Job 12:8 Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach you: and the fishes of the sea shall declare to you. Each season has its appropriate moral. Each lays upon us its own solemn obligation and duty. From a general and even a cursory sketch of the outward world, everyone must confess that the Almighty Maker of all things is a being of infinite benevolence and goodness. In connection with this fact of His benevolence, we must also feel our own constant dependence upon His bounty. There is incessant illustration of Divine providence. We cannot but view the constant reproduction of sustenance for mankind as a strong argument for Christian cheerfulness. But the facts of the harvest teach us, both in reference to our temporal affairs, and the more important concerns that relate to our everlasting salvation — where God operates, man must cooperate. "Speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee." As we watch the anxious husbandman placing his corn seed into the ground, let every soul that is anxious for the spiritual improvement of those around it take courage. "In due time he shall reap, if he faint not." Let our thoughts pass from the present life, which we spend here on earth as a shadow, unto that day, which cannot be far from any, when we ourselves shall be, in our bodies, sown for the great harvest of the assembled universe. That sowing cannot be contemplated by anyone without sensations of the profoundest awe and interest. (Thomas Jackson, M. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee: and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee.WEB: Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach you. The fish of the sea shall declare to you. |
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