"Hear Ye the Rod, and Who Hath Appointed It" / A Sermon for the Fast Day, October 7, 1857

The sermon presents a theology of providence that sees God as morally governing both individuals and nations, using ordinary events and human actions to reward virtue and punish vice. It explains that consequences may be immediate or delayed, cites scriptural precedent to argue that persistent national sin brings calamity, and stresses that a nation blessed with special privileges carries heightened responsibility. National disasters—famine, pestilence, war, and internal disorder—are portrayed as corrective chastisements meant to prompt repentance, with continued neglect risking harsher, ultimately destructive judgment.