wonders that He doeth for the children of men! ""* Ignorance is proud, and ungodliness, perhaps, setteth up its horn! "Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge? Gird now up thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me. Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding. Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it? Where upon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof; when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy? Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it brake forth, as if it had issued out of the womb? When I made the cloud the garment thereof, and thick darkness a swaddling band for it, and brake up for it my decreed place, and set bars and doors, and said, Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further: and here shall thy proud waves be stayed? Hast thou commanded the morning since thy days; and caused the dayspring to know his place; that it might take hold of the ends of the earth, that the *Psalm cvii. 8. wicked might be shaken out of it? Hast thou entered into the springs of the sea? or hast thou walked in the search of the depth? Have the gates of death been opened unto thee? or hast thou seen the doors of the shadow of death? Hast thou perceived the breadth of the earth? declare if thou knowest it at all. Where is the Where is the way where light dwelleth? and as for darkness, where is the place thereof, that thou shouldest take it to the bound thereof, and that thou shouldest know the paths to the house thereof? Knowest thou it, because thou wast then born? or because the number of thy days is great? Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion? Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season? or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons? Knowest thou the ordinances of heaven? canst thou set the dominion thereof in the earth? Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds, that abundance of waters may cover thee? Canst thou send lightnings, that they may go, and say unto thee, Here we are? Who hath put wisdom in the inward parts? or who hath given understanding to the heart?"* * See Job xxxviii. 4 The period will arrive, when man will know that which he now so studiously shuts his eyes against, viz. that in life it is his fate to be ignorant, and his duty to be humble. The time will come when Almighty God "will abundantly vindicate himself before men and angels, and "all mouths shall be stopped before him." Let man, therefore, listen to the voice which daily tells him to lay his hand upon his mouth and say, "Once have I spoken; but I will not answer: yea, twice; but I will proceed no further." * "He that exalteth himself shall be abased, but he that humbleth himself will be exalted."+ "God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble."+ "Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up."§ "Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you! Cleanse your hands-purify your hearts."||—"Seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth !"¶ *Job xl. 5. See Luke xviii. § James iv. 10. Matt. vii. 7, 8. "Ye have heard of the patience of Job: and have seen the end of the Lord, that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy. 66 Behold," said Job, " I am vile.”—“ I abhor myself, and repent.” † "So the Lord blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning," and Job " being old and full of days."+ died, That Be ye SURE that the Lord he is God! he is gracious, and that his mercy is everlasting §-that though we have rebelled against Him, and have disobeyed His voice, that to Him "belong mercies and forgivenesses!" || Therefore, 66 Go YOUR WAY INTO HIS GATES WITH THANKSGIVING, AND INTO HIS COURTS WITH PRAISE BE THANKFUL UNTO HIM, AND SPEAK GOOD OF HIS NAME."¶ Knowing the Almighty power, and the wisdom of God; and knowing, also, from our extreme weakness, littleness, and ignorance, that submission to His will, and that the most unqualified, is our "reasonable service;" in * James v. 11. Job xlii. 12, 17. || See Dan. ix. 9, 10. ¶ Psalm c. Job xl. 4; xlii. 6. § See Psalm c. See Ecclus. xxxix. 16, and Appendix C. submissive confidence we must believe, that, as bounteous goodness is seen to be the end and design of all those parts of His providence which we can comprehend, so the same will pervades each part of his government, which we do not at present comprehend. "What I understand," said ancient wisdom, "I admire and am fully convinced to be every way worthy of its author. And, therefore, I conclude what I understand not to be equally excellent, and that it would appear so, if I understood all its concerns."* And "From the confessed and felt imperfection of our knowledge, we ought to presume, that there may be consequences which are hidden from us; from the benevolence which pervades the general designs of nature, we ought also to presume that those consequences, if they could enter into our calculation, would turn the balance on the favourable side.”† VII...But to conclude: While we preach that ye should turn unto * Socrates. 66 or Paley, Nat. Theol. p. 308. See also Appendix. "The maker of a watch," (it has been remarked) the builder of a ship, is not to be blamed, because a spectator cannot discover either the beauty or the use of disjointed parts."-Watson's Reply to Paine, p. 238. |