The Way into the Holiest

Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? and who shall stand in His holy place?”» — Psatm xxiv. 3.

BEHIND the imagery of this psalm there is a soul seeking the presence of the Lord. He is turning to the climbing road which leads to the sacred floors, and he is seeking the holy place which is the home of the Lord. What, then, does he say are the appointed terms on which a pilgrim may find favour with the Lord of the way, and be prosperously admitted to all the rights of the road?

First of all there is rectitude of conduct. ‘“* He that hath clean hands.”’ Then there is to be no weaving of unclean webs. There is to be no dabbling in dirty enterprise. There is to be no fingering of evil devices. There is to be no toying with guile, or with any form of deceit. There is to be no raking with the en nnn SSSR ESSE The Way into the Holiest: 53

muck-rake if the hands are to be kept clean. There must be no signing of disloyal bonds and covenants, There must be no touching of pitch in all the countless touchings of the busy day. The hands are to be clean at the beginning of the day, and they are to be clean at its close. The man with clean hands may take the hill-road which leads to the holy place.

And the second condition is simplicity of motive. ‘ He that hath a pure heart.’ This is a very exacting demand. It passes from the hands to the heart. It goes inward from conduct to character, and from movement to motive. And the motive is to be simple, single, clean. There is to be no mixing of base alloy with the finer metal. It is to be pure gold. There is to be nothing about it of what St. James calls “‘ the double soul ’» — one soul pandering with Mammon, and the other attempting dealings with God. The motive is to be simplex, not duplex. The required condition is singleness of heart. ‘¢ Blessed are the pure in heart.” Yes, that sort of pilgrim may take to the hill and find

the holy place. The third condition is loyalty of worship.

5A The Way into the Holiest

‘“* Who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity.” Deeper and more exacting is the demand. What is this lifting up of the soul? It is the expression of worship, and the all-determining thing is — what do we worship? To what do we lift the eyes of our desire? Is it to the goddess of vanity? Or is it the goddess of transient fashion? Or is it the spirit of the age? Or is it the ideal of success? Or is it the goddess of pleasure and ease! To what do we lift our eyes in worship? ‘‘ Unto Thee, O Lord, do I lift up mine eyes.” Yes, that man is entitled to all the rights of the aspiring road, and he may. begin to climb the sacred hill.

And the last condition is truth in word. “Who hath not sworn decettfully.”’ Does not that seem to be a relaxation of the terms after the other conditions that have been named? No, life blossoms at the lips. All the inner life hangs out its flags and banners in our words. We may infer the one from the other. If the word is crooked or perverse, we may be perfectly sure that the heart in which it was born is also deformed. Or, to change my figure, our words are just vessels carrying the inner life of the soul. And, therefore, the words can be sacred as cups which carry the sacramental wine, or they can be as cups that carry a poisonous draught. ‘“‘ By thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.” When our words are full of truth and grace the heart is ready for communion with the King. Such a pilgrim can take to the rising road which leads to the holy place.

Well, these are the conditions as the psalmist sees them. But oh the burden of it all! I wonder if any folk fulfil the conditions, and if there are many such pilgrims on the road? And how do they do it? And how did this man do it? Did he really do it? He does not let us into his secret. He only gives us the dazzling light of a great ideal, and we may well be scared by it.

I shall choose another road, and it begins on the slopes of another hill. I have heard that the heights of Sinai can most surely be gained by beginning the journey at “a green hill’? just ‘‘ outside a city wall.” In the Lord Jesus Christ I find a “living way”’ to the very secrets of rest and glory which the Psalmist craved. ‘‘Iam the way.” All the conditions are fulfilled in Him. For He is not only the way, but the truth and the life. In Christ Jesus I can find freedom from that uncleanness which I can no more shed than I can shed my skin. And in Christ Jesus I am not only delivered from sin, I escape from weakness. In Christ Jesus I am not only on the road, I am right in the holy place. The wonder of wonders is this: Christ, who is my way, is also my home. ‘Thou, O Christ, art all I want.”