And though the philosophers, who, professedly, attach themselves to the study of the works of nature, are overwhelmed by the traces of a wisdom and arrangement, which they are unable to comprehend yet few of them are led to reverential thoughts of God, by their boasted knowledge of His creatures. The vicissitudes of day and night, and of the revolving seasons, are, to them, matters of course as if they followed each other without either cause or design. Farther, the rich variety which adorns this lower creation, the dependence and relation of the several parts, and their general subservience to the accommodation of man, the principal inhabitant, together with the preservation of individuals, and the continuance of every species of animals, are subjects, not above the reach of common capacities, and which afford almost endless and infinite scope for reflection and admiration.
The glory of the sun must strike every eye, and in this enlightened age, there are few persons, but have some ideas of the magnitude of the planets, and the rapidity, and regularity of their motions. Small, indeed, is the knowledge we have of our own system but we know enough to render our indifference inexcusable. The innumerable stars, the worlds, which however large in themselves, are, from their remoteness, but barely visible, to us are of little more immediate, and known use, than to enlarge our idea of the greatness of their Author.
The immensity of creation is far beyond the reach of our conceptions. He commanded the sun to shine, and the planets to roll. How sensibly then should we be affected by the consideration of the Whole, if sin had not blinded our understandings, and hardened our hearts! In the beginning, when all was dark, unformed, and waste, His powerful Word produced light, life, beauty, and order. He is great in the very smallest and there is not a plant, flower, or insect, but bears the signature of infinite wisdom and power. Great and marvellous are the works of the LORD God almighty! We live in the midst of them, and the little impression they make upon us, sufficiently proves our depravity. Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world! – John 1:29
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