Church of England -- Sermons; Sermons, English -- 19th century
He saw all this, and so glorious did it seem to him, as he looked on the
fair world round him, that he could not contain himself. Not only was
his reason satisfied, but his heart was touched. It was so glorious that
he could not speak of it coldly, calmly; and he burst out into singing a
song of praise—‘O Lord our God, thou art become exceeding glorious; thou
art clothed with majesty and honour.’ For he saw everywhere order; all
things working together for good. He saw everywhere order and rule; and
something within him told him, there must be a Lawgiver, an Orderer, a
Ruler and he must be One.
Again, the Psalmist saw everywhere a purpose; things evidently created to
be of use to each other. And the Spirit of God told him there must be
One who purposed all this; who meant to do it, and who had done it; who
thought it out and planned it by wisdom and understanding.
Then the Psalmist saw how everything, from the highest to the lowest, was
of use. The fir trees were a dwelling for the stork; and the very stony
rocks, where nothing else can live, were a refuge for the wild goats;
everywhere he saw use and bounty—food, shelter, life, happiness, given to
man and beast, and not earned by them; then he said—‘There must be a
bountiful Lord, a Giver, generous and loving, from whom the very lions
seek their meat, when they roar after their prey; on whom all the
creeping things innumerable wait in the great sea, that he may give them
meat in due season.’
But, moreover, he saw everywhere beauty; shapes, and colours, and sounds,
which were beautiful in his eyes, and gave him pleasure deep and strange,
he knew not why: and the Spirit of God within him told him—‘These fair
things please thee. Do they not please Him who made them? He that
formed the ear, shall he not hear the song of birds? He that made the
eye, shall he not see the colours of the flowers? He who made thee to
rejoice in the beauty of the earth, shall not he rejoice in his own
works?’ And God seemed to him, in his mind’s eye, to delight in his own
works, as a painter delights in the picture which he has drawn, as a
gardener delights in the flowers which he has planted; as a cunning
workman delights in the curious machine which he has invented; as a king
delights in the fair parks and gardens and stately palaces which he has
laid out, and builded, and adorned, for his own pleasure, as well as for
the good of his subjects.
And then, beneath all, and beyond all, there came to him another
question—What is life?
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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