INSTRUCTION.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
My son, hear the instruction of thy father.—Proverbs, i. 7, 8.
Hear instruction, and be wise, and refuse it not.—Proverbs, viii. 33.
He that refuseth instruction despiseth his own soul.—Proverbs, xv. 32.
And chiefly Thou, O Spirit that dost prefer
Before all temples, the upright heart and pure,
Instruct me, for Thou knowest: Thou from the first
Wast present, and with mighty wings outspread
Dove-like sat’st brooding on the vast abyss,
And mad’st it pregnant. What in me is dark,
Illumine; what is low, raise and support;
That to the height of this great argument
I may assert eternal Providence,
And justify the ways of God to men.
Milton.
From heaven descend the drops of dew,
From heaven the gracious showers,
Earth’s winter aspect to renew,
And clothe the spring with flowers;
From heaven the beams of morning flow,
That melt the gloom of night,
From heaven the evening breezes blow
Health, fragrance, and delight.
Like genial dew, like fertile showers,
The words of wisdom fall,
Awaken man’s unconscious powers,
Strength out of weakness call;
Like morning beams they strike the mind,
In loveliness reveal;
And softer than the evening wind,
The wounded spirit heal.
As dew and rain, as light and air,
From heaven Instruction came,
The waste of nature to repair,
And kindle sacred flame,
A flame to purify the earth,
Exalt her sons on high,
And train them for their second birth—
Their birth beyond the sky.
J. Montgomery.