Now, that the ground does not now bring forth thorns and thistles to us, we know.  For it brings forth whatsoever fair flower, or useful herb, we plant therein, according to the laws of nature, which are the laws of God.  Neither do men eat thereof in sorrow; but, as Solomon says, ‘eat their bread in joyfulness of heart.’  And so did they in the Psalmist’s days; who never speak of the tillage of the land without some expression of faith and confidence, and thankfulness to that God who crowns the year with His goodness, and His clouds drop fatness; while the hills rejoice on every side, and the valleys stand so thick with corn, that they laugh and sing—­of faith, I say, and gratitude toward that God who brings forth the grass for the cattle, and green herb for the service of men; who brings food out of the earth, and wine to make glad the heart of man, and oil to give him a cheerful countenance, and bread to strengthen man’s heart.  Those well-known words are in the 104th Psalm; and I ask any reasonable person to read that Psalm through—­the Psalm which contains the Jewish natural theology, the Jew’s view of this world, and of God’s will and dealings with it—­and then say, could a man have written it who thought that there was any curse upon this earth on account of man’s sin?

But more.  The Book of Genesis says that there is none; for, after it has said in the third chapter, ‘Cursed is the ground for thy sake,’ it says again, in the eighth chapter, verse 21, ’And the Lord said in His heart, I will not again curse the ground for man’s sake.  While the earth remaineth, seed-time and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, shall not cease.’

Can any words be plainer?  Whatever the curse in Adam’s days may have been, does not the Book of Genesis represent it as being formally abrogated and taken away in the days of Noah, that the regular course of nature, fruitful and beneficent, might endure thenceforth?

Accordingly, we hear no more in the Bible anywhere of this same curse.  We hear instead the very opposite; for one says, in the 119th Psalm, speaking indeed of God, ’O Lord, Thy word endureth for ever in heaven.  Thy truth also remaineth from one generation to another.  Thou hast laid the foundation of the earth, and it abideth.  They continue this day according to Thine ordinance:  for all things serve Thee.’  And so in the 148th Psalm, another speaks by the Spirit of God; ’Let all things praise the name of the Lord:  for He commanded, and they were created.  He hath also established them for ever and ever:  He hath given them a law which shall not be broken.’

Yes, my friends, God’s law shall not be broken, and it is not broken.  And that faith, that the laws which govern the whole material universe, cannot be broken, will be to us faith full of hope, and joy, and confidence, if we will remember, with the Psalmist, that they are the laws of the living God, and of the good God.