BEAUTIFUL, STRONG, GLORIOUS.
COME, and I will show you what is beautiful.
It is a rose fully blown. See how she sits upon her mossy, stem like the queen of flowers! Her leaves glow like fire, the air is filled with her sweet odor. She is the delight of every eye. The rose is beautiful, but there is a fairer than the rose. He that made what is so beautiful is more beautiful than anything he has made. He is all lovely. He is the delight of every true heart.
I will show you what is strong. The lion is strong. When he raiseth himself from his lair, when he shaketh his mane, when the voice of his roaring is heard, the cattle of the field fly, and the wild beasts of the desert hide themselves, for he is very terrible. The lion is strong, but He that made the lion is stronger than he. His anger is terrible. He could make us die in a moment, and no one could deliver us from his hand.
I will show you what is glorious. The sun is glorious. When he shineth in the clear sky, and is seen all over the earth, he is the most glorious object the eye can behold. The sun• is glorious, but He that made the sun is more glorious than it. The eye beholdeth Him not, for his brightness is too dazzling for us to bear. He seeth in all dark places, by night as well as by day; and the light of his countenance is upon all his works.
Who is this beautiful, this strong, this glorious One? What is his name, that our lips may praise him?
His great name is God. He made all things; but he is himself more excellent than they. They are beautiful, but he is all beauty; they are strong, but he is strength itself; they are glorious, but he is more glorious than they all.
Mrs. Barbauld.