though overlaid with gold and silver? "There is no breath at all in the midst of it." How irrational all this I Equally unreasonable is it for men to search for happiness in any of the works of their hands, and in any being or in any object indepen?ent of God. 2. It is the woe of insulted justice. What has God said? "Thou sha,e have no other gods before me;" "Thou shalt worship no graven image;" "Thou shalt love me with 1111 thy heart," etc. All this devotion, therefore, to the works of our own hands, or to any other creature, is an infraction of man's cardinal obligation. "Will a man rob God?" Go, then, to the men on 'Change, who are seeking happiness from wcalLh-to the men in scenes of fashionable and worldly amusements, who are seeking happiness from sensual indulgences and worldly applause-and thunder," Woe unto him that saith to the wood, Awake; to the dumb stone, Arise!" "And still from him we turn away, And fill our hearts with worthleBS things; The fires of avarice melt the clay, And forth the idol springs I Ambition's flame and passion's hea~ By wondrous alchemy transmute Earth'• drosa, to raise some gilded brut.e To fill J ehovah's seat," (Clinch.) D.T. Ver. 20.-Silence in the temple. "The Lord is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him." "In striking contrast,'' says Dr. Henderson, "with the utter nihility of idols, Jehovah is here introduced, at the close of all the prophecy, as the invisible Lord of all, occupying his celestial temple, whence he is ever ready to interpose his omnipotence for the deliverance and protection of his people and the destruction of their enemies (comp. Isa. xxvi. 21). Such a God it becomes all to adore in solemn and profound silence (Ps. Ix.xvi. 8, 9; Zeph. i. 7 ; Zech. ii. 13)." We take these words as suggesting three great subjects of thought. I. THE UNIVERSE IS THE TEMPLE OF Goo. Men practically ignore this fact. To some the world is only as a great farm to produce food; to others, a great market in which commodities are to be exchanged in order to amass wealth; to others, a great chest containing precious ores which are to be reached by labour, unlocked and brought into the market; to ethers, a great ball-room in which to dance and play and revel in sensuous enjoyment. Only a few regard it as a temple. But few tread its soil with reverent steps, feeling that all is holy ground. What o. temple it is l how vast in extent I how magnificent in architecture I how stirring are its national appeals! II. THE TEMPLE IS FILLED WITH 'l'HE DIVINE PRESENCE. " The Lord is in bis holy temple." He is in it, not merely as a king is in his kingdom or the worker in bis works; but he is in it as the soul is in the body, the fountain of its life, the spring of its activities. Unlike the human architect, he did not build the house and leave it; unlike the author, he did not write his volume and leave his book to tell its own tale; unlike the arti§t, he did not leave bis pictures or his sculpture to stand dead in the hall. He is in all, not as a mere influence, but as an absolute, almighty Personality. "Do not,I fill the heaven and earth? saith the Lord." III. His PRESENCE IN THE GREAT TEMPLE DEMANDS SILENCE. "Keep silence before him." It would seem as if the Divine nature revolted from bluster and noise. How serenely he moves in nature I As spring by universal life rises out of death. without any noise, and as the myriad orbs of heaven r11ll with more than lightning velocity in a sublime hush. How serenely he moves ia Olirist ! He did not cause his voice to be heard in the streets. His presence, consciously realized, will generate in the soul feelings too deep, too tender for speech. Were the Eternal to be consciously felt by the race to-day, all the human sounds that fill the air and deaden the ears of men would be hushed into profound silence, ••Never with blast of trumpets And the chariot-wheols of fame Do the servants and sons of the Highest His oruoles proclaim; RADAKKUK, 60 THE BOOK OF HABAKKUK. [ou. m.1-10,
But when grandest truths are uttered, And when holiest depths are stirred, When our God himself draws nearest, The still, small voice is heArd. He hae sealed hie own with silence i Hie years that come and go, Bringing still their mighty measures ()f glory and of woe- Have you ll<'ard one note of triumph Proclaim their course begun? One voice or bell give tiding,i When their ministry was done 7 " D.'l'.