known than
Augustine's, "Thou hast formed us for Thyself, and our hearts are
restless till they find rest in Thee."

The great saint states here in few words the origin and interior history
of the human race. God made us for Himself: that is the only explanation
that satisfies the _heart_ of a thinking man, whatever his wild reason
may say. Should faulty education and perverse reasoning lead a man to
conclude otherwise, there is little that any Christian can do for him.
For such a man I have no message. My appeal is addressed to those who
have been previously taught in secret by the wisdom of God; I speak to
thirsty hearts whose longings have been wakened by the touch of God
within them, and such as they need no reasoned proof. Their restless
hearts furnish all the proof they need.

God formed us for Himself. The _Shorter Catechism_, "Agreed upon by the
Reverend Assembly of Divines at Westminster," as the old _New-England
Primer_ has it, asks the ancient questions _what_ and _why_ and answers
them in one short sentence hardly matched in any uninspired work.
"_Question_: What is the chief End of Man? _Answer_: Man's chief End is
to glorify God and enjoy Him forever." With this agree the four and
twenty elders who fall on their faces to worship Him that liveth for
ever and ever, saying, "Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and
honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure
they are and were created."

God formed us for His pleasure, and so formed us that we as well as He
can in divine communion enjoy the sweet and mysterious mingling of
kindred personalities. He meant us to see Him and live with Him and draw
our life from His smile. But we have been guilty of that "foul revolt"
of which Milton speaks when describing the rebellion of Satan and his
hosts. We have broken with God. We have ceased to obey Him or love Him
and in guilt and fear have fled as far as possible from His Presence.

Yet who can flee from His Presence when the heaven and the heaven of
heavens cannot contain Him? when as the wisdom of Solomon testifies,
"the Spirit of the Lord filleth the world?" The omnipresence of the Lord
is one thing, and is a solemn fact necessary to His perfection; the
_manifest_ Presence is another thing altogether, and from that Presence
we have fled, like Adam, to hide among the trees of the garden, or like
Peter to shrink away crying, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O
Lord."

So the