To be near unto God - pagina 383

ness of the blessedness which is eternal, and therefore the word "continually" in the Te Deum expresses admirably the characteristic of the super-earthly, of what is devoted to God, even the kingdom of heaven. It sounds paradoxical to us, when the apostle exhorts us to: "Pray without ceasing," or to: "Rejoice evermore," or to hear the Psalmist say: "I have set the Lord always before me" (Ps.l6:8), "Nevertheless I am continuall}^ with thee" (Ps. 73: 23), "Mine eyes are ever toward the Lord" (Ps.2o:

but in connection with this unbroken note of life, he who is no stranger to the secret walk with God, feels the sacred stress of this "continually," "without ceasing," and "at all times." For "continually" sometimes means: 15),

the higher

"Now and

then."

A

nurse in the hospital contin-

makes the round of her patients. But such is not the meaning here. When the Psalmist sings: "Mine eyes are ever toward the Lord," the word in Hebrew does not mean "now and then," but "always and without ceasing." It means to say: "The eyes of my soul are never turned away from God, but are always looking toward my Father who is in heaven." It means that in our secret walk with God we do not bring God down into time, but allow God to hft us up into the ually

eternal. Secret fellowship with God is the foretaste of the heavenly. It is not a musical instrument from which tones are elicited from time to time, and meanwhile remains closed, but a selfplaying organ that but waits for our ears to hear

heavenly melodies. not say, that prayer without ceasing, always to be blessed in God, always to be looking unto

its

Do

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