NATURE AND THE PSALMIST 283 



over their shoulders. The corn is in the green valley, 

 with the winding thread of the river, and the glittering 

 track of the railroad, the white church-spire above the 

 village elms, and a certain roof that I call home. The 

 dome of heaven is overhead; the sunshine is every- 

 where. "They shout for joy, they also sing." I am 

 quite content to drop into a lazy bed of sweet-fern and 

 become a Hittite for the time, a countryman of the 

 manly Uriah, whose dignified devotion to duty, as 

 Chamberlain has pointed out, contrasted so favourably 

 with the "criminal levity" of King David! 



In our mountain world the Lord indeed "stretcheth 

 out the heavens like a curtain" and "maketh the clouds 

 his chariot." It is not for us that he "layeth the beams 

 of his chambers in the waters"; dwellers by lake or sea 

 can best realize the force of that majestic metaphor; 

 but he walketh upon the wings of our winds and maketh 

 them his messengers. I know a great oak that stands 

 alone and self-sufficient in a pasture (what is so self- 

 sufficient as a sturdy, well-developed tree isolated in a 

 clearing?), and when the northwest winds come charg- 

 ing down the valley it tosses its branches protestingly 

 against the buffet, and the silent, rushing current be- 

 comes audible, is given a voice. It is only when the 

 hurricane meets opposition that its voice is heard; 

 its sweep is soundless through the upper air. Behind 

 the great tree domes the blue sky where the clouds 

 drive, an endless flotilla hurrying down the gale. The 



