Numbers 8:26

REFLECTIONS

PAUSE my soul, while by faith thou walkest in the sanctuary of the Old Testament dispensation, and in viewing the golden candlestick with the lighted lamps, behold thy adored Redeemer, as divinely represented shining forth, in and through all his New Testament revelation, under the fulness of all the HOLY SPIRIT's influence. Oh! how gloriously did he shine, of whom this golden candlestick with its seven lamps was but the faintest image, unto whom the SPIRIT was not given by measure. Hail! thou ever blessed, ever glorious JESUS! thou that are both the light, and the life of thy people. From thee and thy precious influence, do all the lights of the temple derive their lustre. By thee they shine; for thee they minister; and to thy glory they serve. LORD! communicate to my dark and benighted heart the rays of thy grace. Shine in precious JESUS, on my cold and lifeless soul, and warm my frozen affections; be thou my everlasting light, and my GOD my glory.

And while I thus look up to thee my GOD and Saviour, as the fountain and source of all that is truly glorious, may my soul behold in the dedication of these Levites to the temple service, how high a dignity those souls are called to, who, by the LORD'S appointment, minister in holy things. Let me offer a prayer before the mercy seat, for all of this description and character, who are the true Levites before GOD; I mean such as are of the HOLY GHOST's commissioning, that He who hath called them may qualify for the work. Oh! LORD, consider their earthen vessels: pity and compassionate the weakness of their frame; and by the powerful influences of thy grace, do thou give in unto them that they may give out to thy people! may a gracious GOD and Saviour make them faithful, to shine as lights in thy church here; and, by turning many to righteousness, may they shine as the stars in the church above, forever, and ever!