Ezra 7:27-28 Blessed be the LORD God of our fathers, which has put such a thing as this in the king's heart… So long as our streets are walled with barren brick, and our eyes rest continually, in our daily life, on objects utterly ugly, or of inconsistent and meaningless design, it may be a doubtful question whether the faculties of eye and mind which are capable of perceiving beauty, having been left without food during the whole of our active life, should suddenly be feasted upon entering a place of worship, and colour and music and sculpture should delight the senses and stir the curiosity of men unaccustomed to such appeal, at the moment when they are required to compose themselves for acts of devotion; but it cannot be a question at all, that if once familiarised with beautiful form and colour, we shall desire to see this also in the house of prayer; its absence will disturb instead of assisting devotion; and we shall feel it as vain to ask whether, with our own house full of goodly craftsmanship, we should worship God in a house destitute of it as to ask whether a pilgrim, whose day's journey has led him through fair woods and by sweet waters, must at evening turn aside into some barren place to pray. (J. Ruskin.). Parallel Verses KJV: Blessed be the LORD God of our fathers, which hath put such a thing as this in the king's heart, to beautify the house of the LORD which is in Jerusalem: |
    |