when
the course of affairs is quiet and prosperous. The greatest and wisest
men of the nation are those in whom this faith burns most strongly.
Elijah’s solemn opening, “As the Lord liveth, before whom I stand;”
David’s pleading, “Whither shall I go from thy Spirit, or whither shall
I flee from thy presence?”—his confession that in heaven or hell,
or the uttermost parts of the sea, “there also shall thy hand lead,
and thy right hand shall guide me”—are only well-known instances of
a universal consciousness which never wholly leaves men or nations,
however much they may struggle to get rid of it.