Ascending the Hill of the Lord

Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? and who shall stand in His holy place?” — Psaum xxiv. 8.

WHEN Dante begins to make the real ascent to Paradise he has to mount three steps at the beginning of the journey. There is first a step of white marble. Then there is a step which is rough, broken and uneven. And, third, there is a step of flaming porphyry. The imagery is extraordinarily vivid, and the vividness is surely equalled by its truth. If we wish to ascend the hill of the Lord, these are the first three steps which set us on the road. Any other beginning will lead

Ascending the Hill of the Lord iy

into a road which winds round the base of the hill and never turns upward to the summit.

We begin with the step of white marble. It is the symbol of purity and sincerity. It corresponds to the scriptural symbol of the white robe. The hill-pilgrim must be clean. Outside every Moslem mosque there is provision made for every worshipper to wash his feet. Ihaveseen hundreds of them engaged in this purifying ministry before they went into the holy place. But our own washings are not preparative for the hill of the Lord. For one thing, we do not know where the uncleanness is hiding, and, if we do, we should be unable to reach it. For instance, who can bring out his desires and rid them of every unworthy aspiration? Or, who can wash his affections as the Moslems wash their feet and rid them of every kind of defiling selfishness? Or who can take his conscience to pieces as he would clean a watch, and make it lucent as a diamond? The fact is, we cannot possibly take the first step to the white marble unless some mighty cleansing Minister will graciously make us clean. “Lord, if Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean!’ Such is ever the cry of the pilgrim whose face is turned to the holy hill. “I will, be thou clean.”” Such is ever the swift response of the Saviour. ‘His blood can make the vilest clean. His blood avails for me.” From the white marble we pass to the rough and broken step. It is the broken and contrite heart. Behind our word “contrite”? there is the image of something crumbling like stubborn earth clods which are falling to pieces to receive the sun and God’s refreshing dews and rains. And this is penitence. It is a very true and searching insight which prompts Dante to put the really vital penitence after the cleansing. The broken step comes after the white marble. It is only when we are forgiven that we really begin to see the deadly horribleness of sin. When we see sin over against grace it looks exceedingly sinful. It is the new light which makes us realise the terrors of the old night. It is when we come to know the Saviour that we find out how we have wounded Him. And then comes the penitence, the sorrow which is itself a minister of a consecrated life. We are on the second step, the rough and broken step, which takes us further on the road to the paradise of God.

And then we reach the third step of the flaming red porphyry. And this is the kindling of love. It is the red glow of sacrificial affection. ‘‘ We love Him because He first loved us.’’ Yes, even our love is the child of His love, a little fire born of the central Sun, ‘‘She loved much because she was much forgiven.’’ Her heart opened to the Deliverer who had freed her, and He filled it with His own passionate flame. ‘‘ God is Love,”’ and when a kindred love is blazing in our hearts we can make fine progress

up the hill.