"_And when the burnt offering began, the song of the Lord began also._"

That is ever so. Our real songs begin with our sacrifices. We enter the realm of music when we enter the realm of self-surrender. A willing offering, on a clean altar, introduces the soul into "the joy of the Lord."

JULY The Twenty-second

_VISIONS AND TASKS_

2 CHRONICLES x.x.xiv. 1-11.

Josiah "_began to seek after G.o.d_." The other day I saw a young art student copying one of Turner's pictures in the National Gallery. His eyes were being continually lifted from his canvas to his "master." He put nothing down which he had not first seen. He was "seeking after" Turner!

And thus it was with Josiah. His eyes were "ever toward the Lord!" He studied the "ways" of the Lord, in order that he might incarnate them in national life and practice. Wise doings always begin in clear seeing. We should be far more efficient in practice if we were more diligently a.s.siduous in vision. It is never a waste of time to "look unto Him."

Looking is a most needful part of our daily discipline. "What I say unto you, I say unto all, _Watch_!"

And because Josiah saw the holiness of the Lord he saw the uncleanness of the people. He had a vision of G.o.d's holy place, and he therefore saw the defilement of the material worship.

"_In the twelfth year he began to purge Judah._" Yes, that is the sequence. The reformer follows the seer. We shall begin to sweep the streets of our own city when we have gazed upon the glories of the holy city, the New Jerusalem.

JULY The Twenty-third

_A GREAT SOUL AT PRAYER_

2 CHRONICLES vi. 12-21.

Let me reverently study this great prayer in order that, when I go to the house of G.o.d, I may be able to enrich its ministry by the wealth of my own supplications.

Solomon prayed that the eyes of the Lord might be open toward the house "day and night." Like the eyes of a mother upon her child! Like the eyes of a lover upon his beloved! And therefore it is more than protective vision; shall we reverently say that it is _inventive_ vision, devising gracious surprises, antic.i.p.ating needs, preparing love-gifts; it is sight which is both insight and foresight, ever inspecting and prospecting for the loved one's good.

And Solomon prayed that G.o.d's ear might be open to the cry of His people's need. "_Hear Thou from Thy dwelling-place._" He prayed that the house of G.o.d might be the place of open communion. That is ever the secret of peace, and therefore of power. If I know that I have correspondence with the Holy One, I shall walk and work as a child of light. If G.o.d hear me, then I can sing!

And Solomon prays for the grace of forgiveness. He prays for the sense of sweet emanc.i.p.ation which is the gift of grace. It is the miracle of renewal, and it ought to happen every time we open the doors of the sanctuary.

JULY The Twenty-fourth

_LOVE OF THE SANCTUARY_

PSALM lx.x.xiv.

Gracious is the strength of this man's desire for the holy place. He covets the privilege of the very sparrow which builds its nest beneath the sacred eaves! When he is away from the Temple its worship and music haunt his mind and soul. It wooes him in the market-place. Its insistent call is with him by the fireside. Yes, "in his heart are the highways to Zion!"

And the permanency of this devotional mood transfigures every place. It turns "_the valley of weeping_" into "_a place of springs_." The colour of any place is largely determined by our moods. It is surprising what treasures we find when our soul is full of light. What discoveries old Scrooge made when the Christmas mood possessed his own heart! When we carry about the spirit of the sanctuary, we convert every spot into rich and hallowed ground.

"_I had rather be a door-keeper in the house of my G.o.d than to dwell in the tents of wickedness._" Better to have the temple-spirit, even as a menial, than the unhallowed heart in the glittering high places of sin.

"G.o.d's worst is better than the devil's best."

JULY The Twenty-fifth

_NO TEMPLE THEREIN_

"_And I saw no temple therein!_"

--REVELATION xxi. 22-27.

And that because it was all temple! "Every place was hallowed ground."

There was no merely localized Presence, because the Presence was universal. G.o.d was realized everywhere, and therefore the little meeting-tent had vanished, and in place of the measurable tabernacle there were the immeasurable and G.o.d-filled heavens.

Even here on earth I can measure my spiritual growth by the corresponding enlargement of my temple. What is the size of my sanctuary? Am I moving toward the time when nothing shall be particularly hallowed because all will be sanctified? Are the six days of the week becoming increasingly like the seventh, until people can see no difference between my Monday manners and my Sunday mood? And how about places? Do I still speak of "religion being religion," and "business being business," or is something of the sanctuary getting into my shop, and is the exchange becoming a side-chapel of the Temple?

"_And the Lamb is the light thereof._" When we have done with the local temple we can dispose of its candles. When we pa.s.s out of the twilight into the morning "the stars retire." The fore-gleams will change into the wondrous glory of the ineffable day.

JULY The Twenty-sixth

_THE WELLS OF SALVATION_

JOHN iii. 1-21.

The springs of our redemption are found in infinite love. "G.o.d is love!"

Redemption was not inspired by anger, but by grace. We do not contemplate an angry G.o.d, demanding a victim, but a compa.s.sionate Father making a sacrifice. At one extreme of our golden text is eternal "love," and at the other extreme is "eternal life." What if the two are one? Etymologically, "love" and "life" are akin. What if they are only two names for the same thing?

To "believe" in the love is to receive the life. For when I believe in a person's love I open my doors to the lover. And to believe in the love of G.o.d is to let the heavenly Lover in. And with love comes a wonderful tropical air--light, and warmth, and air; and "all things become new!" It is the letting in of the spring, and things which have been in wintry bondage awake, and arise from their graves.

And so I "_enter into the kingdom of G.o.d_." I become a native of a new and marvellous country. I begin to be acclimatized in the realm of the blest.

And I "_see_ the kingdom of G.o.d." Spiritual perceptions become mine, and I gaze upon the mystic glories of the home of G.o.d.

JULY The Twenty-seventh

_THE WORK OF FAITH_