skill of the workman in the frame, then the skill of the musician in
stringing it proper for such musical notes as he will express upon
it, and after that the tempering of the strings, by various stops,
to a delightful harmony, so is the wisdom of God seen in framing
the world, then in tuning it, and afterwards in the motion of the
several creatures. The fabric of the world is called the wisdom of God
(1 Cor. i. 21): “After that, in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom
knew not God;” _i. e._, by the creation the world knew not God. The
framing cause is there put for the effect and the work framed; because
{a519} the Divine wisdom stepped forth in the creatures, to a public
appearance, as if it had presented itself in a visible shape to
man, giving instructions in and by the creatures, to know and adore
him. What we translate (Gen. i. 1) “In the beginning God created the
heaven and the earth,” the Targum expresseth, “In wisdom God created
the heaven and the earth.” Both bear a stamp of this perfection on
them;[772] and when the apostle tells the Romans (Rom. i. 20) “The
invisible things of God were clearly understood by the things that are
made,” the word he uses is ποιήμασι not ἔργοις; this signifies a work
of labor, but ποίημα a work of skill, or a poem. The whole creation is
a poem, every species a stanza, and every individual creature a verse
in it. The creation presents us with a prospect of the wisdom of God,
as a poem doth the reader with the wit and fancy of the composer: “By
wisdom he created the earth” (Prov. iii. 19), “and stretched out the
heavens by discretion” (Jer. x. 12). There is not anything so mean, so
small, but glitters with a beam of Divine skill; and the consideration
of them would justly make every man subscribe to that of the psalmist,
“O Lord, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them
all” (Ps. civ. 24). All, the least as well as the greatest, and the
meanest as well as the noblest; even those creatures which seem ugly
and deformed to us, as toads, &c., because they fall short of those
perfections which are the dowry of other animals: in these there is
a footstep of Divine wisdom, since they were not produced by him at
random, but determined to some particular end, and designed to some
usefulness, as parts of the world in their several natures and stations.
God could never have had a satisfaction in the review of his works, and
pronounced them good or comely, as he did (Gen. i. 31), had they not
been agreeable to that eternal original copy in his own mind. It is
said he was refreshed, _viz._ with that review (Exod. xxxi. 17), which
could not have been, if his piercing eye had found any defect in any
thing which had sprung out of his hand, or an unsuitableness to that
end for which he created them. He seems to do as a man that hath made
a curious and polite work, with exact care to peer about every part
and line, if he could perceive any imperfection in it, to rectify the
mistake: but no defect was found by the infinitely wise God upon this
second examination. This wisdom of the creation appears, 1. In the
variety. 2. In the beauty. 3. The fitness of every creature for its
use. 4. The subordination of one creature to another, and the joint
concurrence of all to one common end.
1. In the variety (Ps. civ. 24): “O Lord, how manifold are thy works!”
How great a variety is there of animals and plants, with a great
variety of forms, shapes, figurations, colors, various smells, virtues,
and qualities! and this rarity is produced from one and the same matter,
as beasts and plants from the earth (Gen. i. 11, 24): “Let the earth
bring forth living creatures; and the earth brought forth grass, and
the herb yielding seed after his kind:” such diversity of fowl and fish
from the water (Gen. i. 20): “Let the waters bring forth abundantly
the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly;” such a
beautiful and active variety from so dull a matter {a520} as the earth;
so solid a variety from so fluid a matter as the water; so noble a
piece as the body of man, with such variety of members fit to entertain
a more excellent soul as a guest, from so mean a matter as the dust of
the ground (Gen. ii. 7). This extraction of such variety of forms out
of one single and dull matter, is the chemistry of Divine wisdom. It is
a greater skill to frame noble bodies of vile matter, as varieties of
precious vessels of clay and earth, than of a nobler matter, as gold
and silver. Again, all those varieties propagate their kind in every
particular and quality of their nature, and uniformly bring forth exact
copies according to the first pattern God made of the kind (Gen. i. 11,
12, 24). Consider, also, how the same piece of ground is garnished with
plants and flowers of several virtues, fruits, colors, scents, without
our being able to perceive any variety in the earth that breeds them,
and not so great a difference in the roots that bear them. Add to this
the diversities of birds of different colors, shapes, notes, consisting
of various parts, wings like oars, to cut the air, and tails as the
rudder of a ship, to guide their motion. How various, also, are the
endowments of the creatures! some have vegetation, and the power of
growth; others have the addition of sense, and others the excellency of
reason; something wherein all agree, and something wherein all differ;
variety in unity, and unity in variety: the wisdom of the workman had
not been so conspicuous had there been only one degree of goodness: the
greatest skill is seen in the greatest variety. The comeliness of the
body is visible in the variety of members, and their usefulness to
one another. What an inform thing had man been had he been all ear,
or all eye! If God had made all the stars to be suns, it would have
been a demonstration of his power, but, perhaps, less of his wisdom:
no creatures, with the natures they now have, could have continued in
being under so much heat: there was no less wisdom went to the frame
of the least, than to the greatest creature. It speaks more art in a
limner to paint a landscape exactly, than to draw the sun, though the
sun be a more glorious body. I might instance also, in the different
characters and features imprinted upon the countenances of men and
women, the differences of voices and statures, whereby they are
distinguished from one another: these are the foundations of order and
of human society, and administration of justice. What confusion would
have been, if a grown‑up son could not be known from his father, the
magistrate from the subject, the creditor from the debtor, the innocent
from the criminal! The laws God hath given to mankind could not have
been put in execution: this variety speaks the wisdom of God.
2. The wisdom of the creation appears in the beauty, and order, and
situation of the several creatures (Eccles. iii. 11): “He hath made
everything beautiful in his time.” As their being was a fruit of Divine
power, so their order is a fruit of Divine wisdom. All creatures are
as members in the great body of the world, proportioned to one another,
and contributing to the beauty of the whole; so that if the particular
forms of everything, the union of all for the composition of the
world, and the laws which are established in the order of nature
for its conservation, be considered, it would ravish us {a521} with
an admiration of God.[773] All the creatures are so many pictures
or statues, exactly framed by line (Ps. xix. 4): “Their line is
gone through all the earth;” their “line,” a measuring line, or a
carpenter’s rule, whereby he proportions several pieces to be exactly
linked and coupled together. “Their line,” that is, their harmonious
proportion, and the instruction from it, is gone forth through all the
earth. Upon the account of this harmony, some of the ancient heathens
framed the images of their gods with musical instruments in their hands,
signifying that God wrought all things in a due proportion.[774] The
heavens speak this wisdom in their order. The revolutions of the sun
and moon determine the seasons of the year, and make day and night in
orderly succession. The stars beautify the heavens, and influence the
earth, and keep their courses (Judges v. 20). They keep their stations
without interfering with one another; and though they have rolled about
for so many ages, they observe their distinct laws, and in the variety
of their motions have not disturbed one another’s functions. The sun is
set as the heart in the midst of this great body, to afford warmth to
all: and had it been set lower, it had long since turned the earth into
flame and ashes: had it been placed higher, the earth would have wanted
the nourishment and refreshment necessary for it. Too much nearness
had ruined the earth by parching heat, and too great a distance had
destroyed the earth by starving it with cold.[775] The sun hath also
its appointed motion; had it been fixed without motion, half of the
earth had been unprofitable; there had been a perpetual darkness in
a moiety of it; nothing had been produced for nourishment, and so it
had been rendered uninhabitable: but now, by its motion, it visits all
the climates of the world, runs its circuit, so that “nothing is hid
from the heat thereof,” (Ps. xix. 6). It imparts its virtue to every
corner of the world in its daily and yearly visits. Had it been fixed,
the fruits of the earth under it had been parched and destroyed before
their maturity; but all those inconveniences are provided against by
the perpetual motion of the sun. This motion is orderly; it makes its
daily course from east to west, its yearly motion from north to south:
it goes to the north, till it comes to the point God hath set it, and
then turns back to the south, and gains some point every day: it never
riseth nor sets in the same place one day, where it did the day before.
The world is never without its light; some see it rising the same
moment we see it setting.[776] The earth also speaks the Divine wisdom;
it is the pavement of the world, as the heaven is the ceiling of
fretwork. It is placed lowermost, as being the heaviest body, and fit
to receive the weightiest matter, and provided as an habitation proper
for those creatures which derive the matter of their bodies from it,
and partake of its earthly nature; and garnished with other creatures
for the profit or pleasure of man.[777] The sea also speaks the same
Divine wisdom. “He strengthened the fountains of the deep, and gave the
sea a decree that it should not pass his {a522} command” (Prov. viii.
28, 29). He hath given it certain bounds that it should not overflow
the earth (Job xxviii. 11). It contains itself in the situation
wherein God hath placed it, and doth not transgress its bounds. What
if some part of a country, a little spot, hath been overflowed by it,
and groaned under its waves? yet for the main, it retains the same
channels wherein it was at first lodged. All creatures are clothed
with an outward beauty, and endowed with an inward harmony; there is an
agreement in all parts of this great body; every one is beautiful and
orderly; but the beauty of the world results from all of them disposed
and linked together.
3. This wisdom is seen in the fitness of everything for its end, and
the usefulness of it. Divine wisdom is more illustrious in the fitness
and usefulness of this great variety, than in the composure of their
distinct parts: as the artificer’s skill is more eminent in fitting
the wheels, and setting them in order for their due motion, than in
the external fabric of the materials which compose the clock. After the
most diligent inspection, there can be found nothing in the creation
unprofitable; nothing but is capable of some service, either for the
support of our bodies, recreation of our senses, or moral instruction
of our minds: not the least creature but is formed, and shaped, and
furnished with members and parts, in a due proportion for its end
and service in the world; nothing is superfluous, nothing defective.
The earth is fitted in its parts;[778] the valleys are appointed for
granaries, the mountains to shadow them from the scorching heat of the
sun; the rivers, like veins, carry refreshment to every member of this
body; plants and trees thrive on the face of the earth, and metals are
engendered in the bowels of it, for materials for building, and other
uses for the service of man. “There he causes the grass to grow for the
cattle and herb for the service of man, that he may bring forth food
out of the earth” (Ps. civ. 14). The sea is fitted for use; it is a
fish pond for the nourishment of man; a boundary for the dividing of
lands and several dominions: it joins together nations far distant:
a great vessel for commerce (Ps. civ. 26), “there go the ships.” It
affords vapors to the clouds, wherewith to water the earth, which the
sun draws up, separating the finer from the salter parts, that the
earth may be fruitful without being burdened with barrenness by the
salt. The sea hath also its salt, its ebbs, and floods; the one as
brine, the other as motion, to preserve it from putrefaction, that it
may not be contagious to the rest of the world. Showers are appointed
to refresh the bodies of living creatures, to open the womb of the
earth, and “water the ground to make it fruitful” (Ps. civ. 3). The
clouds, therefore, are called the chariots of God; he rides in them
in the manifestation of his goodness and wisdom. Winds are fitted to
purify the air, to preserve it from putrefaction, to carry the clouds
to several parts, to refresh the parched earth, and assist her fruits:
and also to serve for the commerce of one nation with another by
navigation.[779] God, in his wisdom and goodness, “walks upon the
wings of the wind” (Ps. civ. 3). Rivers[780] are appointed to bathe the
ground, and render it fresh and lively; {a523} they fortify cities, are
the limits of countries, serve for commerce; they are the watering‑pots
of the earth, and the vessels for drink for the living creatures that
dwell upon the earth. God cut those channels for the wild asses, the
beasts of the desert, which are his creatures as well as the rest (Ps.
civ. 10, 12, 13). Trees are appointed for the habitations of birds,
shadows for the earth, nourishment for the creatures, materials for
building, and fuel for the relief of man against cold. The seasons of
the year have their use; the winter makes the juice retire into the
earth, fortifies plants, and fixes their roots: it moistens the earth
that was dried before by the heat of summer, and cleanseth and prepares
it for a new fruitfulness. The spring calls out the sap in new leaves
and fruit. The summer consumes the superfluous moisture, and produceth
nourishment for the inhabitants of the world.[781] The day and night
have also their usefulness: the day gives life to labor, and is a guide
to motion and action (Ps. civ. 24), “The sun ariseth, man goeth forth
to his labor until the evening.” It warms the air, and quickens nature;
without day the world would be a chaos, an unseen beauty. The night
indeed casts a veil upon the bravery of the earth, but it draws the
curtains from that of heaven; though it darkens below, it makes us see
the beauty of the world above, and discovers to us a glorious part of
the creation of God, the tapestry of heaven, and the motions of the
stars, hid from us by the eminent light of the day. It procures a truce
from labor, and refresheth the bodies of creatures, by recruiting the
spirits which are scattered by watching. It prevents the ruin of life,
by a reparation of what was wasted in the day. It takes from us the
sight of flowers and plants, but it washeth their face with dews for
a new appearance next morning. The length of the day and night is not
without a mark of wisdom; were they of a greater length, as the length
of a week or month, the one would too much dry, and the other too
much moisten; and for want of action, the members would be stupified.
The perpetual succession of day and night is an evidence of the Divine
wisdom in tempering the travel and rest of creatures. Hence, the
psalmist tells us (Ps. lxxxiv. 16, 17), “The day is thine, and the
night is thine; thou hast prepared the light of the sun, and made
summer and winter;” _i. e._ they are of God’s framing, not without
a wise counsel and end. Hence, let us ascend to the bodies of living
creatures, and we shall find every member fitted for use. What a
curiosity is there in every member! Every one fitted to a particular
use in their situation, form, temper, and mutual agreement for the good
of the whole: the eye to direct; the ear to receive directions from
others; the hands to act; the feet to move. Every creature hath members
fitted for that element wherein it resides; and in the body, some parts
are appointed to change the food into blood, others to refine it, and
others to distribute and convey it to several parts for the maintenance
of the whole: the heart to mint vital spirits for preserving life,
and the brain to coin animal spirits for life and motion; the lungs
to serve for the cooling the heart, which else would be parched as the
ground in summer. The motion of the members of the body by one act of
the will, and also without the will by a {a524} natural instinct, is
an admirable evidence of Divine skill in the structure of the body; so
that well might the psalmist cry out (Ps. cxxxix. 14), “I am fearfully
and wonderfully made!” But how much more of this Divine perfection is
seen in the soul! A nature, furnished with a faculty of understanding
to judge of things, to gather in things that are distant, and to
reason and draw conclusions from one thing to another, with a memory
to treasure up things that are past, with a will to apply itself so
readily to what the mind judges fit and comely, and fly so speedily
from what it judges ill and hurtful. The whole world is a stage; every
creature in it hath a part to act, and a nature suited to that part and
end it is designed for; and all concur in a joint language to publish
the glory of Divine wisdom; they have a voice to proclaim the “glory
of God” (Ps. xix. 1, 3). And it is not the least part of God’s skill,
in framing the creatures so, that upon man’s obedience, they are the
channels of his goodness; and upon man’s disobedience, they can, in
their natures, be the ministers of his justice for the punishing of
offending creatures.
4. This wisdom is apparent in the linking of all these useful parts
together, so that one is subordinate to the other for a common end. All
parts are exactly suited to one another, and every part to the whole,
though they are of different natures, as lines distant in themselves,
yet they meet in one common centre, the good and the preservation of
the universe; they are all jointed together, as the word translated
_framed_ (Heb. xi. 2) signifies; knit by fit hands and ligaments to
contribute mutual beauty, strength, and assistance to one another;
like so many links of a chain coupled together, that though there be
a distance in place, there is a unity in regard of connection and end,
there is a consent in the whole (Hos. ii. 21, 22). “The heavens hear
the earth; and the earth hears the corn, and the wine, and the oil.”
The heavens communicate their qualities to the earth, and the earth
conveys them to the fruits she bears.[782] The air distributes light,
wind and rain to the earth; the earth and the sea render to the
air exhalations and vapors, and altogether charitably give to the
plants and animals that which is necessary for their nourishment and
refreshment. The influences of the heavens animate the earth; and the
earth affords matter, in part, for the influences it receives from
the regions above. Living creatures are maintained by nourishment;
nourishment is conveyed to them by the fruits of the earth; the fruits
of the earth are produced by means of rain and heat; matter for rain
and dew is raised by the heat of the sun; and the sun by its motion
distributes heat and quickening virtue to all parts of the earth. So
colors are made for the pleasure of the eye, sounds for the delight
of the ear; light is formed, whereby the eye may see the one, and air
to convey the species of colors to the eye, and sound to the ear; all
things are like the wheels of a watch compacted: and though many of
the creatures be endowed with contrary qualities, yet they are joined
in a marriage‑knot for the public security, and subserviency to the
preservation and order of the universe; as the variety of strings upon
an instrument, sending forth various and distinct sounds, are tempered
together, for the framing excellent and {a525} delightful airs. In
this universal conspiring of the creatures together to one end, is the
wisdom of the Creator apparent; in tuning so many contraries as the
elements are, and preserving them in their order, which if once broken,
the whole frame of nature would crack, and fall in pieces; all are so
interwoven and inlaid together, by the Divine workmanship, as to make
up one entire beauty in the whole fabric: as every part in the body of
man hath a distinct comeliness, yet there is besides, the beauty of the
whole, that results from the union of divers parts exactly fashioned to
one another, and linked together.
By the way, _Use_. How much may we see of the perfection of God in
everything that presents itself to our eyes! And how should we be
convinced of our unworthy neglect of ascending to him with reverend
and admiring thoughts, upon the prospect of the creatures! What dull
scholars are we, when every creature is our teacher, every part of the
creature a lively instruction! Those things that we tread under our
feet, if used by us according to the full design of their creation,
would afford rich matter, not only for our heads, but our hearts. As
grace doth not destroy nature, but elevate it, so neither should the
fresher and fuller discoveries of Divine wisdom in redemption deface
all our thoughts of his wisdom in creation. Though the greater light
of the sun obscures the lesser sparkling of the stars, yet it gives
way in the night to the discovery of them, that God may be seen, known,
and considered, in all his works of wonder, and miracles of nature. No
part of Scripture is more spiritual than the Psalms; none filled with
clearer discoveries of Christ in the Old Testament; yet how often do
the penmen consider the creation of God, and find their meditations
on him to be sweet, as considered in his works (Ps. civ. 34)! “My
meditation of him shall be sweet.” When? why, after a short history
of the goodness and wisdom of God in the frame of the world, and the
species of the creatures.
Secondly. The wisdom of God appears in his government of his
creatures. The regular motion of the creatures speaks for this
perfection, as well as the exact composition of them. If the
exquisiteness of the frame conducts us to the skill of the Contriver,
the exactness of their order, according to his will and law, speaks
no less the wisdom of the Governor. It cannot be thought that a rash
and irrational power presides over a world so well disposed: the
disposition of things hath no less characters of skill, than the
creation of them. No man can hear an excellent lesson upon a lute,
but must presently reflect upon the art of the person that touches it.
The prudence of man appears in wrapping up the concerns of a kingdom
in his mind, for the well‑ordering of it; and shall not the wisdom of
God shine forth, as he is the director of the world? I shall omit his
government of inanimate creatures, and confine the discourse to his
government of man, as rational, as sinful, as restored.
1st. In his government of man as a rational creature.
1. In the law he gives to man. Wisdom framed it, though will
enacted it. The will of God is the rule of righteousness to us, but
the wisdom of God is the foundation of that rule of righteousness which
he prescribes us. The composure of a musician is the rule {a526} of
singing to his scholars; yet the consent and harmony in that composure
derives not itself from his will, but from his understanding; he would
not be a musician if his composures were contrary to the rules of true
harmony: so the laws of men are composed by wisdom, though they are
enforced by will and authority.[783] The moral law, which was the law
of nature, the law imprinted upon Adam, is so framed as to secure the
rights of God as supreme, and the rights of men in their distinctions
of superiority and equality: it is therefore called “holy and good”
(Rom. vii. 12); holy, as it prescribes our duty to God in his worship;
good, as it regulates the offices of human life, and preserves the
common interest of mankind.