over the development of his own organization, and said—­“I will praise Thee.  For I am fearfully and wonderfully made.  Marvellous are Thy works, and that my soul knoweth right well.  Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being imperfect; and in Thy Book were all my members written, which day by day were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.  How dear are Thy counsels unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!”

And I will tell you of another man who needed no signs and wonders to make him believe—­the man, namely, who wrote the 19th Psalm.  He looked upon the perfect order and law of the heavens over his head, and the mere sight of the sun and moon and stars was enough for him; and he said—­“The heavens declare the glory of God, the firmament sheweth His handy-work.  One day telleth another, and one night certifieth another.  There is neither speech nor language, where their voice is not heard among them.”

And I will tell you of yet another man who needed no signs and wonders to make him believe—­namely, the man who wrote the 104th Psalm.  He looked on the perfect order and law of the world about his feet; and said,—­“O Lord, how manifold are Thy works.  In wisdom hast Thou made them all:  the earth is full of Thy riches.  So is the great and wide sea also, wherein are things creeping innumerable, both small and great beasts.  These all wait upon Thee, that Thou mayest give them their meat in due season.  Thou givest to them; they gather.  Thou openest Thy hand; they are filled with good.  Thou hidest Thy face; they are troubled.  Thou takest away their breath, they die, and return to their dust.  Thou sendest forth Thy breath, they are created; and Thou renewest the face of the earth.  The glory of the Lord shall endure for ever.  The Lord shall rejoice in His works.”

My friends, let us all pray to God and to Christ, that They will put into our hearts the Spirit by which those psalms were written:  that They will take from us the evil heart of unbelief, which must needs have signs and wonders, and forgets that in God we live and move and have our being.  For are we not all—­even the very best of us—­apt to tempt our Lord in this very matter?

When all things go on in a common-place way with us—­that is, in this well-made world, comfortably, easily, prosperously—­how apt we all are—­God forgive us—­to forget God.  How we forget that on Him we depend for every breath we draw; that Christ is guarding us daily from a hundred dangers, a hundred sorrows, it may be from a hundred disgraces, of which we, in our own self-satisfied blindness, never dream.  How dull our prayers become, and how short.  We almost think, at times, that there is no use in praying, for we get all we want without asking for it, in what we choose to call the course of circumstances and nature.—­God forgive us, indeed.