"The forked thunder, and to crush his captives."I only paft, and lo! he was no more. Such is the grandeur of the most formidable Princes, when they do not fear God; a smoke, a vapour, a fhadow, a dream, a vain image: Man walketh in a vain fhadow. с But on the other fide, what a noble idea do the fcriptures give us of the greatnefs of God! He is He who is. His name is The Eternal; the whole world is his work. The heaven is his throne, and the earth his footstool. All nations are before him but as a drop of water, and the earth they inhabit but as a particle of duft. The whole univerfe is before the Almighty as though it were not. His power and wifdom conduct it, and regulate all the motions of it with as much ease as a hand holds a light weight, with which it fports rather than bears it. d He difpofes of kingdoms as the abfolute fovereign of them, and gives them to whom he pleases; but both his empire and power are infinite. All this appears to us great and fublime, and is indeed fo when compared to us. But when we speak to men in words they are capable of understanding, what can we say that is worthy of God? The fcriptures themselves fink under the weight of his majefty, and the expreffions they ufe, how magnificent foever they may be, bear no proportion to the greatnefs, which alone deferves that name. This Job obferves in a wonderful manner. After having related the wonders of the creation, he con cludes with a very fimple, but at the fame time, very Tublime reflection. Lo, these are parts of his ways, but bow little a portion is beard of bim ? but the thunder of bis power who can understand? The little he dife covers to us of his infinite grandeur, bears no proportion to what he is, and nevertheless fuspaffes our understanding. He ftoops, and we cannot rife to him, at the time that he defcends to us. He is con ftrained to employ our thoughts and sexpreffions in order to make himself intelligible, and even then, we are rather dazzled with his brighthefs, than truly enlightned. But how would it be fhould he reveal himfelf in all his majefty? Should he lift up the veil which foftens its rays? Should he tell us who he is what ear could refift the thunder of his voice? What eye would not be blinded by a light fo difproportioned to their weakness? But the thunder of his power who can understand leriand Sarar brod sdt „bini mors and dind bel VII. Tender and affecting passages genstau) ast & dimour end to ma One would not believe, that fuch great Majefty would defcend fo low as to fpeak to man, if the fcripture did not give us fome proofs of it in every page, The moft lively, the moft tender things in nature, are all too faint to express his love.ant al Cudsb boup I have nourished and brought up children, fays he by the mouth of Ifaiah, and they have rebelled againft med The ox knoweth his owner, and the afs his mafters cribs but Ifrael doth not know, my people doth nos confiderside of ace weight a 191961 -BOURS ÁTY 169 bs 241913:7943? 515 UTELIOS X mellog new ba Filios enutrivi, & exaltavi ipf autem fpreverunt me. Cognovit bos poffefforem fuum, & afinus præfepe domini fui; Ilrael autem me non cognovit. $ And 391 A And now, mɑvinhabitants of Jerusalem, and men ofofudahs judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard. What could have been done more to my vineyard thatshbave not done in it? Wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes 21 T h -01 They fay, if a man put away his wife, and the go from him, and become another man's, shall be return unto her again & Shall not that land be greatly polluted? But thou baft played the harlot with many laversojet return again to me, faith the Lord. Hearken unto me, O boufe of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Ifrael, which are born by me, from the belly, which are carried from the womb. And even to your old age I am he, and even to hoary hairs will I carry you! I have made, and I will bear, even A will carry and will deliver you a 5505 As one whom his mother comforteth, fo will I com fort you; and ye shall be comforted in Jerufalem. But Zion faid, the Lord hath forfaken me, and my Lord bath forgotten me. Can a woman forget her fucking child, that she should not have compaffion on the Jon of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will not forget, yet will I not forget thee. <quoted tinam of dreq) of a wol of basolat binew B Nunc ergo, habitatores Jeru omne refduum domus Ifrael, qui falem, & viri Juda, judicate inter portamini à me & vineam meam. Quid eft mini à mea vulva. Ufque ad mea utero, qui geftaquod debui ultra facere vines fenectam ego ipfe, & ufque ad mex, & non expectavi ut faei An quod canos, ego portabo. Ego feci, & eir labrufcas? Ifai. v. 4. & fe Vulgo dicitur fi dimiferit vira fuam duxerit virum alterum, numquid recedens ab eo reverteretur ad eam ultrà ? numquid non polluta & contaminata erit ego feram; ego portabo, & fale vabo. Ifa. xlvi, 3, 4. Quomodo fi cui mater blan in Jerufalem confolabimini. Mais diatur, ita ego.confolabor vos, 8 lxvi. 13. Dixit Sion: Dereliquit me mulier illa? Tu autem for- Dominus, & Dominus oblitus eft es cum amatoribus multis: mei. Numquid oblivifci poteft tamen revertere ad me, dicit mulier infantem fuum, ut non Dominus, iii. go fufcipiam te. mifereatur filio utero f Audite me, domus Jacob, Q 2 illa oblita fuerit, ego поп Ifai. xlix. 14, 15. Though " Though these comparisons are vaftly tender, they yet are not enough fo, to denote his tenderness and folicitude for men who fo little deferve it. This Sovereign of the universe does not disdain to compare himfelf to a hen, who has her wings perpetually extended, in order to receive her young ones under them; and he declares that the least of his fervants is as dear to him as the apple of his eye. " O Jerufalem, Jerufalem, thou that killeft the Prophets, and Stoneft them which are fent, unto thee, how often would I bave gathered thy children together, even as the ben gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! He himself speaking of his people, fays thus: " He that toucheth you, toucheth the apple of my eye. a m Hence come thefe expreffions fo ufual in fcripture; and it is furprizing that creatures fhould dare to use them when they fpeak of God: Keep me as the apple of thine eye; hide me under the fhadow of thy wings. To what man, O my God, could. I fpeak in this manner, and to whom could I fay that I am as precious as the apple of his eyes? But you yourself * infpire, and enjoin this confidence. Nothing can be more delicate or weaker than the apple of the eye; and in that respect it is the image of myself. Be it fo, O my God, in every thing else; and multiply the fuccours with regard to me, as you have multiplied the precautions with regard to that, by fecuring it with eye-lids. Keep me as the apple of thine eye. My enemies furround me like birds of prey, and I cannot escape them, if I do not fly for fhelter to thy bofom. You taught callow birds to withdraw beneath the fhelter of their mother's wings; and have inspired mothers with a wonderful care and tenderness m Jerufalem, Jerufalem, quæ occidis Prophetas, & lapidas eos qui ad te miffi funt: quoties volui congregare filios tuos, quem admodum gallina congregat pullos fuos fub alas, & noluifti? Mat. xxiii. 37. " Qui tetigerit vos, tangit pupillam oculi mei. Zach. ii. 8. • Cuftodi me ut pupillam oculi; fub umbra alarum tuarum protege me. Pfal. xvii 8.1 for for their young ones. You have represented yourself in your own works; and have exhorted mankind to have recourfe to you, by all the teftimonies of your goodnefs, which you have diffufed in the animals and over nature. Let me prefume, O my God, to put a confidence in thee, proportionate to thy goodness for me. Hide me under the shadow of thy wings. 3 Nothing can be more affecting than the admirable ftory of Jofeph; and one can fcarce refrain from tears, when we fee him obliged to turn afide in order to dry his own, because his bowels yearn'd at the presence of Benjamin; or when after having difcovered himself, he throws himself about the neck of his dear brother; and folding him in the strictest embrace, mingles his tears with thofe of Benjamin, and discovers the fame affectionate tenderness for the rest of his brethren, over each of whom it is faid he wept. At that inftant not one of them spoke, and this filence is infinitely more eloquent than any expreffions he' could have employed. Surprize, grief, the remembrance of what was paft, joy, gratitude, ftifle their words: their heart can exprefs itself no other ways than by tears, which would, but cannot sufficiently exprefs their thoughts. When we read the fad a lamentation of Jeremiah over the ruins of Jerufalem; when we behold that city, once fo populous, reduced to a dreadful folitude; the Queen of nations becomes as a disconsolate widow; |