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Show : By REV. GEORGE 'E. GUILLE : ':' Bztanilsn Department. Moody - Dibit Inatltuu. Clvluto. ; . . TEXT The Lord bleu tha, and keop. thee: Tta Lord make Ht face hln upoa thee, nJ b giatom unto the: Th Lord lift up Hia countenance upon thee, and give thee peace. Number :a-!S. (The mualc of h'en vert rings In tbes words! TbrM meaeurea o( the dlvln-f x m 7 est melody ever ,M heard, a bar rota ,,,, the .. Infinite an-. them, to . soothe-the soothe-the spirit with heaven's calm and turn the-whole the-whole life Into a long Sabbath day. Mark the elements ele-ments In tbl benediction, as they reveal God's-attitude God's-attitude toward Ills people and? tell of His actlvi- ties on their behalf. ; t 1. "Jehovah bless thee." You cannot can-not explain that word, 4bless." It breathes Itself into the soul like a rare perfume, but yotf cannot tell what it is. It toucles the weary lifelike life-like a tender mother's hand and llfta-: lt ,,up Into rest and strength. You- ' know by sweet experience what It Is. but you cannot define it It is the- , heart of God disclosed. It embraces' all other elements found in this bene- , diction ; the keeping, the shining fuce, graciousness, the uplifted countenance, the gift of peace. That is His blessing. bless-ing. Who that has beheld the cross-has cross-has seen the Well-Beloved hanging there, can question what that great . ; heart holds for him?, "He that spared! not his own Son, but delivered Hum up for us all, how shall He not with Him freely give us all things?" Oh, let us magnify that word. "Mess." 2. "Jehovah make his face shine upon thee." if His blessing reveal His heart, this discovers His nearness. Not afar off, but nigh. Do not think of Him as far away In heaven, veiled away In His own eternity, unknown ' and unknowable. There Is no distance. "Ye who sometime were far ofT are made nigh by the blood of Christ." In that place of nearness. His face shines. What Joy to know that the face from which heaven nnd earth shall flee away and that Is against them that do evil. Is shining upon those in whose midst He dwells. " . .... . - - 3. "Jehovnh lift up his countenance upon thee." Frequently have the Lord' people been henrd to say that He hae hidden Ills face from them. It can- not be! For He who looks upon His beloved Son with unchanging delight sees you and me ever in mm and cannot turn away from us. If there be hiding, it Is you who are doing it, not He. The clouds that obscure the sun do nof come from the sun. 4. The Lord be gracious unto thee. This attitude explains all else. His grace Is His kindness to the undeserving. unde-serving. Grace is not a frame of mind or a state of soul, but the attitude of God. "By grace are ye saved" and over and over again, because we are so slow to believe it and because He desires we should do so, comes the salutation : "Grace be unto you." But not only In His attitude btlt in His activities on. our behalf do we see how all His heart is occupied for us. 1. Jehovah keep thee. This is our assurance and our security that He who is gracious keeps us for His own. "Kept by the power of God." "Jehovnh "Je-hovnh Is thy keeper," says the Psalmist, Psalm-ist, and they aro safe Indeed whom He keeps. But not alone as His own possession. He will keep that life in all Its dully affairs as though you were Ills only child and Ills solitary care. "Jehovah keep thee." That implies im-plies what Scripture elsewhere emphasizes em-phasizes and what every hour of your experience has proved: that you cannot can-not keep yourself. "I am not being put to shame," says the apostls, "for ... he Is able to keep that which I have conindtted unto him," Not my soul only, but my dally life. O soul. If He Is not keeping thee, thou art being be-ing put to shame. Every manifestation of th f esh puts yon to stan! EvAry impatient word, every unworthy deed puts you to shame. He can keep you and He will If you but give Him a chance. Turn that life over to Him and see what He can make out of it see how He can keep it in holy triumph and Joy. 2. The . last J element last sweet, ' lingering strain of the anthem is peace. "Jehovah give thee peace." In all the wide universe, In nil the tongues that men have spoken, there Is no greater word. First salutation " of the Risen Christ, f'Peace be unto you;" lust thing In. His valedictory : "Peace I leave with iyou,';. ; "He Is our peace.". O .soul, anxious, careworn, care-worn, tossed and driven, fold this blessing of. God, to thy pqnr.henrt, His own peace Is for your present possession. posses-sion. He desires yon to have It. Have you seen, the full significance of this blessing? The divine name occurs oc-curs three times, and three is the number of the God-head, sum of all divine fullness; The connection of the three Persons with the three parts of the blessing con be easily traced. AH that God Is Is thus engaged for us: Father, Son and Holy Spirit occupied with us and for us, and all that we may be blessed. Oh, who would live an unblest life? Who would be so miserable? Give me this blessing of God and I am rich Indeed. My heaven ' has begun with Its holiness and Its Joy! |
