"the forked thunder, and to crufh his captives.έσ I only paft and lo! he was no more."

Such is the grandeur of the moft formidable Princes, when they do not fear God; a fmoke, a vapour, a shadow, a dream, a vain image: "Man walketh in a vain fhadow.

But, on the other fide, what a noble idea do the Scriptures 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 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 wisdom 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 difposes of kingdoms as the abfolute fovereign of them, and gives them to whom he pleafes; 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 fay that is worthy of God? The Scriptures themselves fink under the weight of his majefty, and the expreffions they use, how magnificent foever they may be, bear no proportion to the greatness, which alone deserves that name.

This Job obferves in a wonderful manner. After having related the wonders of the creation, he concludes with a very fimple, but, at the fame time, very fublime reflection: e Lo, thefe are parts of his ways: but how little a portion is heard of him? but the thunder of his power who can understand? The little he difcovered to us of his infinite grandeur bears no proportion to what he is, and nevertheless furpaffes our understanding. He ftoops, and we cannot rife to him at the time that he descends to us. He is conftrained to employ our thoughts and expreffions in order to make himself intelligible; and, even then, we are rather dazzled with his brightness, than truly enlightened. But how would it be, fhould he reveal himself 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?

VII. Tender and affecting paffages.

One would not believe, that fuch great majefty would defcend fo low as to speak to man, if the Scripture did not give us fome proofs of it in every page. The most lively, the moft tender things in nature, are all too faint to exprefs his love.

f I have nourished and brought up children, fays he by the mouth of Ifaiah, and they have rebelled against The ox knoweth his owner, and the afs his mafler's crib: but Ifrael doth not know, my people doth not confider.

me.

e Ecce, hæc ex parte dicta funt viarum ejus : & cum vix parvam ftillam fermonis ejus audierimus, quis poterit tonitru magnitudinis illius intueri ? Job xxvi, 14.

f Filios enutrivi, & exaltavi: ipfi autem fpreverunt me. novit bos poffefforem fuum, afinus præfepe domini fui; Ifrael autem me non cognovit, 2,2, 31

Cog

&

fai, i,

8 And now, O inhabitants of Jerufalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard. What could have been done more to my vineyard that I have not done in it? Wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes?

h

They fay, If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man's, shall he return unte her again? Shall not that land be greatly polluted? But thou haft played the harlot with many lovers: yet return again to me, faith the Lord.

Hearken unto me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Ifrael, which are borne 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 I will carry and will deliver you.

* As one whom his mother comforteth, fo will I comfort you; and ye shall be comforted in Jerufalem.

1

But Zion faid, The Lord hath forfaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me. Can a woman forget her fucking child, that he should not have compaffion on the Son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget

thee.

g Nunc ergo, habitatores Jerufalem, & viri Judæ, judicate inter me & vineam meam. Quid eft quod debui ultra facere vineæ meæ, & non feci ei? An quod expectavi ut faceret uvas, & fecit labrufcas? Ifai. v. 3, 4.

h Vulgo dicitur: Si dimiferit vir uxorem fuam, & recedens ab eo duxerit virum alterum: numquid reverteretur ad eam ultra? numquid non polluta & contaminata erit mulier illa? Tu autem for. nicata es cum amatoribus multis: tamen revertere ad me, dicit Dominus, & ego fufpiciam te. Jerem. iii, 1.

Audite me, domus Jacob, &

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omne refiduum domus Ifrael, qui portamini à meo utero, qui geftamini à mea vulva. Ufque ad fenectam ego ipfe, & ufque ad canos ego portabo. Ego feci, & ego feram; ego portabo, & falvabo. Ifa. lxvi. 3. 4.

k Quomodo fi cui mater blandiatur, ita ego confolabor vos, & in Jerufalem confolabimini. Ifai. lxvi. 13:

1 Dixit Sion: Dereliquit me Dominus, & Dominus oblitus eft mei. Numquid oblivifci poteft mulier intantem fuum, ut non mifereatur filio uteri fui? Et fi lla oblita fuerit, ego tamen non oblivifcar tui, Ifai. xlix. 14, 15.

Though

Though thefe comparisons are vastly tender, they yet are not enough fo, to denote his tenderness and follicitude for men who fo little deferve it. This So

vereign 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 leaft of his fervants is as dear to him as the apple of his eye: O Jerufalem, Ferufalem, thou that killeft the Prophets, and fioneft them which are fent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as the hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! He himself, fpeaking of his people, fays thus: "He that toucheth you, toucheth the apple of my eye.

Hence come thefe expreflions fo ufual in Scripture; and it is furprising that creatures fhould dare to use them when they speak 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 say that I am as precious as the apple of his eye? But you yourfelf infpire and injoin this confidence. Nothing can be more delicate or weaker than the apple of the eye; and in that refpect it is the image of myfelf. Be it fo, O my God, in every thing elfe; and multiply the fuccours with regard to me, as you have multiplied the precautions with regard to that, by fecuring it with eyelids: 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, Jerusalem, quæ occidis Prophetas, & lapidas eos qui ad te mifi funt: quoties vo❤ lui congregare filios tuos, quemadmodum gallina congregat pullos fuos fub alas; & noluifti! Mat, xxiii. 37.

n Qui tetigerit vos, tangit pupillam oculi mei. Zech. ii. 8.

• Cuftodi me ut pupillam oculi fub umbra alarum tuarum protege me. Pfal, xvii, 8.

for

for their young ones. You have represented yourself in your own works, and have exhorted mankind to have recourse to you, by all the teftimonies of your goodness, which you have diffused 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 fhadow of thy wings.

Nothing can be more affecting than the admirable ftory of Jofeph; and one can fcarce refrain from tears, P when we fee him obliged to turn afide in order to dry his own, becaufe his bowels yearned at the prefence of Benjamin ; or when, after having difcovered himself, he throws himfelf about the neck of his dear brother; and, folding him in the ftricteft embrace, mingles his tears with thofe of Benjamin, and difcovers the fame affectionate tenderness for the reft 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. Surprife, 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 fufficiently exprefs their thoughts.

When we read the fad 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 become as a difconfolate widow;

p Feftinavitque, quia commota fuerant vifcera ejus fuper fratre fuo, & erumpebant lacrymæ, Gen. xliii. 30.

En oculi veftri, & oculi fratris Benjamin, vident quod os meum loquatur ad vos. Cumque amplexatus recidiffet in collum Benjamin fratris fui, flevit, illo quoque fimiliter flente fuper collum ejus. Ofculatufq; eft Jofeph omnes fratres fuos, & ploravit fuper fingulos: Poft quæ aufi funt loqui ad eum. Gen. xlv. 12, 14, 15.

9 Quomodo fedet fola civitas plena populo? facta est quafi vidua domina gentium .... Viæ Sion lugent, eo quod non fint qui ve. niunt ad folemnitatem. . . Sacerdotes ejus gementes: virgines ejus fqualida... Sederunt in terra, conticuerunt fenes filiæ Sion: confperferunt cinere capita fua, accincti funt ciliciis. . . . Parvuli petierunt panem, & non erat qui frangeret eis. Lament. c. i. v. le 4. c. ii. v. 1o. c. iv. v. 4.

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the