XI.

THE RAIN AND THE SNOW ARE TO THE EARTH, WHAT THE WORD OF GOD IS TO THE SOUL OF MAN.

"For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater; so shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth."-ISA. LV. 10, 11.

THE analogy of religion to the constitution and course of nature, is a subject that has been prosecuted to a great extent, and handled with a largeness of comprehension, and a felicity of success, that have drawn forth the admiration of men of thoughtful minds; and the more that we study nature, and the more we understand the Word of God, the greater number shall we find of those beautiful analogies. This is just what we might be led to expect; for, as the Bible is the word of God, and Nature is the work of God, the one and the other, coming from the same great Author,

must undoubtedly have a strong relation each to each. The Bible, in fact, is full of such analogies. Look, for example, to some of the emblems taken from Nature, and applied to the Lord Jesus Christ: He is "the Sun of righteousness" (Mal. iv. 2). He is "the Branch" (Zech. vi. 12). He is "a plant of renown" (Ezek. xxxiv. 29). He is "the true vine" (John xv. 1). He is "the root and the offspring of David: he is the bright and morning star" (Rev. xxii. 16). If, again, we advert to the Church of Christ, similar emblems from Nature are brought to describe and adorn her: "She looketh forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners" (Song vi. 10). She is "a dove in the clefts of the rock" (Song ii. 14). She is “a chaste virgin presented to Christ" (2 Cor. xi. 2). She is "the Bride, the Lamb's wife" (Rev. xxi. 9). She is "the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband" (Rev. xxi. 2). So also, in a great variety of other cases, and so now in particular, in relation to the word of God (Isa. lv. 11), his special promise of

"mercy" and "pardon " (ver. 7), and the effects of that word in "accomplishing that which he pleases" (ver. 11), as compared to "the rain and the snow, that come down from heaven," and according to the course of nature, under God, bring about their own appropriate results: "For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth."

May the Spirit of all grace be with us; may we mark the power, wisdom, and benevolence of God, in his providence; may we contemplate and admire his beneficent provision and arrangement, in relation to the seasons of the year; may we behold the wonderful adaptation of the rains and snows of heaven, for the production of the fruits of the earth, and the maintenance and comfort of man, and the beasts of the field; and whilst we trace the footsteps of God in his providence, may we also be enabled to see something of his goodness and grace, in the analogous revelations of his

will, and the rich provisions of the everlasting covenant!

"For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, so shall my word be, that goeth forth out of my mouth.” The grand point here urged by God is the certainty of his "mercy" and "pardon" (ver. 7) to the returning penitent; and that certainty is confirmed by a reference to a law of nature; for just as certainly as "the rain" and "the snow" come down from heaven, and accomplish their design in the economy of nature, on the earth, so certainly shall the word of God in his promise accomplish its design in the economy of grace, on the souls of men. But let us at present look particularly for a little to the figure here used: "As the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither:" "the rain" and "the snow" are both from God: he makes the atmosphere dark; he causes the clouds to descend; they form gradually, and drops of rain, in smaller or greater abundance, fall down upon the earth. In like manner God makes "the snow," formed by the freezing of the vapours in

the atmosphere, composed of little particles exquisitely fashioned; and whether falling singly or in snow-flakes, it comes down to the earth, light as a feather, and with a whiteness than which nothing on earth is more beautiful.

Out

of his treasure-house, "he giveth snow like wool; he scattereth the hoar-frost like ashes. He casteth forth his ice like morsels: who can stand before his cold?" (Ps. cxlvii. 16, 17.) All these appearances are regulated by strict law; the origin and mission of them are directed by a continual wisdom, and they are destined to a specific end. God himself hath distinctly told us, "While the earth remaineth, seed-time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night, shall not cease" (Gen. viii. 22). And as surely as these laws of nature were instituted and remain, so surely must the word of God, in his promise of forgiveness to the penitent sinner, continue fixed and inviolable: "As the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither," "so shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth."

The rain or the snow "returneth not thither,