He draws a touching picture of terror. It is a graceful parable. ‘_I have gone astray like a lost sheep; save thy servant!_ David,’ he says, ‘was so terrified at his enemies because he suffered such great and cruel persecutions. He was in the midst of them like a poor hunted lamb, which when it catches sight of a wolf, flees to the mountains to hide itself. Here was a poor lamb escaped from the jaws of the wolf, and so terrified that if it come to a well, it will plunge in headlong rather than pursue its way, for it knows not what to do nor what is to become of it. And thus David, being terrified, cried out—Lord, redeem thy servant! thus indicating that he leaned entirely on God’s protection and this is what we must do.’[176] These fragments are taken from sermons on the Old Testament; it is worth while to hear Calvin also on the New. People suppose that he put forward gloomy doctrines, which shut man out from salvation instead of leading him to it, and that he concerned himself with predestination alone. This opinion is at once so widely diffused and so untrue that it is the indispensable duty of the historian in this place to establish the truth. Let us hear him on I Timothy, ii., 3, 4, 5. Calvin declares that it is the will of God that all men should be saved. ‘The Gospel,’ he says, ‘is offered to all, and this is the means of drawing us to salvation. Nevertheless, are all benefited by it? Certainly not, as we see at a glance. When once God’s truth has fallen upon our ears, if we are rebels to it, it is for our greater condemnation. God, therefore, must go further, in order to bring us to salvation, and must not only appoint and send men to teach us faithfully, but must himself be master in our hearts, _must touch us to the quick and draw us to himself_. Then, adapting himself to our weakness, he lisps to us in his Word, just as a nurse does to little children. If God spoke according to his majesty, his language would be too high and too difficult; we should be confounded, and all our senses would be blinded. For if our eyes cannot bear the brightness of the sun, is it possible, I ask you, for our minds to comprehend the divine majesty? We say what every one sees: _It is God’s will that we should all be saved_, when he commands that his Gospel shall be preached. The gate of Paradise is opened for us; when we are thus invited, and when he exhorts us to repentance, he is ready to receive us as soon as we come to him.’ Calvin goes further and rebukes those who by their neglect set limits to the extent of God’s dominion.