Chap. vi. nr. 7, and chap. viii. ver. 12.-The Silence and the Da1rkness. In the :first of these passages we a.re told that the honse, built for the habitation of the Most High, wa.s reared in profound silence ; in the second, that the Most High Himself dwelleth in the thick darkness. Now observe, first, that darkness stands in the same relation to eight that silence does to hearing. In the one, nothing ia seen; in the other, nothing is heard. And, secondly, that the cloud and the house were alike the shrine and the dwelling-place of Deity: the cloud the inner, the temple the outer abode. We learn, therefore, that the God who appears in the cloud (Levit. xvi. 2), and dwells in the thick gloom of the oracle, is One who shrouds Himself in silence and darkness. Hence, let us learn- I. THAT HE 1s A Goo THAT HIDETH HrnsELF (Isa. xlv. 15). "No man bath seen God at any time" (John i. 18; Matt. xi. 27; Deut. iv. 12). "Thick darkness is under his feet" (Psa. xviii. 9, Heb.) "Darkness is his secret place; dark waters and thick clouds his pavilion" (eh. viii. 11; cf. Psa. xcvii. 2). And He hides Him- self, not as Eastern kings have done (comp. Esther i. 14, and Herod. iii. 84), to enhance their renown and dignity, and to increase the awe and reverence of their subjects-omne ignotum pro magnifico-but because we cannot see Hie face and live (Exod. xxxiii. 20). " Whom no man bath seen. or can see " (1 Tim. vi. 16). "Dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto" (ib.) Cf. Acts mi 11. IL THAT WE CANNOT BY SEARCHING FIND OUT GOD (Job xi. 7). In one sense those are not so far wrong who speak of Him as "the Unknowable." The Qu-icunque vult describes Him as "Incomprehensible" (Latin, immensus, i.e., immeasureable). Man cannot understand the mysteries of hie own existence, how mnch less the being of the Godhead. If we could understand God, we should be intellectually equal with God (Gen. iii. 22). It is no argument against the doctrine of the Trinity, or the eternal generation of the Son, or the procession of the Holy Ghost, that each is a mystery_ How could it be otherwise? We have "nothing to draw with, and the well is deep." III. THAT His WAYS ABE WRAPPED IN DARKNESS, See Rom. ii. 33; Dent. xxix. 29 ; Eccles. xi. 5. His judgments are an abyss of which we cannot see the bottom (Psa. mvi 6). His footsteps are not known (Psa. lxxvii. 19). As He dwells in the thick cloud, so are His judgments far above out of sight (Psa. x. 5). "It is the glory of God to conceal a thing" (Prov. xxv. 2). Hence it is that His dealings are often so mysterious and painful, because what He does we know not now (John xiii. 7). The disciples" feared when they entered into the cloud" (Luke ix. 34). "Now we know in part." We only see, it has been said, as it were, the under- side of the carpet, and so life is a confused and meaningless mixture. It is not God's will that we should see the plan and pattern yet. (Cf. Col. i. 26 ; Ephee. iii. 9.) • IV. THAT His woRXS ARE WROUGHT IN SILENCE, He is Himself a God that keepeth silence; Psalm 1. 3, 21 recognizes this. If silence be golden, the Eternal has observed this golden rule. Men blaspheme Him, defy Him, challenge Him to smite them dead-as a well-known atheist is said to have done-&c., and He keeps silence. Amid " earth's many voices," amid its everlasting Babel, His voice is never heard. Similil.rly, He worka in the silence. At the creation, '' He spake and it waE! done." "God said, Let there be light, and there wae light." Creation moves in silence. We speak of " the music of the spheres; but it is but a beautiful conceit. On the contrary, " there is no speech, no language ; their voice is not heard " (Psa. xi.L 3, Heb.) Much truer is that exquisite conception-
" And nightly to the listening earth ·aepeats the story of her birth."
The~ is that, "In solemn siknce, eJl Move round this dark terrestrio.l ball.' on. vrn. 1--66.] THE FIRST BOOK OF KINGS. 165