![]() whether a greater continuity of that consciousness is not possible than we attain to to-day. And yet, without entering upon thorny and unprofitable questions as to whether the absolute, unbroken continuity of consciousness of being in God’s presence is possible for men here below, let us look at the question, which has a great deal more bearing upon our present condition-viz. That seems hard, and people say, ‘Impossible! how can I get above my daily work, and be perpetually thinking of God and His will, and consciously realising communion with Him?’ But there is such a thing as having an undercurrent of consciousness running all through a man’s life and mind such a thing as having a melody sounding in our ears perpetually, ‘so sweet we know not we are listening to it’ until it stops, and then, by the poverty of the naked and silent atmosphere, we know how musical were the sounds that we scarcely knew that we heard, and yet did hear so well high above all the din of earth’s noises.Įvery man that has ever cherished such an aspiration as this knows the difficulties all too well. Its fulfilment depends not on where we are, but on what we think and feel for every place is God’s house, and what the Psalmist desires is that he should be able to keep up unbroken consciousness of being in God’s presence and should be always in touch with Him. Let us, then, note the true meaning of this aspiration of the Psalmist. ![]() But this singer expects that his abode will be there always and that, in the time of trouble, he can find refuge there.Īpart altogether from any wider considerations as to the relation between form and spirit under the Old Covenant, I think that such observations compel us to see in these words a desire a great deal nobler and deeper than any such wish. ‘In the secret of His tabernacle shall He hide me.’ No one went into the secret place of the Most High, in the visible, material structure, except the high priest once a year. And what follows in the next verse would, on that hypothesis, be entirely inappropriate. Nor would the saying fit into the facts of the case if we gave it that low meaning, for no person had his residence in the temple. He knew the necessities and duties of life far better than in a cowardly way to wish to shirk them, in order that he might loiter in the temple, idle under the pretence of worship. He was no sickly, sentimental seeker after cloistered seclusion. We shall do great injustice to this mystical aspiration of the Psalmist, if we degrade it to be the mere expression of a desire for unbroken residence in a material Temple.
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