The Existence of God and the Immortality of the Soul, Chapter 7
CHAP. VII.Ch. VII.
The duties of understanding Creatures, to the Maker of all things. Admiration of his glorious perfections visible in them. This is more particularly the duty of Man, the World being made eminently for him. The Causes why the Creatour is not honour'd in his Works, are mens ignorance and inobservance. Things new rather affect us, than great. An humble fear is a necessary respect from the Creature, to the Divine Majesty and Power. Love and Obedience in the highest degrees are due from men to God, in the quality of Creator. Trust and reliance on God is our duty and priviledg.
LEt us now briefly consider the indispensible Duties of rational Creatures with respect to the Maker of all things. And those are,
1. To acknowledg, and admire the Deity, and his perfections that are so visible in his Works. For there must be a first Cause from whom that receives being, that cannot proceed from it self. In all the forms of things there are some Characters stampt of the Divine Wisdom, that declare his Glory, some footsteps imprest of his Power that discover him; some lines drawn of his Goodness that demonstrate him. And so much praise is justly due to the Artificer, as there is excellence of Art and Perfection of workmanship appearing in the Work. This Duty is especially incumbent on Man, because the World was made with a more eminent respect for him, than for Angels or Animals. For if we consider the diversity of its parts, the multitude and variety of sensitive Natures, of which it consists, and the Art whereby 'tis fram'd according to the most noble Idea and design of highest Wisdom, 'tis evident it was principally made for Man, there being an adequate correspondence between them, with regard to the faculties and the objects. 'Tis true the Angels understand more perfectly than Man the union order and beauty of the World, an incomparable proof of the Makers perfections, but they are not capable of knowledg or pleasure by tasts, smels, sounds, which are only proportion'd to make impressions on material Organs. And is it agreeable to Wisdom that an Object purely sensible should be chiefly intended for a Power purely Spiritual? Neither are the Beasts fit spectators of the Divine Works. For the material part to which sense can only reach, is the least notable in the frame of Nature, and the oeconomy of the World. They cannot discover the dependance between Causes and Effects, the Means and End, nor the Wisdom that ordered all. These are only for the vision of the mind, which they want. The volume of the World to them is like a fair printed Book compos'd of sublime matter and style, but opened to one that sees the beauty of the Characters, without understanding the Language it speaks, and the Wisdom it contains. An Eagle by fixing its eyes on the Sun cannot measure its greatness, nor understand the ends of its motion. The World would be lost, if only for them. But the wise Creator united these two distinct natures in Man, and plac'd him in this Theater of his Magnificence, that by the ministry of the senses he might have perception of the external part, and by his reason discover what is most worthy to be known; the admirable order that distinguishes and unites so many and such different natures, and guides all their motions, that 'tis clear they depend upon one principle without knowing it, and conspire to one end without willing it. How should this raise his mind in the just praises of the Maker?
The true causes why the Creator is not duly acknowledged and honour'd for his Works, are either Ignorance, or a guilty neglect and inobservance of them.
1. Ignorance in the composure of the World, and of the several beings in it. A Philosopher askt by one, What advantage the instructions of Philosophy would be to his Son? replied, If no other, yet that when he is a spectatour in the Theatre, one Stone shall not sit upon another. An ignorant person encompast with all the varieties of Nature, wherein omniscient skill appears, is insensible as a Stone carv'd into the shape of a Man. Nay the most learned Professors know little more than the several kinds of things, and the causes and manner of some particular effects. How often are they forc't to take refuge in occult qualities when prest with difficulties? or only assign universal causes of things, and sometimes the same for operations extreamly contrary? How many mysteries of Nature are still vaild and hid in those deep recesses where we can go only in the dark? How much remains undiscover'd that is truly wonderful in the Works of God? They are the Objects of the Eye and Mind, but what is visible to the Eye is least worthy of admiration. From hence the value of the Works, and the Glory of the Author is much lessen'd. Besides, the rational pleasure of the mind is lost by not discerning the wise order that is infallibly observ'd in universal Nature. 'Tis not the viewing a musical Instrument, the variety of the parts, and of the strings in their size and length, that produces delight, but hearing the harmonious and pleasant diversity of their sounds contemper'd by the proportion of numbers. Thus 'tis not the sight of the meer outward frame of things, but the understanding the intellectual Musick, that springs from the just Laws of Nature, whereby they are perfectly tuned, and the conspiring harmony of so many mixt parts without the least harsh discord, that ravishes the Soul with true pleasure.
2. The inobservance of Man is another cause why the great Creatour is not magnified for all his Works. If we did consider the least, even one of those‖Tertullian. unius puncti animalia, a Flea or Mite, we should find what is admirable in that scarce-visible Atom of matter. But the*Assiduitate cotidiana, & Consuitudine oculorum assuescunt animi, ne que admirantur, ne que requirunt rationes earum rerum quas semper vident. Quasi novitas magis quam magnitudo rerum debeat ad exquirendas causas excitate. Cicer. c. 2. de nat. Deor. novelty, not the excellence of things, draws our thoughts. The greatest works in Nature, that are not Miracles, only because common and usual, are past by with a careless Eye. Their continual presence is not moving, but lessens our regard and attention. The†Arabia at que India medendo aestimatur, ulteri que parvo medicina à rubro ma…i imputatur, cum remedia vera pauperimus quisque caenet, nam si ex horro petatur aut herba, aut frutex quaeratur, nulla artium vilior fiet. Plin. lib. 24. Naturalist observ'd it to be one of the solemn follies of Men, to value Medicines not for their Virtue, but the Country where they grow, the Climate from whence they come; if they have a Barbarous name, they are reputed to have a mysterious efficacy, and those Plants are neglected as unprofitable, that are natives of their own Soil. The rarity is esteem'd more than the merit of things. 'Tis a greater wonder to give light to the Sun, than to restore it to the blind, yet its daily presence does not affect us. If a Chymist should extract a Liquor of such an extraordinary virtue, that by pouring a few drops of it on the dust, a Body should be form'd, animated, and move, would any one be induc'd to believe it without the testimony of his own eyes, and would it not be a surprising wonder? Yet innumerable living Creatures spring from the Dust by the falling of Rain, and few think it worthy of observation. The raising a dead Body to life would astonish us, but we are unaffected that every day so many living Men are born. Yet, if we consider things aright, the secret forming a Body in the Womb is an equal Prodigy of Power, and as truely marvellous, as the restoring the vital congruities to a carcass, that prepare it for the reception of the Soul. What more deservs serious reflection, than that from the same indistinct Seed, so many and such various parts in their substance, figure and qualities should proceed? hard and dry for the Bones, liquid for the humours, moist and soft for the flesh, tenacious for the Nerves, perforated for the Arteries and Veins, hot for the Liver and Heart, cold for the Brain, transparent for the Eyes? How should it raise our wonder that that matter which in it self is simple and equal, in Gods hand is capable of such admirable Art? But the constant sight of living productions causes our neglect, and deprives him of his just Honour. Thus,Magni artificis est, clausisse totum in exiguo. that from almost an invisible Seed weak and tender,Sen…. should spring a great Tree of that strength as to resist the fury of the Winds,Naturae miraculo est tam parvo gigni arbores. Plin. what miraculous virtue is requisit? The inlightned observing Mind ascends from Nature to God, whose instrument it is, and with deliberate admiration praises Him for his excellent Works.
2. The most humble fear is a necessary Duty from Man to the Majesty and Power of the Creatour. A barren admiration of his omnipotent Art in his Works is not sufficient, but it must be joyned with awful respects of his Excellent Greatness. He has the right, and to him is due the reverence and homage of universal King. With what solemnity and composedness of Spirit should we approach the Divine Presence? What a jealous watch ought to be plac'd over our Hearts in all our addresses to Him, lest by carelesness and inadvertency we should disparage his Excellencies. To think of Him without reverence is a profanation. The Lord is a great God, and a great King above all Gods; and from hence the necessary consequence is, O come let us worship and fall down, and kneel before the Lord our Maker. What ever is Glorious, is in Him in the most excellent degrees of Perfection. The World, with the innumerable variety of Creatures, is but a drop compar'd to his Transcendent Greatness. And what part is Man of that drop? as nothing. Time is but a point of his Eternity, Dominion but a shadow of his Soveraignty. 'Tis the most natural duty of Man to walk humbly with his God, and to fear above all things to displease Him. The whole Creation, even the insensible part, and that seems least subject to a Rule and Law, and least conducted by Reason, obey his Will. What is more light and rash than the Winds? yet they do not breath but by his Command. What is more fierce and impetuous than the Sea? yet it does not transgress his Order. When it threatens to over-run the whole Earth, the weak Sand stops its foaming rage, and it retires, respecting the bounds set by the Creator. What then will be our guilt, if we are regardless of his Majesty and Authority, who are enlightned with Reason to understand his Will, when the most rebellious and unteachable things in Nature readily and constantly obey Him? He is present everywhere, the whole compass of Heaven and Earth is but an inch of his Immensity; He sees all, observes all, is more intimate with our Hearts than we are our selves; and dare Man trample on his Laws before his face? Who can by resistance or flight escape from inevitable punishment, that offends him? He can bind the most stubborn enemies hands and feet; and cast them into utter darkness. As he made all things by the meer act of his Will, so without the least strain of his Power he can destroy them? What does not a mortal man arrogate to appear terrible, and make his Will to be obeyed, when he has but power to take away this short natural life? The proud King of Babylon commanded the numerous Nations under his Empire, to prostrat themselves like Brutes in the lowest adoration of the Image he set up; and when the three Hebrew young Men refused to give Divine Honour to it, he threatned, If ye worship not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery Fornace; and who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands? This is the language of a Man (poor Dust) that can heat a Fornace with Fire, and has a Squadron of Souldiers ready upon the least intimation of his pleasure to throw into it any that disobey'd, as if no Power either in Heaven or Earth could rescue them from him. 'Twas impious folly in him thus to speak. But God can give order to Death to seize on the stoutest Rebel, and cast him into an eternal Fornace, and say in truth, Who shall deliver out of my hands? His Power reaches beyond the Grave.Carnulius me evasit. Suit. Tiberius intending to put to death by slow and exquisit torments one who kill'd himself, cry'd out in a rage, Carnulius has made an escape from me. But no Sinner can by dying escape God's Justice, for Death it self takes the Condemned, and delivers them to endless Torments. There are no degrees of fear can be equal to this cause, the Wrath of the great Creator. Is there any pleasure of sin so sweet, but this, if considered, would make it to be as Poison or Gall to the taste? Is any Joy so predominant but this would instantly make it die in the carnal heart? The due apprehension of Almighty Anger is sufficient to subdue the most vicious insuperable passions that so violently transport to sin. But O Astonishing stupidity! The most of Men without fear provoke the living God, as if he were like the Idols of the Heathens, a dead stock or stone, insensible and powerless, so that the Spiders made their Webs on the Beard of Jupiter, and the Birds their Nests in his Thunder. Where is their Reason, where is their self-love, to challenge so dreadful an Adversary, who is able in the very act of Sin to strike them with Death Temporal and Eternal. Consider this, ye that forget God, lest he tear you in pieces, and there is none to deliver.
3. Love and Obedience in the highest degree are due to the Author of our Beings, and all things for our use and profit. What motion is more according to the Laws of Nature, than that Love should answer Love? and so far as the one descends in benefits, the other should ascend in thankfulness? If we consider the first and fundamental benefit with all its circumstances, in the pure order of Nature, that we are Men consisting of a rational Soul, and a Body admirably prepar'd for its convenient habitation, and in this regard the most wonderful work of God; can a humane Breast be so hard and flinty as not to be softned and made receptive of impressions by this effect of his pure goodness? Is it possible that any one should be of such a stupid savage temper, so void of all humanity, nay of the sentiments of the lower Nature, as not to be toucht with a grateful affection to the Author of his life, when Lions and Tigers, the most untractable Beasts of the Forest, are by an innate principle so tenderly inclin'd to their Dams? It unspeakably enforces our obligation, that beside the inherent excellencies of Nature he made us by priviledg above all Creatures in this sensible World, and furnish'd it with innumerable objects excellent in their beauty and variety, that are not meer remedies for necessity, but for the delight of this present life. And having tasted the good of being, and the fruits of his magnificent Bounty, can we be coldly affected to our great Benefactor? The ‖Beneficiis tuis illum cinge, quocun que se convertit, memoriam tui fugiens ibite videat.Moralist advises, as the best expedient to make a person grateful, encompass him with thy benefits, that wherever he turns, something may recal his fugitive memory, and render thee visible to him.Senec. This cannot be done by Men. But where ever we turn our thoughts, or fix our eyes, either on our persons or comforts, on the present state, or the future, (for he has given Eternity to our duration) we find our selves incircled with innumerable and inestimable benefits from God. 'Tis impossible we should ever forget them without the greatest guilt. Every minute he renews our lives and all our enjoyments. For the actual influence of his Power is as requisit to preserve our being, as at first to produce it. The Creature has nothing of its own, but a simple non-repugnance of coming into act. How frozen is that Heart that is not melted in love to so good a God? Let us look into the depth of our native nothing, that we may understand the heighth of the divine Love, in raising us from the pure possibility of being into act, and that meerly for his Sovereign pleasure, and most free benignity. There was no necessity that constrain'd him to decree the making the World, or Man in it: for 'tis a plain contradiction that there should be a superior Power to determine a Being of infinite Perfections. And for that Reason also he gives all his Benefits without the least possible advantage to himself. 'Twas commended as a miraculous Vertue in Theodosius the Emperor,A te nova benignitate is honos amicis tuis habitus est, qui totus esset illorum quibus deferebatur, nihilque ad te redundaret nisi dandi voluptas. that he was bountiful meerly to satisfie his own Goodness: But 'tis the propriety of God's Nature. Is He not then worthy of all our thoughts, all our affections, for his most free and admirable Favours? If there be but a spark of Reason, we must judge that the immense Liberality of God to us,Plaeat. without respect to his own interest, is so far from lessening, that it increases our duty to correspond in all possible thankfulness.
Consider further, that which adds to the greatness of the Gifts we receive, is‖Illa quanto gratiora sunt, quantoque in partem interiorem animi descendunt, cum delectat cogitantem magis a quo, quam quid acceperis. Senec. de benefic. lib. 1. the greatness of the Giver. The price of a benefit rises in proportion to the worth of the person that bestows it. A small gift from a great hand may be justly preferr'd before a richer from a less estimable donor. Now if we consider that the glorious God (in comparison of whom the greatest Kings are but vain shadows of Majesty) has made a World full of so many and so excellent Creatures for our refreshment, that our being on Earth may not be tedious in the short space of our journey to Heaven, will it not overcome us with an excess of wonder and affection, and cause us to break forth, What is Man that thou art mindful of him, and the son of Man that thon visitest him? Thou madest him a little lower than the Angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour; Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands, thou hast put all things under his feet.
And as our most ardent Love, so intire Obedience is due to the Creator, both in active service for his Glory, and an absolute resignation to his Will. The strongest title to acquire Dominion according to the Law of Nature, is that of the Cause to the Effect. The Mind cannot rebel against the light of this Principle. 'Tis most just therefore we should imploy all our powers, even from the early rise of Reason to the setting point of Life, wholly in his service from whom we received them. 'Tis an excellent representation of St.‖Sicut dedit figuram, cor daret, & spiraculum vitae. Serm. de verb. Dom. Austin; If a Sculptor, after his fashioning a piece of Marble in a humane Figure, could inspire it with Life and Sense, and give it Motion, and Understanding, and Speech, can it be imagin'd but the first act of it would be to prostrate it self at the feet of the Maker, in subjection and thankfulness, and to offer what ever it is, and can do, as homage to him? The Almighty Hand of God form'd our Bodies, He breathed into us the Spirit of Life; and should not the power of Love constrain us to live wholly according to his Will? methinks nothing should be pleasing to us but as we make it tributary to Him. If we only regard Him as our Creatour, that one quality should for ever engage us to fidelity in his service, zeal for his Interest, Obedience to his Laws, and an inviolable respect for his Honour. And this duty binds us the more strongly, because as God made the World for Mans profit, so he made Man for his own Glory. And what the Loadstone is to the Steel, or the sensible good to the appetite, the same attractive is the end to the intelligent Nature. And the higher the end is, and the more the mind is fitted to understand its excellence, the more powerfully it should excite the faculties, in pursuit of it according to their uttermost capacity. Now what horrid unthankfulness is it to be insensible of the infinite Debt we owe to God? what disloyalty to pervert his Favours, to slight his Commands, and cross the end of our Creation? The serious consideration that God has given us such a noble Nature, capable to know, love and enjoy Him, and that we have so little improved our faculties, for these excellent ends, should put us in two contrary excesses of Spirit, the one of joy, for his unspeakable Goodness, the other of confusion, for our most unworthy neglect of it. Our duty and our disobedience have the same measure. The Goodness and Bounty of our great Benefactor regulates the one and the other. The more we have received from Him, the more we are ingaged to Him, and the more we are ingaged, the more guilty, and worthy of punishment will our neglect be. Among Men an ungrateful perfidious person is an object of horror, and favours abused become motives of hatred. To employ our faculties rational or sensitive to the disservice of our Maker, is the same kind of villany though of incomparably greater guilt both in respect of the object and degree; as if a Traitor should turn the very same Weapons against his Prince, that he received from him for his defence. To turn his benefits into occasions of sin, and by the same things to dishonour him by which we should glorifie Him, is extreme perversness. In this, unthankful Man imitates the Earth from whence he was taken: for that makes use of the heat of the Sun to send up Vapours that obscure the Beams of Light he communicates to it. This is to despise the Divine Majesty, Power, Wisdom, Goodness, that are united, and so eminently appear in his Works, and will provoke his severe Vengeance. Let us therefore every day revive the sense of our obligations, and by intense thoughts kindle the affections of Love and Reverence, of praise and thankfulness, that in them as flames ascending from an Altar, we may offer our selves a holy living Sacrifice, which is our reasonable service. Our All is due to him, what ever we are, what ever we have, our Bodies, our Souls, our Time and Eternity.
And an humble resignation to his Will in all things is the essential duty of his Creatures 'Tis true that upon the account of his Wisdom and Power, it becomes us with the most respectful submission to yeild our selves to his pleasure. Authority and Dignity naturally result from their union in a person. Therefore 'tis Supreme in him who possesses them in their greatest excellence. When God himself speaks to Job of his transcendent Majesty, and of his right to dispose of Men according to his Will; he produces his Works as the conspicuous testimonies of his great Power and exquisite Wisdom: But the reason of our submission will be more convincing if we remember that God has an absolute unalienable propriety in us, and all that we enjoy; for our being and comforts are the liberal gifts of his hand. If therefore he shall please to take away any of his Favours, even Life it self, though not to exchange it for a life infinitely better, it would be the most unnatural rebellion to to resist the dispositions of his Providence, the most vile unthankfulness, to be stormy and passionate, or to consent to any secret murmuring and discontent in the Heart, as if our own were taken from us, either unseasonably or unjustly. And though our troubles immediately proceed from second natural Causes, yet according to right Reason, we must esteem them but as instruments of his invisible Hand, and govern'd by his Counsel, in order to such effects and in the time he pleases. It is our duty even in the saddest circumstances, with an entire readiness of mind, and conformity of desires to say to our Maker, Thy will be done.
4. Truth and Reliance on God is our duty and priviledge. Every being has a necessary dependance on Him for its subsistence; but Man of all the visible Creatures is only capable of affiance in Him, by reflecting upon his own Impotence, and by considering the Perfections of the Creator, that render him the proper object of trust. 'Tis is incommunicable honour of the Deity, to be acknowledged and regarded as the Supporter of all things. To put confidence in our selves, in the advantages of Body or Mind or Estate, as if we were the Architects of our own felicity, is a sacrilegious usurpation. Yet vain Man foments a secret pride and high opinion of himself, as if by his own prudence and conduct he might acquire an happiness, till experience confutes his pleasing but pernicious error. The truth is, were there no God, whose powerful Providence governs all things, and has a special care and respect of Man, he were of all creatures the most miserable. So that besides the wickedness, we may clearly discover the folly of Atheism, that deprives Man of his chiefest Comfort at all times, and his only Comfort in the greatest exigencies. For in this mutable state he is liable to so many disasters and wretched accidents, that none can have an assurance of prosperity one day. How frail and uncertain is Life, the foundation of all temporal Enjoyments? It depends upon so many things, that 'tis admirable it subsists for a little time. The least vessel in the Body that breaks or is stopt, interrupting the course of the Blood and Humours, ruines its oeconomy. Sometimes in its vigorous consistence, when most distant from Sickness 'tis nearest to Death. A little eruption of Blood in the Brain is sufficient to stop the passages of the Spirits, and deprive it of motion and life. And the changes of things without us, are so various and frequent, so great and suddain, that 'tis an excess of folly, a dangerous rest to be secure in the enjoyment of them. The same person sometimes affords an example of the greatest Prosperity, and of greater Misery in the space of a few hours. Henry the fourth of France, in the midst of the triumphs of Peace, was by a blow from a sacrilegious hand dispatcht in his Coach, and his blody Corps forsaken by his Servants, expos'd to the veiw of all; so that as the ‖MazarayHistorian observes, there was but a moment between the adorations and oblivion of that great Prince. All flesh is Grass, and the glory of it as the flower of the Grass. What ever disguises its imperfections, and gives it lustre, is but superficial, like the colour andornament of a Flower, whose matter is only a little dust and Water, and is as weak and fading. Who then can possess these things without a just jealousie, lest they should slip away, or be ravisht from him by violence? And in this respect Man is most unhappy; for besides the affliction of present evils, Reason, that separates him from other Creatures, and exalts him above them, is the fatal instrument of his trouble by the prevision of future evils. Ignorance of future miseries is a priviledge, when Knowledg is ineffectual to prevent them. Unseen evils are swallow'd whole, but by an apprehensive imagination are tasted in all their bitterness. By fore-thoughts we run to meet them before they are come, and feel them before they are truly sensible. This was the reason of that complaint in the‖Lucan. Poet seeing the prognosticks of misery many years before it arrived,
Sit subitum quodcunque paras, sit caeca futuri
Mens hominis fati, liceat sperare timenti.
Let the Evils thou preparest surprize us, let us not be tormented by an unhappy expectation of them, let the success of future things be concealed from our sight, let it be permitted to us to hope in the midst of our fears.
Indeed God has mercifully hid the most of future events from humane curiosity. For as on the one side by the view of great Prosperity, Man would be tempted to an excess of Pride and Joy, so on the other (as we are more sensibly touch'd with pain than pleasure) if when he begins to use his Reason and apprehensive faculty, by a secret of Opticks he should have in one sight presented all the Afflictions that should befal him in the World, how languishing would his life be? This would keep him on a perpetual Rack, and make him suffer together and at all times, what shall be endured separately and but once. But though the most of future things lie in obscurity, yet often we have sad intimations of approaching evils that awaken our fears. Nay, how many Tempests and Shipwracks do Men suffer in Terra firma, from the suspicion of Calamities that shall never be? Imaginary Evils operate as if real, and produce substantial Griefs. Now how can such an infirm & jealous creature, in the midst of things that are every minute subject to the Laws of Mutability, be without inward trouble? What can give him repose and tranquillity in his best condition, but an assurance that nothing can befall him but according to the wise Counsel and gracious Will of God? And in extream Afflictions, in the last Agonies, when no humane things can afford relief, when our dearest Friends are not able to comfort us, but are miserable in our miseries, what can bear up our fainting hope but the Divine Power, a foundation that never fails? what can allay our sorrows, but the Divine Goodness tenderly inclin'd to succour us? Our help is in the Lord who made Heaven and Earth. The Creation is a visible Monument of his Perfections. The Lord is a Sun, and a Sheild. He is al-sufficient to supply our wants, and satisfie our desires. As the Sun gives Life and Joy to all the World, and if there were millions of more kinds of beings and of individuals in it, his light and heat are sufficient for them all; so the Divine Goodness can supply us with all good things, and ten thousand Worlds more. And his Power can secure to us his Favours, and prevent troubles; or, which is more admirable, make them beneficial and subservient to our felicity. He is a sure refuge, an inviolable Sanctuary to which we may retire in all our streights. His Omnipotence is directed by unerring Wisdom, and excited by infinite love, for the good of those who faithfully obey him. An humble confidence in him, frees us from anxieties, preserves a firm peaceful temper in the midst of Storms. This gives a superiority of Spirit, a true empire of mind over all outward things.
Rex est qui posuit metus,
Occurritque suo libens
Fato, nec queritur mori.
What was the vain boast of Philosophers that by the power of Reason they could make all accidents to contribute their happiness, is the real priviledge we obtain by a regular trust in God, who directs and orders all events that happen for the everlasting good of his Servants. In the worst circumstances, we may rejoyce in Hope, in a certain and quiet expectation of a blessed issue. In Death it self we are more than Conquerers. O Lord God of Hosts, blessed is the Man that trusts in thee.