January 17

Genesis i.—1. In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth.

2. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

3. And God said, Let there be light; and there was light.

4. And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness.

5. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night; and the evening and the morning were the first day.

6. And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.

7. And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament; and it was so.

8. And God called the firmament Heaven; and the evening and the morning were the second day.

9. And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear; and it was so.

10. And God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering-together of the waters called he Seas; and God saw that it was good.

11. And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit-tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth; and it was so.

12. And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind; and God saw that it was good.

13. And the evening and the morning were the third day.

14. And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years.

15. And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth; and it was so.

16. And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.

17. And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,

18. And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness; and God saw that it was good.

19. And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

The great thought presented in these verses is that of God as the Creator of all things. His self-existence, the spirituality of his being, his eternity, and his omnipotence, are revealed in the fact of creation. His wisdom brings order out of chaos, arranges the succession of created things, and adjusts the several elements and species of our globe and all the parts and members of the material universe to each other in a beautiful and perpetual harmony. His love also appears in his purpose that every thing which he unyle should be good, —good in itself, good in its place, good for its uses, and good in its effects. Only sin has marred the beauty and goodness of the works of God.

This account of the creation is not scientific, but poetic in form, and popular in style. It was not intended to teach astronomy, geology, or natural history, but to impress upon

the minds of men the thought of the living, personal, infinite, eternal Creator. Yet as a grand outline of creation, in the order of events, the narrative is in striking harmony with what geology teaches of the structure of our globe; and this fact, taken in connection with the sublime conception of God that it brings before us, points to its origin in a divine revelation, either by word or by vision. Only God could thus have told what God only could know.

The term "day" is not to be taken literally; for the heavenly bodies that measure time for man were not made visible to our globe until the fourth "day;" but it denotes an epoch, like the eras of geology, which had a beginning and an ending. And so the Bible, like science, leads us back over the vast spaces of creation, and through all orders of beings and things, to where we find only, in the beginning, God.

APPROPRIATE HIMNS.]

Prayer.

[Nos. 18, 69, 150.

O Lord God, Father of mercies, the Fountain of all comfort and blessing, who fillest heaven with thy glory, and earth with thy goodness; to whom the heavens sing praise, and all their powers, with the earth and sea and all that are therein! we praise and bless and glorify and give thanks to thee. Thou broughtest us out of nothing; and when, by our disobedience, we were fallen, thou didst raise us up again to an inheritance in thy kingdom. For these and all thy mercies, we give thanks to thee, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, henceforth and forevermore.

We bless thee for the sabbath, and pray that we may rightly improve its holy rest and the worship of thy holy house. We pray for the whole Church

of Christ, that she may possess all the gifts of thy Holy Spirit; for all Sunday schools, —oh! hear the hosannas of children, and show to them the love of Jesus their Saviour; for the poor and needy, sick and afflicted, widows and orphans; for all whom thou hast given to be near and dear to us. Give them thy blessing, O Lord! for the sake of Him who hath taught us to love one another even as he hath loved us.

Accept, we beseech thee, O Lord! these our praises and supplications, and look graciously upon this family; and so assist us by thy grace, that we may be fitted for that kingdom where all shall be joy and peace in the Holy Ghost; to whom, with thee and thy Son, be all glory forever. Amen.