At length, like summer storms from spreading That burst at once, and pour impetuous floods- And such a form the winged squadrons bear. 519 Let us now make Man in our image, Man Then were explained to the admiring host of Heaven the vast intentions of the Godhead in the preceding acts of creation. All was before beauty and order, marvellous and glorious, yet, till man appeared, there was not among the numerous works of the Creator one capable of adoring his Almighty hand. God said, "Let us make man." Gen. i. 26. And lo, the being arose for whom all these glorious and mighty preparations had been made. 524 This said, he form'd thee, Adam, thee, O Man, Respecting the nature and quality of man, when first he came from the hand of his Maker, we are assured, that God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him ; male and female created he them. A declaration which loudly proclaims man's excellence, and leaves no doubt, but that " God saw that this," like every other of his works, " was good." And we are told in the succeeding verse that "God blessed them. Gen. i. Life is not therefore to be considered as mere existence with this choicest gift must be associated the various gratifications which all animals receive through the medium of their senses; as well as the peculiar pleasures which arise to favored man from the exercise of his intellectual powers, and more particularly from the reflections, which lead him to his Maker, and the cultivation of religious dispositions, all naturally exciting his trust and gratitude. 537 He brought thee into this delicious grove This gärden, On reading the rich and beautiful description of that delightful garden where God placed Adam, and there, to complete his sum of happiness, gave him a rational companion in the person of our mother Eve, we are led to wonder that anything could be wanting to creatures so highly favored by the blessings and visible care of their Maker. The task imposed on our first parents was adoration, love, and obedience. 546 And govern well thy appetite, lest Sin Surprise thee, and her black attendant Death. 548 Here finish'd he, and all that he had made And God saw every thing that he had made, and behold it was very good. Gen. 565 Open, ye everlasting gates, they sung, Lift up your heads, O ye gates, and be lift up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of Glory shall come in. Ps. xxiv. 7. 579 Seen in the galaxy, that milky way, In a whitish luminous tract which seems to 591 encompass the heavens like a girdle, of a considerable, though of unequal breadth, varying from about four to twenty degrees. It is composed of an infinite number of small stars, which by their joint light occasion that confused whiteness which we perceive in a clear night when the moon does not shine very bright. Now resting, and from work 3 And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his works which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it ; because that in it he had rested from all his work, which God created and made. Gen. ii. 2, 3. intermixed with voice. Choral or unison: of incense clouds Behold, how the prayers of all the saints ascend before God with acceptance! see the method we are to take, if we desire that ours should be acceptable to him; and encouraged by such a view, let us offer them up, not only with humility, but with cheerful confidence, though we are conscious of their great unworthiness. Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty. Rev. xv. 3. 610 Of Spirits apostate and their counsels vain Thou hast repell'd, 615 There is no wisdom, nor understanding, nor counsel against Jehovah. Prov. xxi. 30. his evil Thou usest, and from thence creat'st more good. Overcome evil with good. Rom. xii. 21. Let us cultivate those kind and social affections which 628 this great proficient in them all so forcibly inculcates; that distrust of ourselves which shall cause us to cease from our wisdom, that we may repose ourselves upon the unerring guidance of our Heavenly Father-that kindly obstinate attachment to peace, that heroic superiority which melts down with kindness the heart that but a little before was glowing with rage: And, on the whole, that resolute perseverance in goodness which must be finally victorious, and will assuredly rise with a new accession of strength and of glory from every seeming defect. On the clear hyaline, the glassy sea; And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal. Rev. iv. 6. and in reward to rule Over his works, on earth, in sea, or air, Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands. Ps. viii. 6, 7. Oh! what a change hath sin and sorrow made? Rev. W. L. BOWLES. END OF THE SEVENTH BOOK. 66 BOOK VIII. for Heaven Is as the book of God before thee set, Let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and for years. Gen. i. 14. Let us read The living page, whose ev'ry character 84 Cycle and epicycle, orb in orb: Cycle, a circle, a continual revolution round the sun. Epicycle, a circle above a circle, a lesser circle, whose centre is in the circumference of the greater, a cycle within another, an orb in orb; as planets having their centre different from the centre of the earth. 101 The Maker's high magnificence, who built So spacious, The Lord reigneth; he is clothed with majesty, the Lord is clothed with strength, wherein he hath girded himself; the world is established, that it cannot be moved. Ps. xciii. 1. |