 | Poems by Three Friends |  |
51
GOD UNSEARCHABLE.
------ “Canst thou by searching find out God?
“Canst thou find out the Almighty to perfection?“
Job c. xi. v. 7.
“Canst thou find out the Almighty to perfection?“
Job c. xi. v. 7.
Shall mortal man, a child of earth,
Who yesterday received his birth
From God's all-bounteous hand;
Shall he, whilst sojourning below,
Presume the Almighty's plans to know,
His ways to understand?
Who yesterday received his birth
From God's all-bounteous hand;
Shall he, whilst sojourning below,
Presume the Almighty's plans to know,
His ways to understand?
He rides upon the stormy deep,
His watchful eyes that never sleep,
Wide o'er creation roll;
And from his bright empyreal throne,
View with one glance the torrid zone,
And ice-surrounded pole.
His watchful eyes that never sleep,
Wide o'er creation roll;
And from his bright empyreal throne,
View with one glance the torrid zone,
And ice-surrounded pole.
52
His paths the trackless waters are,
The winged whirlwinds are his car,
Its wheels the hurricane;
His fiery coursers bounding fly,
Borne rapid through the ethereal sky,
Or o'er the foaming main.
The winged whirlwinds are his car,
Its wheels the hurricane;
His fiery coursers bounding fly,
Borne rapid through the ethereal sky,
Or o'er the foaming main.
Earth as he passes, shakes with fear,
The infernal spirits when they hear,
To deeper caverns fly:
Fierce blazing light'nings mark his way,
Behind him pealing thunders play
Their dread artillery.
The infernal spirits when they hear,
To deeper caverns fly:
Fierce blazing light'nings mark his way,
Behind him pealing thunders play
Their dread artillery.
His wisdom, infinite and vast,
Shall through eternal ages last,
Unchangeably the same:
Whilst in the dreary shades of hell,
His justice so inflexible,
Proclaims his awful name.
Shall through eternal ages last,
Unchangeably the same:
Whilst in the dreary shades of hell,
His justice so inflexible,
Proclaims his awful name.
53
Before the earth or worlds were made,
His vast eternal plans were laid,
In wisdom and in love;
And what the Almighty then design'd,
Is finished in the eternal mind;—
His purpose cannot move.
His vast eternal plans were laid,
In wisdom and in love;
And what the Almighty then design'd,
Is finished in the eternal mind;—
His purpose cannot move.
Ah then, suppress each rising sigh,
Nor dare to ask the Almighty why,
Or what his hands perform!
Submit to his all-wise decrees,
Whose power can calm the raging seas,
Or raise them to a storm!
Nor dare to ask the Almighty why,
Or what his hands perform!
Submit to his all-wise decrees,
Whose power can calm the raging seas,
Or raise them to a storm!
| Poems by Three Friends | |