. Man, that puny worm of the dust. Thomas Dick, The Solar System,
1774-1857. When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars which you
have set in place, What is man that you are mindful of him,
the son of man that you care for him? Psalm 8, 3 and 4. A survey of the solar system
has a tendency to moderate the pride of man and to promote humility. Pride is one of the distinguishing
characteristics of puny man. and has been one of the chief
causes of all contentions, wars, devastations, systems of slavery,
and sinful projects which have desolated and demoralized our
sinful world, yet there is no disposition more incongruous
to the character and circumstances of man. Perhaps there are no
rational beings throughout the universe among whom pride would
appear more unfitting or incompatible than in man, considering the
situation in which he is placed. He is exposed to numerous degradations
and calamities, the rage of storms and tempests, the devastations
of earthquakes and volcanoes, the fury of whirlwinds, the tempestuous
billows of the ocean, the ravages of the sword, famine, pestilence,
and innumerous diseases, and at length he must sink into the
grave, and his body must become the companion of worms. The most
dignified and haughty of men are liable to these and similar
degradations, as well as the lowest of the human family. Yet
in such circumstances, man, that puny worm of the dust, whose
knowledge is so limited, and whose follies are so numerous
and glaring, has the effrontery to strut in all the haughtiness
of pride and to glory in his shame. For dust you are, and
to dust you will return. Genesis 3.19. When other arguments
and motives produce little effect on certain minds, no consideration
seem likely to have a more powerful tendency to counteract this deplorable
propensity to pride in human beings than those which are borrowed
from the objects connected with astronomy. They show us what
an insignificant being, indeed, man appears amidst the immensity
of creation. What is the whole of this globe
on which we dwell compared with a solar system which contains
a mass of matter millions times greater? What is this earth in
comparison of the millions of suns and worlds which have been
scattered throughout the starry regions? Could we take our station
on the lofty pinnacles of heaven, and look down on this scarcely
distinguishable speck of earth, we would be ready to exclaim
with Seneca, is it to this little spot that the great designs and
vast desires of men are confined?