The Eagle

These birds fly very swiftly, and you will find verses in the Bible that speak of this. One is theforty-ninth verse of the twenty-eighth chapter of Deuteronomy. "The Lord shall bring a nationagainst thee from far, as swift as the eagle flieth." In another place it is said, "His horses areswifter than eagles." Job says, "My days are swifter than a post, (or post-rider;) they are passedaway as the swift ships, as an eagle that hasteth to the prey."

The eye of the eagle is very curious. It has something like an inner eyelid, only it is very thin;and the eagle can draw this over its eye, like a curtain, whenever there is too much light. Youhave heard perhaps that it can look directly at the bright sun; and this is the reason. It can see agreat deal farther than we can; and when it is very high in the air, so that it would look to you butlittle larger than a speck, it often sees some small animal on the ground and flies down to catchit.

See how well this bird was described a great many years ago: these are the last verses of thethirty-ninth chapter of Job: "Doth the eagle mount up at thy command and make her nest onhigh? She dwelleth and abideth upon the rock, upon the crag of the rock, and the strong place.From thence she seeketh the prey, and her eyes behold afar off. Her young ones also suck upblood; and where the slain are, there is she."

The eagle lives a great many years; sometimes more than seventy, I believe. It sheds its feathersevery spring, and new ones come out; then it looks like a young bird. This is why David says inthe Psalms, "Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things, so that thy youth is renewed, (or comesagain,) like the eagle's." There is this beautiful verse in Isaiah, "They that wait upon the Lordshall renew their strength; they shall mount up on wings as eagles; they shall run and not beweary, they shall walk and not faint." How blessed and happy a thing it is to be a christianindeed! to "wait upon the Lord" every day for the strength we need; and to be always preparingfor that world where the inhabitants are for ever young, for ever active, for ever holy, for everhappy.

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