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their tubes, and by due degrees expands and increases them, till they arrive at their growth. God hath also another garden, in which there are other trees of his planting, called, by Isaiah, "trees of righteousness." These are his faithful servants, who, through the Spirit which is given unto them, become eminent and steady in goodness: their examples are fragrant, and their charity diffusive.

17. Where the birds make their nests: as for the -stork, the fir trees are her house.

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Most admirable is that wisdom and understanding, which the Creator has imparted to the birds of the air, whereby they distinguish times and seasons, choose the properest places, construct their nests with an art and exactness unattainable by man, and secure and provide for their young. "Is it for the birds, O Lord, who have no knowledge thereof, that thou hast joined together so many miracles? Is it for the men who give no attention to them? Is it for those who admire them, without thinking of thee? Rather is it not thy design, by all these wonders, to call us to thyself? to make us sensible of thy wisdom, and fill us with confidence in thy bounty, who watchest so carefully over these inconsiderable creatures, two of which are sold for a farthing* ?"

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18. The high hills are a refuge for the wild goats, and the rocks for the conies.

The same force of what we call instinct prevails in terrestrial animals, and directs them to places of re

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fuge, where they may be safe from their enemies. Thus the wild goats climb with ease to the tops and crags of mountains, where they deposit their young. And thus animals of another kind, which are more defenceless than the goats, and not able to climb like them, have yet a way of entrenching themselves, in a situation perfectly impregnable, among the rocks; we find them, on that account, numbered by Solomon among the four kinds of animals, which, though little upon the earth, are exceeding wise. "The conies are but a feeble folk, yet make they their houses in the rocks:" They who in themselves are feeble and helpless should look out betimes for a mountain of refuge, and a rock of safety.

19. He appointeth the moon for seasons: knoweth his going down.

the sun

From a survey of the works of God upon earth, the Psalmist proceeds to extol that divine wisdom which is manifested in the motions and revolutions of the heavenly bodies, and in the grateful vicissitude of day and night occasioned thereby. A beautiful passage in the book of Ecclesiasticus will, perhaps, be the best comment on the former part of this verse: "He made the moon to serve in her season, for a declaration of times, and a sign to the world. From the moon is the sign of feasts, a light that decreaseth in her perfection. The month is called after her name, increasing wonderfully in her changing, being an instrument of the armies above, shining in the firmament of heaven; the beauty of heaven, the glory of the stars, an ornament giving light in the highest places of the

Lord." The latter part of the verse expresses the obedience of the sun, or solar light, to the law of its Creator; it seems to know the exact time of its coming on, and going off, and fulfils the course prescribed to it, without the least deviation. O that we who are endowed with sense and reason, could in like manner fulfil our course; and that God's will were " done on earth, as it is even in this lower and material heaven!"

20. Thou makest darkness, and it is night; wherein all the beasts of the forest do creep forth. 21. The young lions roar after their prey, and seek their meat from God.

Night and darkness invite the wild beasts of the forest and desert from their dens and recesses, to seek the prey allotted them by the Providence of that God who feeds the young lions, as well as the young ravens, when hunger enforces them, as it were, to call upon him. Thus, when a nation has filled up the measure of its iniquities, the Sun of Righteousness knows the time of his departure from it; the light of the Gospel is darkened, and a horrible night succeeds: the executioners of vengeance are in motion, and a commission from above is given them to seize upon the prey.

22. The sun ariseth, they gather themselves together, and lay them down in their dens. 23. Man goeth forth to his work and to his labour, until the evening.

At the return of day, the sons of ravage retire, and skulk away to their several hiding places, that man, the lord of the creation, may arise, and perform, unmolested, the task which his Maker has appointed

him. When the light of truth and righteousness shines, error and iniquity fly away before it, and the roaring lion himself departs for a time. Then the Christian goes forth to the work of his salvation, and to his labour of love, until the evening of old age warns him to prepare for his last repose, in faith of a joyful resurrection.

24. O LORD, how manifold are thy works! In wisdom hast thou made them all; the earth is full of thy riches.

Transported with a survey of the wonders which present themselves in heaven above, and on earth below, the Psalmist breaks forth into an exclamation, (and what heart has not already anticipated him?) on the variety and magnificence, the harmony and proportion of the works of God in this outward, and visible, and perishable world. What then are the miracles of grace and glory? What are those invisible and eternal things which God has prepared for them that love him, in another and a better world, and of which the things visible and temporary are no more than shadows? Admitted to that place, where we shall at once be indulged with a view of all the divine dispensations, and of that beatitude in which they terminate, shall we not, with angels and archangels, cry out, " O LORD, how manifold are thy works! In wisdom hast thou made them all: heaven and earth are full of thy riches, and of thy glory!"

25. So is this great and wide sea, wherein are things creeping innumerable, both small and great beasts, or,

living creatures.

26. There go the ships; there is that leviathan, whom thou hast made to play therein. There is not in all nature a more august and striking object than the ocean. Its inhabitants are as numerous as those upon the land; nor are the wisdom and the power of the Creator less displayed, perhaps, in their formation and preservation, from the smallest fish that swims, to the enormous tyrant of the deep, the leviathan himself. By means of navigation, Providence has opened a communication between the most distant parts of the globe; the largest solid bodies are wafted, with incredible swiftness, upon one fluid, by the impulse of another, and seas join the countries which they appear to divide. In the ocean we behold án emblem of the world; under a smooth deceitful surface it conceals dangerous rocks, and devouring monsters; its waves are ever restless, and oftentimes it is all over storm and tempest, threatening to overwhelm the helpless, despairing mariner, in a moment: such is the voyage we have all to make, ere we can reach the desired haven, and attain that happy clime, where, as we are told, there is "no more SEA."

27. These wait all upon thee; that thou mayest give them their meat in due season. 28. That thou givest them, they gather: thou openest thine hand, they are filled with good.

In various ways has God provided food for the support of all living creatures, and directed them to seek, and to find it. How pleasing a speculation is it, to consider the whole family of air, earth, and sea, as waiting upon the father and Lord of all things, ex

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