He that planted the ear, shall he not hear? or he that formed the eye, doth he not consider?

“VII. Having therefore gone through all the larger plants in the universe, let us see in what manner the all-wise God made the trees which exist in the smaller world, that is to say, in man. In the first place, then, taking our body as if it were a field of deep soil, he created the external senses to be in it as so many channels. And after that, he arranged the place of each separate one of them, as if it had been a fruit-bearing and most useful tree, assigning the sense of hearing to the ear, that of sight to the eyes, that of smell to the nostrils, and each of the other senses and faculties to their kindred and appropriate organs. And the divine man bears his testimony to this account of mine, speaking thus in his Psalms, " He that planted the ear, doth he not hear ? and he that made the eyes, shall he not see ? " Moreover, all the different powers which run down as far as the legs and hands, and all the other parts of the body, whether internal or external, are all those of an unimportant kind. But those which are better and more perfect he has rooted in the more central portion; that which is pre-eminently able to bring forth fruit, the dominant portion of the man. These faculties are perception, comprehension, felicity of conjecture, study, memory, habit, disposition, the various species of art, the firmness of knowledge of different things, the apprehension of the speculations of universal virtue in such a way as is never forgotten. Now, no mortal is competent to plant any one of these things himself. But of all of them together there is one architect, the uncreated God, who has not only made them originally, but who also makes them for and implants them in every individual man that is born.”

“What is the topmost pinnacle of the building we are striving to construct? How far does the top of our edifice reach? I'll tell you straightaway: as far as the sight of God. You can see how high that is, what a great thing it is, to see God. Any of you who long for this will understand what I am saying and you are hearing. We have been promised the sight of God, of the true God, of the supreme God. This really is a wonderful thing, to see the one who sees.I mean, those who worship false gods can easily see them, but they see gods who have eyes and do not see. But we have been promised the vision of the God who lives and sees, and so the God we should be yearning to see is the one of whom Scripture says, "Will he who planted the ear not hear? Does he who fashioned the eye not observe?" So does the one who made you something to hear with not hear himself? And does he not see, the one who created the means for you to see with? In this psalm [the psalmist] very neatly prefaces those words with these: "Understand, therefore, you who are unwise among the people; and you fools, come sooner or later to your senses." You see, this is why many people do wrong, imagining that they are not noticed by God. It is difficult, of course, for them to believe he cannot see, but they assume he does not want to. You won't find many people so totally irreligious that they fulfill the text, "The fool has said in his heart, There is no God." Few hold this crazy idea. Just as there aren't many people who are deeply religious, so there aren't many who are totally irreligious. But what I am going to say now is what the crowd says: "Look, do you really think God takes trouble to know what I do in my house, that God cares two cents what I choose to do in my bed?" Well, who is it that says, "Understand, you who are unwise among the people; and you fools, come sooner or later to your senses"? Being a mere human, it takes you quite a lot of trouble to know everything that goes on in your house and to insure that what your slaves say and do gets back to you; but do you imagine it is any trouble like that for God to pay attention to you, seeing that it was no trouble at all for him to create you? Having made your eyes, will he not turn his own on to you? You did not exist, and he created you, to bring you into being. Now that you do exist, will he not care for you, he that summons the things that are not, as though they were?”

“He that planted the ear,.... In the human body, with so much art and skill, in so convenient a place, so capacious of receiving sounds, and fitted it with organs suited for such a purpose: shall he not hear? the atheism spoke in the heart, in the actions and by the mouths of such blasphemers of him; the hard speeches spoken against his Son, his person and offices; and against his Spirit, his being, and operations; and against his people, the saints of the most High; in short, all those blasphemies and evil speakings of God, of his tabernacle, and those that dwell therein: it would be monstrous stupidity to imagine, that that God, that communicates a faculty of hearing to his creatures, should not hear himself; for none can give that which they have not: he that formed the eye: in so curious a manner, with such exquisite parts; with such fine humours, nerves, and tunics; so adapted to receive all objects, and take the impress of them in so wonderful a manner: shall he not see? all persons and things, all the ways and actions of men; certainly he must: clouds, rocks, and hills, are no obstruction to him; the darkness and the light are both alike to him; his eyes are everywhere, and all things are naked and open before him: it is the height of madness and folly to think that that God cannot see what men are doing here below, who has given to men eyes to see the heavens above, and all their host; and in this so small a compass to take in the sight of the largest mountains, as well as the most minute things: since the seeing eye, and the hearing ear, are both from the Lord, it may be most strongly concluded that he hears all that is said, and sees all that is done, against him and his people; see Pro 20:12. A Heathen (c) could say, "truly there is a God, who hears and sees all that we do.'' (c) Plauti Capteivei, Act. 2. Sc. 2. v. 63.”

“Consider? He does not say, “hath he not eyes?” lest any might attribute members to God. (St. Jerome) “In evil works, mankind thou mayst deceive, Thy hidden thoughts the gods above perceive.” (Theognis.) Ou leseis de Theous oude logizomenos . — Thales being asked, if the actions of men were unknown to the gods, replied, “not even their thoughts.” (Val. Max. vii. 2.) (Haydock) — It seems those whom the psalmist attacks, denied the interference of God in human affairs, though they allowed that he created all. (Haydock) — Hence he justly stigmatizes them as fools, and inconsistent. (Berthier) — It is impossible that God should be ignorant of our actions, since he knows our most secret thoughts. (Worthington)”