Thou hast set Thy tabernacle among us

Great comfort today in the passage from Leviticus 26 that is appointed to be read in our lectio continua.

2 It is for you to observe my sabbaths, to reverence my sanctuary; the Lord’s sanctuary. 3 If you live by my law, if you remember my commands and obey them, rain shall fall on you when fall it should; 4 the land will yield its increase, and the trees will be bowed with fruit, 5 threshing not done with by vintage time, or vintage by seed-time; you shall have food to your hearts’ content. Securely you shall hold your lands; 6 sleep safe in your beds, with peace on all your frontiers. I will rid you, too, of ravenous beasts, and never the sword shall lay your country waste. 7 You shall rout your enemies, and beat them down before you; 8 five of you putting a hundred aliens to flight, and a hundred of you ten thousand; so shall your enemies bite the dust at your approach. 9 Under the eye of my favour you shall increase and multiply, all my promises to you I will make good; 10 ever the old harvest shall suffice, till you rid yourselves of it to make room for the new. 11 I will make my dwelling among you, and never shall my love cast you off, 12 still coming and going in the midst of you, I your God, and you my people.

Rest for Your Souls

Draw us, Lord Jesus, into the repose of Thine own sabbath, for Thou sayest still to all who open their ears to hear Thy voice, “Come to me, all you that labour and are burdened; I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon yourselves, and learn from me; I am gentle and humble of heart; and you shall find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:28–29).

No Sound but Such as Telleth of Thy Glory

Fill Thou our spirits with reverence for Thy sanctuary, the sanctuary that Thou hast made Thine own, and filled with Thine ineffable presence, and illumined with the light of Thy Face, and warmed with the fire of Thy Heart. Is this not the sanctuary concerning which Thou saidst, of old, to Solomon: “I have sanctified this house, which thou hast built, to put my name there for ever, and my eyes and my heart shall be there always” (1 Kings 9:3).  Never a day but Thine eyes shall be watching, Thine heart attentive to those who fall prostrate in Thy sanctuaries. O, fill Thou, Thy churches with the cloud of Thy glory. Silence the clatter of tongues and the hiss of whisperers. In Thy sanctuary, be there no sound but such as telleth of Thy glory (cf. Psalm 28:9).

Adorers in Thy Presence

Give us rain in due season and food enough to praise Thee rightly; give us security under Thy protection and peace all about us; rid us of the infernal beast, send him utterly humiliated into the place Thou hast assigned to him, and cause all his allies to bite the dust. Under the eye of Thy gracious favour, increase us that we may abide in Thy presence by day and by night; multiply here adorers in spirit and in truth such as Thy Father seeketh to adore Him (cf. John 4:23).

Mercy and Praise

Make good all Thy promises, that we may praise Thee more and more, until such time as our praise of Thee ascending shall encounter Thy mercy towards us descending, and Thy mercy towards us descending our praise of Thee ascending, and this upon the mystic ladder that Jacob beheld by night in a dream, “a ladder standing on the earth, with its top reaching up into heaven; a stairway for the angels of God to go up and come down” (Genesis 28:12).

Thy Love Ever Faithful

Thou hast made Thy dwelling among us, and Thou remainest even in the midst of those who know not the mystery of Thy presence, nor the welcome prepared for them by Thy love, nor the fragrance of Thy sacrifice that rises from Thine altars, nor the sweetness of Thy silence, nor Thy veiled countenance that waits to reveal the thoughts of Thy Heart to those who seek it. Never shall Thy love cast us off. Never shall Thy love cast me off.

In the Midst of Thy People

Come and go in the midst of Thy people, touching the untouchable, healing the sick, consoling the sorrowful, lifting up the despondent, giving sight to the blind, and hearing to the deaf, and speech to the mute, and movement to those in the immobilising grip of sin. Be Thou our God, and make Thou us Thy people, calling us now not servants but friends (cf. John 15:15), for Thou hast set Thy tabernacle among us, and Thy soul shall not cast us off (Leviticus 26:11).