"To see your power and your glory, so as I have seen you in the sanctuary." Psalm 63:2

J.C. Philpot

DAILY WORDS FOR ZION'S WAYFARERS

or, THROUGH BACA'S VALLEY
 
Selected from the works of J. C. Philpot by his daughters, 1893

"Blessed are those whose strength is in You,
 who have set their hearts on pilgrimage.
 As they pass through the Valley of Baca, ("weeping")
 they make it a place of springs;
 the autumn rains also cover it with pools.
 They go from strength to strength,
 until each appears before God in Zion."
       Psalm 84:5-7

"To see your power and your glory, so as I have seen you in the sanctuary." Psalm 63:2

Every place is "a sanctuary" where God manifests himself in power and glory to the soul. Moses, doubtless, had often passed by the bush which grew in Horeb; it was but a common hawthorn bush, in no way distinguished from the other bushes of the grove; but on one solemn occasion it was all "in a flame of fire," for "the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire" out of the midst; and though it burnt with fire, it was not consumed. God being in the bush, the ground round about was holy, and Moses was bidden to take his shoes from off his feet. Was not this a sanctuary to Moses? It was, for a holy God was there.

Thus wherever God manifests himself, that becomes a sanctuary to a believing soul. We do not need places made holy by the ceremonies of man, but places made holy by the presence of God. Then a stable, a hovel, a hedge, any homely corner may be, and is a sanctuary, when God fills your heart with his sacred presence, and causes every holy feeling and gracious affection to spring up in your soul. 

If ever you have seen this in times past, you have seen God in the sanctuary; for then your heart becomes the sanctuary of God, according to his own words, "You are the temple of the living God; as God has said, I will dwell in them and walk in them." Are not your very bodies the temples of the Holy Spirit? (1 Cor. 6:19.) 

Does not Christ dwell in the heart by faith? And is he not formed there, the hope of glory? It is, then, not only in Christ without, but in Christ within that we see the power and glory of God. It is in this way that we become consecrated to the service and glory of God, set our affections upon heavenly things, and obtain a foretaste of eternal joy.