Ver. 6.-Tl1e permanence of 11atural law. "He hath also stnblished them for ever and over." 'l'he permanence of natural law is not really any scientific discovery of modern date, It is the commonplace of thoughtful apprehension of facts in nil ages. It is the basis of confidence on which man's enterprises have always rested. Whnt is peculiar to modern times is the persistent effort to get lnw separated from God, to prove that law exists, but that it never had a lawgiver, and that now, for its working, there Is no law-controller. Old Testament saints saw in the permanence of natural law the considerate working of the living God for the good of his creatures. I. Tm~ PlsUMANENCE OF ALL NATURAL LAWS. The truth is only true when per- manence is seen to apply to the entire spl1ere of natural law. It is here thnt the philosopher constructs an imperfect argument. He affirms that permanet1ce attaches to all laws that are cogn(mble by the senses. But have we any right to say that the sphere of naturnl law is fo.nited to what we cnn, under our present conditions, and with our present facultie~, apprehend? This may be tried by conceiving that we had seven senses instead of five. The other two senses would reveal to us the working of natural laws which we are wholly unable to apprehend under our present conditions. And the operation of those natural laws may explain what we now have to call the miraculous. And this has further to be seen: The permanence of natural law is consistent with the interworking of law; the action of one qualifying the action of another, as when by my will I raise my arm, which gravitation would pull down. The unknown natural laws are continually crossing and modifying the known, but always harmoniously. II. 'l'nE PERMANENCE OF ALL MORAL LAWS. It has yet to be taken into full 410 TIIE DOOK OF PSALMS. [rs. CXT,VIII. 1-14.
acconnt that the natural laws include tho moral; and that nature can never bo explained until the influence on it of God's will and man's is recognized The moral is as nn:ural for man as the natural is for nature; and the moral is as permanent and absolute as we can conceive the natural to be. But all law is in the o.djustment and harmonizing of the law-controller.-R. T. Vers. 7, 8.-The praise-voices of nature-forcu, How poet-souls recognize the voices of nature may be illustrated by Milton's lines- " His praise, ye winds, that from four quarters blow, Breathe rnft or loud; nnd wave your tops, ye piues, With every pl:i.nt, in sign of worship wave I" What is peculiar to the psalmist is his recognizing signs of -1L'ill in nature. He conceives of" stormy wind fulfilling his Word," voluntarily fulfilling it, aud so an ima,re of him- self. It is a blending of poetic and pious feeling that thus leads man t~ make of nature a mirror in which he sees himself. L MAN PUTTING HIMSELF INTO THINGS. When we are impressed with anythincr in nature, we, iu a sort of unconscious way, say to it, "If I were you, how should I feel, and what should I do?" And then we represent it to ourselves as actually feelincr what we should feel, and doing what we should do. In this way the psalmist calls o~ the winds to praise God, because that is what he would do if he were the wind; and he calls on the wind to fulfil God's Word, because that is what he would do if he were the wind. This is man's interpreting of nature, which is never any more than ;interpreting himself in the terms of nature. But manifestly this putting of ourselves into things belongs exclusively to the poetic and the pious souls. To most men nature is but a satisfaction of artistic sensibilities: all that can be observed is the beautiful in form and colour. It is but the sublime side of this truth to say that God puts himself. iuto nature to show himself to us, iLS we put ourselves into nature to show ourselves to him. II. MAN INFLUENCING HIMSELF BY SEEING mMsELF IN THINGS. Introspection is neither healthy nor effective. A man must put himself outside himself; must find a mirror of himself, and see himself in the mirror. And what he thus sees is always himself as he should be. So the projection of himself is an inspiration to himself; The psalmist sees this in the one matter of oberlience. Projecting himself into the stormy wind, he is inspired to the "fol filling of God's Word."-R. T. Vers. 11-13.-Tlie leaders of the nature-choir. The Church appears as the choir- leader of the universe. "Both sexes and all ages are summoned to the blessed servico of song. Those who usually make merry together are to bo devoutly joyful together; those who make up the ends of families, that is to say, the elders and the juveniles, should make the Lord their one and only End. Old men should, by their experience, teach the children to praise; and children, by their cheerfulness, should excite old men to sincr, There is room for every voico at this concert; fruitful trees and maidens, cedars"and young men, angels and children, old men and judges,-all may unite in this oratorio. None, indeed, can be dispensed with: for perfect psalmody we must have the whole universe aroused to worship, and all parts of creation must take their parts in devotion" (C. H. S.). L MAN BELONGS TO NATURE. That wondrous inbreathing through which man became a "living soul" jid not separate man, or make him a distinct being from nature. This mistaken c:nnception is too often encouraged. Man belongs to nature. His senses bear relation to this nature-sphere. He is subject to all the nature-conditions of the creatures around him. Shares pleasure and pain with them. Needs food as they do. Has the passions they have. Ho can lead the nature-choir as one of the choir. II. MAN LEADS NATURE. It is in the line of modern evolution teachings to point out that man bodily is the crown of creation; and that man, when his possibilities are all full! developed, will be the crown of creation i~ the highest an~ most ~ubli~e seneo. In praise-power man is supreme. In every choir the~e are leadmg voices; m ev~ry orchestra leading instr:iments. This place man occ11p1es. As the chorus of crent100 1'8, CXLVIII, 1-14.] 'l'HE BOOK OF PS.\U,IS. 411