Verse 3.—Sidney has it:
“From sucklings hath thy honour sprung,
Thy force hath flowed from babies’ tongue.”
The meaning of this difficult verse is given by implication in [Matt. xxi. 16]. And again, that verse, like all the other great teachings of Christ, is open to a terrific misinterpretation;—namely, the popular evangelical one, that children should be teachers and preachers,—(“cheering mother, cheering father, from the Bible true”). The lovely meaning of the words of Christ, which this vile error hides, is that children, remaining children, and uttering, out of their own hearts, such things as their Maker puts there, are pure in sight, and perfect in praise.[8]
Verse 4.—The moon and the stars which thou hast founded—‘fundasti’—ἐθεμελίωσας. It is much more than ‘ordained’: the idea of stable placing in space being the main one in David’s mind. And it remains to this day [[130]]the wonder of wonders in all wise men’s minds. The earth swings round the sun,—yes, but what holds the sun? The sun swings round something else. Be it so,—then, what else?
Sidney:—
“When I upon the heavens do look,
Which all from thee their essence took,
When moon and stars my thought beholdeth,
Whose life no life but of thee holdeth.”