The Comet and its Teachings
Psalm 19:1
The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows his handiwork.


Not often during the lifetime of a generation does a comet present itself. Give thought to the bright vision which no doubt engages the attention of other worlds beside our own, and on which the gaze of the unfallen inhabitants of celestial spheres may be fixed in reverent admiration.

1. Notice its beauty. In the exhaustless provision which God has made for our love of the beautiful we recognise an assurance that He regards with yet tenderer care our far deeper longings, the moral wants of our souls. 2, As we gain from science a knowledge of the movements of the comet we are impressed with the supremacy of law. No portion of the universe is more completely under the control of law than these comets, which were once supposed to be so erratic. Whatever is within the attraction of the sun moves upon one of three curves. As soon as a sufficient portion of the course of any body is known its whole curve can be ascertained. It is to the universal supremacy of law that all the achievements of science have been due. The supremacy of physical is a guarantee for the authority and permanence of moral law. The same Being who has established the one has pledged His veracity to the maintenance of the other.

3. Further knowledge of this comet impresses us with the magnitude of the universe. How numberless are the bodies inhabiting the measureless expanse. Of these worlds, is it likely that ours alone is inhabited?

4. Viewed in the light of these considerations, how insignificant does the world appear! And how insignificant is man! It is his soul alone that gives him dignity in the scale of being.

5. What a conception does a just view of the universe give us of the greatness and dignity of God! Who can escape His eye? Who can defy His power?

6. How great is the Divine condescension, especially as manifested in the atonement!

(H. L. Wayland.)



Parallel Verses
KJV: {To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.} The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.

WEB: The heavens declare the glory of God. The expanse shows his handiwork.




The Biblical Conception of Nature
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