elf is cited to lead men to acts of religious
homage. "The Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods. In
his hand are the deep places of the earth; the strength of the hills is
his also. The sea is his, and he made it; and his hands formed the dry
land. O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the Lord
our Maker. For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and
the sheep of his hand."[479] The work of creation was performed, that
on earth a people might be sustained to serve the Lord. "They shall be
ashamed, and also confounded, all of them: they shall go to confusion
together that are makers of idols. But Israel shall be saved in the Lord
with an everlasting salvation: ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded
world without end. For thus saith the Lord that created the heavens, God
himself that formed the earth, and made it; he hath established it, he
created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited; I am the Lord, and
there is none else."[480] In anticipation of bestowing good on his
people, even during their continuance on earth, the Surety of sinners,
when the creation of all things was decreed, rejoiced. "The Lord
possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old. I was
set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was."
"When he prepared the heavens, I was there: when he set a compass upon
the face of the depth: when he established the clouds above: when he
strengthened the fountains of the deep: when he gave to the sea his
decree, that the waters should not pass his commandment: when he
appointed the foundations of the earth: then I was by him, as one
brought up with him; and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always
before him; rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth; and my
delights were with the sons of men."[481] Hence of them as the heirs of
a comprehensive Covenant blessing, it is said in language in substance
not unfrequently occurring, "The meek shall inherit the earth, and shall
delight themselves in the abundance of peace."[482] God's covenant with
every living creature, revealed to Noah, was an appointment to confer
the means of life on men in order to the attainment of the end of their
creation. Other arrangements, conducive to the same object, are thus
described,--"He shall deliver thee in six troubles; yea, in seven there
shall no evil touch thee. In famine he shall redeem thee from death; and
in war from the power of the sw