THE LION. &> 



|>ourtraying the character of the oppressor and extortioner, says, 

 *He littth in wait secretly as a lion in his den: he lieth in wait to 

 catch the poor he croucheth, and humbleth himself, that the 

 poor nmy fall by his strong ones,' Psalm x. 9, 10. How forcibly 

 does this language depict the breathless anxiety, with which the 

 wicked wait the accomplishment of their iniquitous purposes ! 



The roaring of the lion is said to be so loud, that when it is heard 

 in the night, and re-echoed by the mountains, it resembles distant 

 thunder: the whole race of animals within its sound stand appall- 

 ed, regarding it as the sure prelude to destruction. Hence the pro- 

 phet says, * The lion has roared, who will not fear? The LORD 

 GOD has spoken, who can but prophesy ?' Arnos iii. 8. So also 

 Hosea: 'He shall roar like a lion: when he shall roar, then the 

 children shall tremble from the west,' ch. xi. 10. But it is when 

 the lion summons up all his terrors for the combat that his voice is 

 most terrible. Lashing iiis sides with his long tail, throwing his 

 ma:ie in every direction, which seems to stand like bristles round 

 his head, the skin and muscles of his face all in agitation, his huge 

 eye- brows half covering his glaring eye-balls, his monstrous teeth, 

 his prickly tongue, and his destructive claws, all exhibited to view, 

 he roars forth his formidable and terror-inspiring cry. This fur- 

 nishes the sacred writers with several beautiful images. Jeremiah 

 foretels the terrible visitations of the divine anger, in language de- 

 rived from this appalling circumstance : 'The Lord shall roar from 

 on high, and utter his voice from his holy habitation ; he shall might- 

 ily roar upon his habitation,' ch. xxv. 30. 



Aft r depriving his victim of liiip, which he generally effects by 

 a stroke of his paw, the lion tears it in pieces, breaks all its bones, 

 and shallows them with ihe rest of the body. To these circum- 

 stances there are frequent allusions in the scripture. 'Save me 

 from all them that persecute me, and deliver me, lest he tear rny 

 soul like a lion, rending it in pieces, where there is none to deliver/ 

 Ps. vii. 1, 2. ' And the rennant of Jacob shall be among the Gen- 

 tiles in the midst of many people, as a lion among the beasts of the 

 forest, as a young lion among the flocks of sheep; who, if he go 

 through, lunh treadeth down, and teareth in pieces, and none can 

 deliver,' Mic. v. 8. Nor is his voracity left unnoticed. Biifioti as- 

 sures us that the lion not only devours his prey with the utmost 

 freediuess, but that he devours a great deal at a time, and generally 

 Us himself for two or three days to corne. Hence, David com- 

 pares his enemies to 'a lion that is greedy of his prey,' (Ps. x vii. 

 l^J,) and JEHOVAH, threatening Israel for its transgressions, declares 

 that lie will ' devour them like a lion/ Hos. xiii. 8. The prophet 

 Nahuiu describes, with equal energy and elegance, the care with 

 which the lion provides for its mate and young ones: 'Where is 

 the dwelling of the lions, and the feeding-place of the young lions, 

 where the lion, even the old lion walked, and the lion's whelp, and 

 none made them afraid ? The lion did tear in pieces enough for 

 his whelps, and strangled fur his lionesses, and filled his holes with 



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