THERE cannot be the slightest doubt that there are many grounds both for thanksgiving and humiliation at the present time. The lamentable thing, however, is that, while most people are willing to join in exercises of thanksgiving (at least, in a superficial sense and way), there are comparatively few who are prepared for exercises of self-humiliation. In view of the iniquity that abounds, the latter exercises are those most needed, but they are also, we regret, those least desired. Such is the spiritual blindness that has overtaken us as a generation that we see no necessity for confession of sin or repentance, and the pride of the natural heart resents the very thought of such exercises. Even some men, who profess to be ministers of the Gospel, have scouted the idea of a day of national humiliation and prayer: they see no reason for self-humiliation. Such blind leaders of the blind are the destroyers of our country. It is good, however, to observe that the general tone on the subject has been better of late, and that a widely representative appeal was made to the Government to take steps for the appointment of a day of national humiliation and prayer. All the more regrettable it is that the Government refused to take any steps in the matter, and referred it back to the Churches to hold such services as they thought fit on a particular day. This refusal is a very perilous business, and may bring down retributive strokes upon us. There is a very solemn word in the prophecy of Isaiah which should awaken alarm in our political leaders. It is as follows:—”For the nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish; yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted” (Isaiah lx. 12). It is our intention in the present article to touch upon several grounds for national thanksgiving and humiliation, grounds which emerge at the present moment. Though humiliation is the pressing necessity, yet we must not overlook the fact that there are decided reasons for gratitude to the Most High.
I.—Let us observe some of these grounds for Thanksgiving.
-
The first of these we shall mention is that the international cause in whose behalf Britain is engaged is a just one. We stand for righteousness and truth in the present War. It is possible it might have been otherwise. Our moral fibre as a nation is weakening. We ought to regard it therefore as a great mercy that our country is not plunged into a positively unjust struggle, but that our sons in Army and Navy are fighting for truth and justice and mercy against a cruel foe that represents materialism, Jesuitism, and barbarism. This is the principal consolation of serious-minded parents and friends at home, to which may be added the belief that the Most High intends to make this War the means of overthrowing mighty strongholds of corruption and cruelty, and of advancing Christ’s kingdom of righteousness and peace to the ends of the earth.
-
It appears to us that there is ground for thanksgiving to God that such a vast number of young men among all ranks and classes of society, at home and abroad, have voluntarily offered their services and their lives in defence of this country and the principles at stake. Let it not be forgotten that they are the human agents that stand between these islands and the most awful carnage and devastation imaginable. Better it is also, a thousand times, to have our present limited monarchy, with its attendant institutions, than to be under the heel of German absolutism and militarism. There is much reason to thank the Most High for the vast army now in the field and in the course of preparation, as well as for the ample supply of munitions being provided for our defence by workers at home. “All things are of God.”
-
A third ground for thanksgiving is the measure of success that has attended the valiant efforts of our countrymen and their allies of France and Russia. We do not say that the success is as great as it might have been. If we had been putting more confidence in the Lord of Hosts and less in our own skill and strength and courage, although actively using all, our success would have been much greater. At the same time, when we consider the great and long-continued preparations of our enemies, the superior numbers of their armies and equipment, with their undoubted skill in the use of weapons, we cannot but regard it as a matter of much thanksgiving to God that they were checked at the beginning of their invasion by the weak Belgians, and by the small British army which they looked upon with contempt. The fact that such powerful foes were “held up” on the Western front by such small armies has been little short of a miracle. The hand of God is not only to be seen in the well-known falling back of the Germans at Mons during the early stage of the War, but in the manner in which they have been checked and thwarted ever since all along the line. The divine goodness is also to be observed in the success granted our Navy. At the present moment the Allies on the West, amid heavy fighting, are gaining much of the enemy’s ground. The success of the Russians on the East is also a notable feature. Let us hope that the Lord, in His great mercy, will continue the success for His own name’s sake, and lead forth judgment unto victory. Our enemies themselves will benefit, in a moral and spiritual sense, in the long run. “I will not trust in my bow, neither shall my sword save me. . . In God we boast all the day long, and praise thy name for ever” (Ps. xlv. 6, 8).
II.—Let us now notice some of the grounds for Humiliation.
These may be described as threefold—natural, moral, and religious.
1. Natural Grounds.
What are these? They are such as have relation to the general conduct and incidents of the War. Is it not recognised on all hands that grave blunders have been committed, the remembrance of which should make us very humble? The Dardanelles, Gallipoli, and Mesopotamia are suggestive names in this connection. Serious mistakes have also been made on a smaller scale among our forces elsewhere, to the great loss of many brave and precious lives. The death of Lord Kitchener, the Secretary for War, in such tragic circumstances at sea, was also a great loss, and a staggering shock to the nation. These events are among what we term the natural grounds for self-humiliation. The inspired Solomon says, “In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths.” It is to be feared that our leaders have many times neglected to acknowledge God in their ways, and have suffered the dire consequences of such neglect. He has left them to reap the bitter fruit of their own self-confident devices, and has also sent chastisements which might have been otherwise spared. “The Lord’s voice is to the city; and the man of wisdom shall see thy name; hear ye the rod and who hath appointed it.”
2. Moral Grounds.
These grounds are neither few nor small. Ought we not to humble ourselves before God as a nation when we consider the many breaches of common morality that are committed among us! Let us think for a moment of the sin of drunkenness. It is appalling that this sin in certain quarters has been greatly on the increase. Wives and mothers of those who are serving “the colours”—women who were at one time sober in their habits—have been falling under the influence of this snare to a deplorable extent. We need not describe the degradation and misery which this crushing evil entails. There is also reason to conclude that gross breaches of chastity are rife, and are excused and justified on War grounds. The general decline in the birth rate, to which attention was recently directed, is largely due to unlawful practices. God’s command is, “Be fruitful, and multiply and replenish the earth” (Genesis i. 28). “Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord; and the fruit of the womb is his reward” (Psalms cxxvii. 3). Our nation, through unlawful practices, is dying on its feet. Let us be assured of it that as to those who fight against God in this particular, He will fight against them, and He is doing it at the present moment in sweeping away by the sword the one or two members of families, where there might have been more, if it were not for unlawful practices. Puny, misguided men and women think they can evade or defy the laws of their Maker. They may escape punishment for a season, but the day of retribution hastens in due time. Still further, there are the sins of profanity and Sabbath desecration. It is painful to consider how common these sins are in the country in general, and in the Army and Navy in particular. We might fill pages on this subject, but we refrain. Do our statesmen and officers think that these sins will escape tokens of divine displeasure! If they do so they never made a greater mistake in their lives. It is not only to the glory of God, but to the genuine and abiding moral and spiritual good of mankind that profane language should be avoided, and that the Sabbath-day should be respected. Those in authority imagine that War conditions are a justification of setting the Sabbath aside, and kicking it like a football under their feet. For these things, God is bringing us to judgment, and many a brave soldier and sailor will fall by sword and shell as a part of the divine penalty for murdered Sabbaths. Is there not a call, then, in view of these crying iniquities, for national and individual confession of sin, and self-humbling before God?
3. Religious Grounds.
It is perfectly plain that in distinctly religious matters we have grievously departed from the Most High as a nation. The Bible has been dragged down from the supreme place that belongs to it as our infallible guide, and human wisdom has been elevated to the seat of supremacy. Rationalism and Ritualism occupy the places of honour and power in the larger religious denominations, Presbyterian and Episcopal. The Papal Anti-Christ—the enemy of God and man—is treated with kindly toleration, and every encouragement is given to its emissaries. A general forgetfulness of God and of religious duties in the family is a characteristic of our people to-day. The public means of grace are also lightly esteemed and grievously neglected by the majority. A materialistic godlessness to a great extent pervades society. The visible Church is in a low spiritual condition; and the State is almost wholly without God and without Christ. The King of kings and Lord of lords is denied His rightful authority and claims, and His word and will are not consulted. Truly we are living in a sad time in the matter of true and vital religion, and no wonder that God’s judgments are abroad in the earth. Are not the many signs of religious decay and materialistic ungodliness, additional and weighty grounds for national self-humiliation and prayer? It appears to us to exhibit great spiritual ignorance for any to object to a national day of humiliation and prayer. It is humiliation and prayer, not before our enemies, but before God that would be observed, if such a day were nationally held. The observance of a day of this kind would be no confession of defeat. It would be only an indication that Great Britain was being revived by the Spirit of God in her passage through the fire of suffering, and was beginning to rise to a higher moral and spiritual level than ever, shaking off the trammels of vice and corruption, with a view to obtain a new baptism of heavenly strength for the vigorous performance of her righteous task, and for the inflicting of the final blow upon her own and Christ’s enemies. Let the words of the glorious Head of the Church, the Captain of the Lord’s hosts, the Leader and Commander of the people, never be forgotten: “Every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted” (Luke xviii. 14).