The Rain and the Snow. DEUT. xxxii. 2. "My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew: as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass." JOB XXXviii. 28. "Hath the rain a father? or who hath begotten the drops of dew?" Ps. lxxii. 6. "He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass; as showers that water the earth." JER. xiv. 22. "Are there any among the vanities of the Gentiles that can cause rain? or can the heavens give showers? Art not thou he, O Lord our God? therefore we will wait upon thee; for thou hast made all these things." HEB. vi. 7, 8. "For the earth, which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God; but that which beareth thorns and briars is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned." I COR. iii. 6. "I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the in crease." A 1 "From heaven descend the drops of dew, From heaven the gracious showers; Earth's winter aspect to renew, And clothe the spring with flowers. From heaven the beams of morning flow, That melt the gloom of night; From heaven the evening breezes blow, Health, fragrance, and delight. "As dew, and rain, and light, and air, Kindle a sacred flame: Exalt her sons on high, And train them for their second birth A birth beyond the sky." THE RAIN AND THE SNOW. ISA. lv. 10, II. "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; it shall not return unto me void; but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it." HE similitudes employed by the sacred writers, while fitted, by their inimitable beauty, to please the imagination, and gratify the taste, are not less adapted to excite the attention, to enlighten the understanding, to impress the heart, and to fasten upon the memory. Borrowed, for the most part, from sources, with which we are perfectly familiar, the truth, which they are designed to convey, can scarcely fail to strike us at first sight, aided, as it is, by the illustration afforded. Many of them are drawn from the most common phenomena of the natural world, so that almost every object we behold,-above, be neath, or around us, becomes a remembrancer of spiritual things. A better example of this is scarcely anywhere to be found than in the beautiful passage placed at the head of this chapter, wherein the prophet, in the name of the Almighty, institutes a comparison between the rain and the snow in the natural world, and the Word of the Gospel in the moral world. Let us proceed, then, to consider some of those particulars in which they are analogous. The words of the prophet suggest that there is a resemblance in their origin. Both are the work of God. The rain and the snow come down from heaven-not merely from the aërial heavens, or atmosphere, but from the heaven of heavens, from the immediate presence of Him who rules the elements. He it is who "saith to the snow, Be thou on the earth; likewise to the small rain, and to the great rain of His strength;" and, according to His direction, they descend from the upper regions of the atmosphere, and do whatsoever He commands them upon the face of the world. In like manner, the Word of the Gospel cometh down from Him who is the giver of every good and every perfect gift. Hence He styles it, "My Word, which goeth forth out of My mouth." It comes to us, it is true, in the language of men, but it is not on that account the less His Word. Although human in its vehicle, yet, in its nature and substance, it is wholly Divine. Accordingly, St Paul lays it down as the characteristic of "all scripture," that it "is given by inspiration of God," and the apostle Peter teaches us, that "prophecy came not by the will of man, but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." In proof of this testimony, we might refer to the seal which God has set upon the Scriptures-to the exact fulfilment of numerous prophecies recorded in them, and to the miracles by which the sacred writers authenticated their Divine commission, and established their authority and infallibility as teachers of Divine truth. We might refer with propriety, also, to their contents-to the sublimity of the doctrines taught in them; to the extent and purity of their precepts; to the majesty of their style; to the agreement of the different parts, and the scope of the whole; especially to the full discovery they make of the only way of man's |