Then, David extolled the course of
the sun, which is also very admirable, “He has rejoiced as a giant to run his
way.”
A powerful giant, if he would
extend his steps in accord with his stature, and run as fas as his strength
would afford, he will go a long way in a short time. Truly, the prophet, having
compared the run to a bridegroom so as to declare its beauty, he later compares
it to a giant so that by the resemblance he might show in some way how fast its
stride is. Now, albeit he had not compared it to a giant, but to the flight of
birds and arrows, or to the winds and lightning, yet should it have been far
from the thing indeed. If that is true which we see with our eyes, namely, that
the sun makes its course around the earth in twenty-four hours, and if the
measure of the suns orb exceeds almost without comparison the measure of the
earth, and if the measure of the earth contains about twenty thousand miles,
all which is most true, it necessarily follows that the sun, at every hour,
moves many thousands of miles; and why say I every hour, nay every quarter of
an hour, indeed, almost every minute? Whosoever observes the rising or setting
of the sun, in an open horizon, as at sea or in a plain field, will perceive
the whole body of the sun moves above the horizon in less space than an eighty
of an hour. And yet, the diameter of the sun’s body is much greater than the
diameter of the earth, which, notwithstanding, contains seven thousand miles. I
myself was once eager to know in what space of time the sun set at sea, at the
beginning thereof I began to read the Psalm Misere mei Deus, and scarce
had I read it twice over before the sun had completely set. As a result, it
must be the case that the sun passed through far more space than seven miles in
the short time in which I said the Misere twice. Who would believe this,
unless certain reason proved it? And now, if anyone were to say that this body,
which is so swiftly moved, is much greater than the whole earth, and that its motion
is performed without ceasing or weariness, so that God should so command, it
might continue for all eternity; surely, if he were not insensible, he could
not but marvel at the infinite power of God. Sirach rings true, when he says, “That
this is an admirable vessel, the work of the most high, and great is our Lord that
made it.” (Robert Bellarmine, The Ascent of The Mind To God: By the Ladder
of Creation [trans. Ryan Grant; Port Falls, ID.: Mediatrix Press, 2022], Seventh
Step, Chapter 2, pp. 92-93)
