The Glory of God
By Brigham H. Roberts
“I beseech thee, shew me thy glory.” — Moses to the Lord.
(Exodus 33:18.)
(The following is a part of the 19th Psalm, with the refrain added, — “The Glory of God is Intelligence.”)
The heavens declare the glory of God;
And the firmament sheweth his handiwork —
For the Glory of God is Intelligence!
Day unto day uttereth speech,
And night unto night sheweth knowledge, —
For the Glory of God is Intelligence!
There is no speech nor language
Where their voice is not heard —
For the Glory of God is Intelligence!
Their line is gone out through all the earth,
And their words to the end of the world —
For the Glory of God is Intelligence!
The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul:
The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple,
For the Glory of God is Intelligence!
The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart,
The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes —
For the Glory of God is Intelligence!
The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever;
The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether —
For the Glory of God is Intelligence!
More are they to be desired than gold, yea, than much fine gold;
Sweeter also than honey and the honey comb —
For the Glory of God is Intelligence!
Moreover by them is thy servant warned;
And in keeping of them there is great reward —
For the Glory of God is Intelligence — Amen!
(1920)
I’ve been mulling over this one for a couple of days. I suppose the best thing about it is that it sent me to read Exodus and the 19th Psalm.
Much as I admire B. H. Roberts, I think he took a major leap with this one to stump on his soap box:
1) Psalm 19 is a poem of praise for the many different things that demonstrate the glory or God, not just one thing.
2) To grab one obscure reference about the glory of God and imply strongly that it is THE one true meaning is a bit reductionist.
3) The meaning of “intelligence” seems to me to be a bit in flux in this specific reference. Is it intelligence=knowledge or intelligence=the matter that God organized to make spirits? Maybe the meaning was clearer in 1920.
The whole thing felt a little heavy handed and slightly off center, to me. Nevertheless, thank you for sharing poetry.
Thank you for taking it seriously enough to study and mull it over. I agree with your assessment, FWIW, and the poem’s chief interest is that the poet is BHRoberts.
The meaning may not have been much clearer in 1920. I have not worked much to understand the different theologies that were being considered then, but I know that BHR theorized a new idea of human life to reconcile some conflicting previous doctrine. It’s called the “tripartite” model because it suggests that man is made up of three distinct “parts”: an unformed, uncreated “intelligence” that existed independent of God; a spirit clothed in spiritual matter created or organized by God; and a physical body.
I don’t know that thinking of “intelligence” in that sense adds to the reading of the poem, but I’ll throw it out there, anyway.