Page:The spirit of the Hebrew poetry 1861.djvu/38

 to those whose convictions they have not secured, and whose faith they do not command. It is the clearness—it is the fulness—it is the unfaltering decisiveness of the Hebrew writers, from the earliest of them to the latest, on this ground, that constitutes the broad characteristic of the Old Testament Scriptures, when brought into comparison with any other literature—ancient or modern. We may reject the anthropomorphic symbolism of these writings, as repugnant to our abstract notions of the Divine Nature; but this we must grant to be their distinction—namely, a uniform consistency in the use they make of the vocabulary of human sentiment, passion, emotion, so as to bring the conception of the Personal God into the nearest possible alliance with the human consciousness, on that side of it where a return to virtue, if ever it is brought about, must take place. God is near to man—and one with him for his recovery to wisdom and goodness. The instances are trite;—and they will occur to the recollection of every Bible reader; yet let one or two be here adduced.

The Hebrew prophet, and poet, meets and satisfies the first requirement of the awakened human spirit, which is an assured communion with God on terms of hopefulness and amity, as well as of the profoundest awe, and of unaffected humiliation. And this assurance is so conveyed as shall intimately blend the highest theistic conceptions with the health-giving consciousness of unmerited favour.