To be near unto God - pagina 516

power of the world that aims at keeping us far distant from God. The benediction also at the close of public worship might easily be composed by each preacher for himself. That this is not the case, that in the benediction at least a fixed form has been maintained, is a gain to be thankfully acknowledged.

Now

the preacher can put nothHe is forgotten thereby, but just because he steps into the background, the benediction affects us as a gentle dew of grace which comes to us from God. ing into

it

of himself.

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''AS

IN HEAVEN."

For the soul ''to be near unto God" implies, that lift up ourselves with mind and heart from our everyday surroundings into the sphere of the Divine Majesty. This is what, in language of Scripture, the Sursum Corda has become, namely: the impulse to lift up soul and mind unto God and to appear in the audience-chamber of his In his infinite compassion God truly holiness. comes down to us, to dwell with us, and with his rod and staff to comfort us. This by itself brings God near to us, but by no means always brings our soul near unto God. The seeking love of God can for long times be near unto our heart, and can even be within it, while the heart is unconscious of it. An infant can be carried by God's nearness, and have no sense whatever of the Divine Majesty. In conditions of sickness, which darken our consciousness of self, God's nearness to his child is not removed. Even when in dying

we

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