The Tabernacle
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The Tabernacl, me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation" (Psalm 51:2, 7, 10, 11, 12). David lived before the cross, before the Holy Spirit came to indwell believers in Jesus. In those days God sent the Spirit upon individual men for special service. That is why David cried unto the Lord, asking that He take not the Holy Spirit away from him. Living on this side of the cross, as we do, following the Day of Pentecost, we need not pray that prayer. Our Lord promised that His Spirit should never leave us; and He always keeps His Word! Yet it is possible for us to "grieve" the Spirit of God by our wayward, selfish lives. David prayed that God would "restore" unto him "the joy" of God's salvation. And surely we need to pray such a prayer every time we wander afar off! The English poet, William Cowper, knew the meaning of this eternal truth; for he wrote: "O for a closer walk with God,
The Word of God-A "Mirror" to the Soul It is in Exod. 3 8 : 8 that we read of Moses' having made the laver of brass "of the lookingglasses of the women assembling, which assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation." The Revised Version gives added light upon this passage: "And he made the laver of brass, and the base thereof of brass, of the mirrors of the ministering women that ministered at the door of the tent of meeting (i. e., 'the women that assembled to minister')." Possibly these were the women who helped to make the fine linen curtains and hangings, embroidering them with the figures of cherubim, in blue, purple, and scarlet. Pos- sibly there were many ways in which the women could serve among the "willing-hearted" who gave of their t ime and gifts to make this sanctuary for God's dwelling place among them. At any rate, these women who "min- ist ered" gave up their treasured mirrors, that the laver of brass might be fashioned according to God's pattern. And t he Word of God is likened, by the Holy Spirit, to a mir- ror. We read of this in James 1:22-25: "Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, de- ceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass (or mirror) : for he behold- eth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway for- getteth what manner of man he was (forgets all about how he looked) . But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty (the Word of God), and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed." As we look at ourselves in our own polished mirrors, we may think we have a beauty all our own; but as we ex-
A calm and heavenly frame, A light to shine upon the road That leads me to the Lamb! "The dearest idol I have known, Whate'er that idol be, Help me to tear it from Thy throne, And worship only Thee. "So shall my walk be close with God, Calm and serene my frame; So purer light shall mark the road That leads me to the Lamb."
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