July 1932
325
T h e
K i n g ’ s B u s i n e s s
' l loies on CHRISTIAN ENDEAVOR By M ary G. G oodner
AUGUST 7, 1932 NATURE SPEAKS OF GOD P salm 19:1-6 Suggestions for the Meeting Hymn—“ Come, Sound His Praise.” Hymn—“ There’s a Wideness in God’s Mercy.” Prayer. Violin Solo. Leader’s Remarks. Hymn—“ O Worship the King.” Three-minute talks by previously ap pointed speakers— What does the uniformity of nature’s laws tell you? What does the evidence o f design in na ture tell you about God ? What message lies in nature’s beauty? Quiet Hour. Hymn— “ God, that Madest Earth and Heaven.” ClosingSPsalm 19 (in concert). Meditation on the Lesson This is one o f the greatest Psalms, a universal favorite, one that should be memorized by all Christians. It is great in its subject, its depth, and its marvelous comprehensiveness. Dr. Scroggie has given a most illumi nating outline o f the psalm as follow s: 1. God revealed in nature (1-6). 2. God revealed in Scripture (7-11). 3. God revealed in experience (12-14). Contemplate, therefore, the skies, or the Scriptures, or the soul, and you are face to face with God. In the skies is revealed His glory; in the Scriptures, His great ness ; and in the soul, His grace. As these first six verses are the part for our topic, we shall confine our meditation to them. Kant has said, “There are two things o f perennial wonder, the starry sky and the moral law.” David had studied the latter in his home, and out on the Judaean hills, he had studied the former—both by day and by night. His occupation as a shep herd boy afforded him full opportunity o f gazing up into the vast dome and wor shiping the beneficent Creator. It was his voice that sang, “When I consider thy heavens, the work o f thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son o f man, that thou vis- itest him?” W e can well suppose that David wrote this psalm just as the sun was coming up over the eastern horizon resembling a “ bridegroom coming out o f his chamber.” Quoting Dr. Scroggie again: O f the witness o f the heavens, five things are said: I. The witness is specific. The heavens do not tell o f God’s will, grace, mercy, or love; but they do declare His wisdom, power, glory, and goodness. II. The witness is incessant. Consider the witnesses themselves. 1. The heavens. 2. The firmament, the camp o f the
starry worlds which shows forth the di vine glory by the number, variety, bright ness, beauty, and movement of its hosts. 3. The days, with their light, warmth, and life-giving properties. 4. The nights, with their stillness, so lemnity, and lovely splendor. These are the witnesses ever recounting the details o f the one grand story. III. The witness is inaudible. The test- timony breathed out and poured forth Is inarticulate. The heavens have no words for human ears. IV. The witness is universal. It is through all the earth, and to the end of the world. V. The witness is glorious. The sun is represented as a bridegroom full of jo y ; and as a runner, full o f strength. Illustration In the December, 1927, issue o f T he K ing ’ s B usiness , Dr. A. I. Brown has a most interesting article on remarkable in stances o f intelligence in the animal king dom. He speaks o f several varieties, and then tells o f the feats o f a wasp: “Another little creature which offers an insoluble puzzle to the materialist is a cer tain variety of wasp that performs some wonderful feats in its ordinary routine of work for its unborn children. This wasp builds its home underground by laborious ly excavating a few rooms, in itself an al most Herculean task. This devoted par ent knows that its tiny offspring, when hatched, must have for its food supply liv ing meat! Nothing else will be accepted, and this curious appetite presents a form idable problem for the wasp to solve. On a neighboring vine, in the person o f one or more fat and succulent caterpillars, the food is found. Now the wasp is confront ed with a most delicate surgical opera tion requiring a precise knowledge o f anatomy and the possession o f inconceiv able surgical skill, along with the neces sary tool o f the most delicate description. The Sunset By J anet J ohnson What a glorious revelation The sunset doth unfold; How it wafts our admiration, Through hues that look like gold! There the unseen Artist shows us His handiwork on high, Which bespeaks eternal wonders Beyond a sunset sky. As the grandeur o f the sunset Inspires with hope divine, May we, too, shed beams that gladden Some heart who may repine. Like the fading o f the sunset, Our faith at times may fade; But the Hand behind the sunset Will guide through sun and shade.
The caterpillar must be completely and in stantly paralyzed, but not killed by the very first attack. The attacker goes up to the unsuspecting caterpillar and, with a light ning-like thrust of its tiny lance, pene trates one o f the nine ventral ganglia, or nerve centers, which are to be found along the abdominal wall of the crawling vic tim. These nerve centers are o f micro scopic size, and the anatomical instinct and operative skill, which enables the wasp to make helpless its opponent at the first stroke, is in many ways one of the most striking phenomena in all nature. Not content with one sword thrust, it proceeds to puncture the remaining eight ganglia, until there is scarcely a movement visible. Then the living meat must be transported to the distant home, necessitating the ex hibition of amazing strength as the little insect tugs, pushes, and pulls the cater pillar along home. When it is safely drop ped into the room where it is to be needed, the mother wasp displays another bit o f inexplicable wisdom. The head o f the caterpillar contains, o f course, the vital organs, which, if eaten, would immediately result in the death o f the necessary food, and the consequent annihilation o f the in fant wasp. The mother, apparently sens ing this fact, never lays its egg on the head but always back on the tail end. In due course, after the mother has departed, leaving the egg to bring forth the baby it will never see, the larval wasp is hatched and, finding its food directly beneath it, takes an ample bite o f the caterpillar, still living but helpless, and when the entire im mature butterfly is consumed, the larva or worm which is to develop into the fully developed wasp, goes into the next or pupa stage o f its life history, all its wants having been supplied by the splendid work o f its unknown mother. Is it possible to conceive o f these won derful powers as the product o f any evo lutionary process? In that case, there was a time when the mother wasp knew noth ing o f anatomy or surgery. If that is true, what would become o f the wasp when it attempted to paralyze its meat supply ? There is but one answer— the wasp would be killed and the entire race o f wasps would be annihilated, so that today there would be no such wasp family to be found. We are compelled to believe that the first wasp knew as much as its modern de scendants and possessed a knowledge which must have been conferred by an omnipotent, omniscient Creator.” Brief Verses I. T he S pacious F irmament The spacious firmament on high, With all the blue ethereal sky, And spangled heavens, a shining frame, Their great Original proclaim. —A ddison . II. What are ye orbs? The words o f God? The Scriptures of the skies ! —B ailey .
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