Sermon Supplements – Page 31

When the Tabernacle Burst at the Seams (Exodus 26)

Rare is the soul who reads construction manuals for kicks. Chances are you don’t read the instructions for something you’re going to build; you just look at the pictures. Here are construction plans for something they built, and there are no pictures. You don’t even have the parts, and you couldn’t manufacture them to reconstruct this tent even if you wanted. The more pics of the tabernacle you look at, the better, for you soon realize they’re all different. We know neither the precise size nor appearance of the tabernacle and its furniture.

Don’t mourn that you can’t reconstruct the tabernacle exactly as it was. Don’t mourn that you have words instead of pictures. The majority of the Israelites never saw the tabernacle. It was mysterious. Access was restricted. The clearest insight Israel had of the tent was the text. The way they “saw” the tabernacle is the same way you see—through words. There are no photographs of the tabernacle, for the tabernacle itself is a picture, and one you are meant to see via words. In his commentary on Exodus, Phil Ryken writes,

The reason we study the tabernacle today is not so we can draw pictures of it or build an exact replica (although this can be helpful), but to learn what the tabernacle teaches us about knowing God. The question is what does the tabernacle mean? Why did God tell Moses to set up a tent, and why did he tell him to do it this way?

Don’t feel gypped because you don’t get to see the tabernacle; that’s like wishing you could reconstruct scaffolding once a building project is done. The tabernacle was scaffolding, and it’s no longer needed. We have a description of it, so that we can learn something about the structure that was once under it, but now, the scaffolding has fallen, or rather, that which lied under it, superseded and fulfilled it so that it burst at the seems and rose through it.

Jesus tented among us, the supreme revelation of God’s glory (John 1:14). Through the curtain of His rent flesh we all have access to the Holy of Holies (Hebrews 10:19–22). In Jesus, we’re not just brought into the inner sanctum, we’re indwelt as temples both individually (1 Corinthians 6:19) and corporately (1 Corinthians 3:16–17, Ephesians 2:20–22).

So read these construction plans like a child reads the manual to their newest Lego toy, or the way a young family reads the plans to a home they’re building. Look under the scaffolding to what Christ is, and what in union with Him you are.

The Area 51 of Christendom (Exodus 25)

Concerning the tabernacle, Philo, the Jewish thinker of Alexandria, held that the seven lamps represented the seven then known planets, the four materials the four elements of earth, water, air, and fire, and the precious stones the signs of the Zodiac. Thus the tabernacle portrayed the cosmos. Silly ancient.

The tabernacle was a place of restricted access. Some Christians approach for this reason, others stay away. It’s like the Area 51 of Christendom. There are those who sneer and those who seek; neither approach is healthy. There are the conspiracy theorists who make every little detail of the tabernacle to be about something, and then there are those who stay away because they think all of this a tad weird.

So let me illustrate a healthier approach using a piece of furniture from the tabernacle. What does the gold lampstand mean? One could jump to John 12 where Jesus reveals Himself as the light of the world and trace that rich Biblical theme through the Scriptures, but when finished, he would have only shown that that theme was in the Bible without demonstrating that it was directly tied to the lampstand. In Zechariah 4 and Revelation 1 we see similar lampstands, but in each instance the lamps stand for something different. Further, in those passages we’re told what the lamps meant. Here we’re told nothing. Wisdom would dictate we say nothing. So what does the lamp mean? It means that with all those curtains, the tabernacle was dark and thus the priests needed light (Exodus 25:37).

Don’t miss the forrest for the trees. Don’t miss the word for the letters. We don’t read letters, we read words. Meaning is in words, not letters. The meaning of the tabernacle is in the big scope of things. When God begins to give instructions for the tabernacle, He starts with the core. Keep the core the core. Note what the New Testament makes a big deal out of, and make a big deal out of that. Read Hebrews 8 and 9 and don’t presume to be more insightful than its author. Or, as a friend of mine puts it, “Love Jesus. Don’t get weird.”

The Pinnacle (Exodus 24:1–2, 9–18)

On one side of Sinai stands Egypt, on the other, the tabernacle. Sinai itself is volcanically exciting, but we’re prone to think less exciting what awaits us east of Sinai than what was west. We’ll read the ten plagues twice before we make it through the instructions for the tabernacle once. The sunrise of the new day is more glorious than the sunset of days past. Sinai is the fullest revelation God has given His people of His glory up to this point, and the aim of the tabernacle is to make Sinai portable. The tabernacle was patterned after heavenly things (Hebrews 9:23–24) and I want to show you that Sinai was a revelation of those heavenly things.

First, Moses receives instructions to go partway up the mountain with some select men, and then to proceed further up alone. This results in a thrice-partitioned mountain corresponding to the thrice-partitioned encampment of Israel around the tabernacle. Around the foot of the mountain are the people, further up are the elders, Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and then at the top, Moses. Israel will camp around the tabernacle, the Levites and priest will be immediately around and in the tabernacle, and then only the high priest may enter the most holy place.

Second, Moses is ascending this mountain to receive the tablets, containing the ten commandments; which are representative of the covenant (Deuteronomy 4:12–13). He is up on the mountain forty days and nights. Even if Moses is chiseling and engraving the tablets himself, which he is not, this seems like a long time. What’s the holdup? While Moses is up there, he also receives the pattern for the tabernacle. After naturally receiving instructions concerning building materials, what is the first thing Moses is instructed about? The ark of the covenant, which is to house the tablets of the testimony (Exodus 25:16, 21). Moses receives not only the tablets, but first, he is given the pattern for where they are to be housed. These tablets that come from the mountain heights are to go to the camp core. The Tablets are to go as far in as they were high up.

When Moses ascends with the elders they see God. It seems they look up, and the sky becomes a kind of translucent sapphire pavement, and they see, as it were, God’s feet resting on his footstool (Exodus 24:10; cf. Isaiah 66:1). Soon thereafter a cloud descends on Sinai and Moses, as it were, ascends up closer to God’s throne to receive the pattern of that which is patterned after heavenly things.

SPOILER ALERT: Here is how Exodus closes:

Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled on it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. Throughout all their journeys, whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the people of Israel would set out. But if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not set out till the day that it was taken up. For the cloud of the LORD was on the tabernacle by day, and fire was in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel throughout all their journeys.

As God dwelt on Sinai (Exodus 24:15–16), so he dwells in the midst of His people in this tent over the ark containing the tablets of the covenant (Exodus 25:8). This is a picture of heavenly things—things that you see and enjoy more clearly in Christ. Do not envy them. The more glorious manifestation of God dwelling with His people in covenant love came not in cloud, but in flesh. God the Son has tabernacled among us in the flesh (John 1:14). If we have seen Jesus we have seen the Father (John 14:8–9). Jesus came down to bring us up to the heights. Jesus went outside the camp to bring us to the most holy place. In Jesus, we are brought further up and further in.

This is the pinnacle of God’s salvation; not what we were saved from, but Who we are saved to. The greatest thrill of God’s redemption isn’t Exodus, but the tabernacle.

Blood-Splattered and Blood-Sandwiched Law (Exodus 24:1–8)

I don’t care much for red-letter Bibles. Every word is God’s Word. I don’t care for red-lettered Bibles, but I insist on a blood-sprinkled law. Give me the law blood-sprinkled and blood-sandwiched and give it to me no other way.

Moses’ reading the Book of the Covenant and the people’s responding “All that the LORD has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient (Exodus 24:7),” is sandwiched between the blood being thrown against the altar and sprinkled on the people. The law is blood-sandwiched. Further, Hebrews 9:19–20 informs us that the Book was also sprinkled with the blood. This has been Israel’s experience. Before Sinai, the Passover Lamb’s blood was applied. Take away the blood, and the the law condemns and crushes. Take away the sacrificial blood, and the law demands our blood. But sandwich it and sprinkle it with blood, and it comes as grace on top of grace.

Dispensationalism, popularized by the Scofield and Ryrie Study Bibles, basically says that the law was for them and the gospel is for us; that God has two plans, one for Israel and one for the church. Raspberry. All is of Christ, it’s only that they had the shadow, and we have the light. Yet, it is the shadows that help us to know and understand the redemption of the One who dwells in unapproachable light. We know what it means when John says, “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world,” because of the Old Testament. The shadows help us understand the light as the light helps us understand the shadows.

We are redeemed by the blood to be ruled by the Book. We are saved by the Word to be ruled by His word. Christ rules to save and He saves to rule. Covenant with God means that the blood is applied and the book is affirmed.

The Puritan Samuel Bolt helps us to understand how we relate to the law after redemption, “The law sends us to the Gospel for our justification; the Gospel sends us to the law to frame our way of [life]. Our obedience to the law is nothing else but the expression of our thankfulness to God who has freely justified us.” To hearts brimful with joy for the salvation of God, longing to express praise and thanksgiving, the law comes as a gift to which we exclaim, “All that Yahweh has spoken we will do.” We are sure that we will fail, but we are also sure of the blood of the covenant. We exclaim this because we are sure of the blood of the Shepherd and of all His promises to His sheep that are irrevocably secured by that blood.

“Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen (Hebrews 13:20).”

Why is Moses More Popular than Joshua? (Exodus 23:20–33)

Why is Moses more popular than Joshua? While the exodus remains marketable, the conquest is an embarrassment to many. Sure, “Joshua Fought the Battle of Jericho,” but let’s do a exodus to conquest film count. Whole theologies, false ones mind you, have been built up around the exodus, what of the conquest? Perhaps some fundies and charismatics might make much of it, but they’re made little of, which proves the point.

I believe one reason is that in the exodus Israel is seen as the oppressed, while in the conquest as the oppressor. Egypt put Israel to hard slavery and killed their male newborns. What did the Canaanites do to Israel? We root for the underdog. We like the overthrow of tyrants. We hate genocide.

The problem with all of this is it puts the events in terms of Israel, not God. The questions to ask are, “What did the Egyptians do against God? What did the Canaanites do against God?” That we frame the events in terms of man, and not God, shows that we’re not far from the same wicked idolatry that evoked such wrath and judgment. Liberation theology says God has a heart for the oppressed and delivers them. Surely, God hates oppression, but many oppressed peoples perish. The ten wonders were not first an expression of God’s hatred of Egypt’s sin as it was against Israel, but as it was against Him. The deal with Israel is that God has linked Himself to her in covenant. Mess with her and you mess with Him.

If you think little of sin you think little of God. Sin is heinous to the degree God is glorious. If sin is trite, if God should pass easily over it, it means He is not that big of a deal, and if God is not that big of a deal, nothing is. The death of sin is the death of significance. But this death can only happen theoretically, because God is, and He is glorious and holy without measure, and therefore sin is infinitely evil.

Now, back to the conquest. The irony of conquest shame is that the exodus was for the conquest. You cannot celebrate the exodus and debase the conquest. Further, the iniquity of the Canaanites appears to have been worse. God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah with fire and sulfur from heaven for their great wickedness, and the rest of Canaan was only a few centuries behind. God told Abraham that one reason why Israel would not enjoy the land for sometime was because, “the iniquity of the Amorites [was] not yet complete (Genesis 15:16).” For five hundred years God patiently waits, and when their depravity knows no bounds, then His wrath comes.

Read the conquest language carefully. Yes, unlike the Exodus, Israel takes up the sword, but this is Yahweh’s fight. Yahweh is a warrior and Israel is His sword. Salvation always comes by judgment. At the time of conquest, as on that last day when we prepare to enter the eternal land of rest, Jesus’ war is against idolatry and for worship. We simply bow the knee to Him as the rightful, glorious, and worthy King of kings.

Don’t Use Pencil, but Indelible Ink (Exodus 23:10–19)

God’s calendar certainly seems to intrude on their time doesn’t it? There’s the rub. “Their time” is a myth. Time is one of God’s biggest blessings, for any time that we’re given means that we’re not suffering the eternal hell we deserve. Time is grace. Time is His. By these Sabbaths and feasts, God isn’t imposing on their time, He is giving them time—sacred time.

Time, as given to all humanity, is a common grace, a grace that saints and sinners alike share. These Sabbaths and feasts were grace saturated time. They were times of special grace. When Israel followed God’s calendar, the poor were fed, the livestock flourished, the land was fruitful, all enjoyed rest, and celebration was mandatory. When God puts you on His calendar, you don’t want to miss it.

God doesn’t intrude on our time, we’ve intruded on His. Grace resets our calendars around God. For those who have eyes of faith, these celebrations were a command to rejoice and rest. By these feasts God was inviting them to taste the future when all time would be all holy; a day when sins’ curse would no longer blight the harvest and death would not eat at time. The church now assembles on the Lord’s day to feast over the Word and Sacraments as a foretaste of that same future. For those with eyes of faith, there is resting and rejoicing. If you feel God intrudes on your time, beware your soul. If God isn’t lord of your time, He isn’t your Lord and you know neither real rest or joy.

Patriarchy means Protection and Provision (Exodus 22:16–23:9)

When it comes to laws concerning widows and orphans (Exodus 22:22-24), God breaks protocol. The ten words from the fire came directly from God to the people and were written by Him in stone (Deuteronomy 10:12–13). The Book of the Covenant runs from 20:22–23:33 and came to the people through the mediation of Moses and were written by him on parchment (Exodus 24:4, 7). This means most of the Book of the Covenant is in the second person, but when it comes the fatherless and husbandless, the first person is resumed.

“If you do mistreat them, and they cry out to me, I will surely hear their cry, and my wrath will burn, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall become widows and your children fatherless (Exodus 22:23–24).”

The cry of the oppressed orphans and widows would rise to God the same way Israel’s cries came to God under their Egyptian oppressors. God is telling them there could be an Israel within Israel and they might find themselves to be Egyptians. In the prophets a frequent reason given for the exile is their treatment of orphans and widows.

“For if you truly amend your ways and your deeds, if you truly execute justice one with another, if you do not oppress the sojourner, the fatherless, or the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not go after other gods to your own harm, then I will let you dwell in this place, in the land that I gave of old to your fathers forever (Jeremiah 7:5–7).”

When father’s are absent, God is a father to the fatherless in a special sense. This is patriarchy, which is to say this is fatherhood. We style ourselves complementarian contra egalitarians, and that’s all well and good, but there is an older term, a more descriptive term, though a more offensive one: patriarchalism. Patriarchalism doesn’t men that women are used and abused but protected and provided for. It means that there are fathers.

The reason why widows and orphans were so vulnerable is because they were fatherless (also meaning hudsband-less).Why do so many women and children tremble behind locked doors? Because there are too few men inside as protectors and too many men outside as predators. The problem isn’t patriarchy. The problem isn’t fatherhood. That’s the solution. The problem is the absence of patriarchy. A father-ful society is the best one for widows and orphans. Father famine abounds, but to the hungry we say there is a Father feast above. The only hope of impacting father famine on the ground is for men to be transformed by the Father in the Son through the Spirit so that they show forth His image in the world.

“When you reap your harvest in your field and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. When you beat your olive trees, you shall not go over them again. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow. When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, you shall not strip it afterward. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow. You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt; therefore I command you to do this (Deuteronomy 24:19-22).”

The Most Important Responsibility Lesson: You Can’t (Exodus 21:33–22:15)

Man is responsible, therefore he should be responsible. That’s not a tautology. The child who just makes a mess is responsible—for the mess. The child who cleans up his mess is being responsible. God is sovereign over all, and owns that responsibility. Man, made in his image is given dominion as a steward king. He’s responsible. You’re responsible for how those things under your dominion—be they your arms, or the arms of an employee—you’re responsible for how they effect things under other’s dominion. To steal, is to sinfully use your dominion against another’s.

Exodus 21:33–22:15 deals with responsibility issues that are an application of God’s eighth word from the fire, “You shall not steal.” Certainly having a sheep who got out despite good fencing and devoured the neighbor’s garden is no theft, but failure to take responsibility for the sheep’s damage is. You should make restitution, and to go further, invite your neighbor over for some roast mutton. He did help to fatten it after all.

To illustrate the various situations at play in this passage, lets jump out to jump back in. Something like what the Pevensie children did, when they jumped into Narnia only to jump back as better persons into their world, only our venture will be much less fantastical. But we need something to jump from, so let’s use the principle of responsibility and jump from theft to parenting.

Parents are responsible and part of that responsibility involves teaching their children responsibility. If a child knows a pencil sharpener is broken, so that it will eat up the next kid’s pencil and he’s done nothing, he’s been negligent. He should make restitution while he receives the damaged pencil (Exodus 21:33–36). If he steals a pencil, he should give it back, plus one (Exodus 22:4). If he steals the pencil and destroys it, he should make something like four-fold restitution (Exodus 22:1). If a pencil was entrusted to him, and it was stolen because of his carelessness and the thief isn’t caught, he should give the owner one of his pencils (Exodus 22:10–12). If he borrows a friend’s pencil and damages it, he should give a new pencil to the owner (Exodus 22:14). If he tries to rent a pencil (Exodus 22:15), well, then you tell him that he is to refrain from such activity until he can read and understand a rental agreement contract.

Imagine the societal impact if parents took responsibility to teach their children responsibility. But, if parents only teach their children to take responsibility, they’ve failed miserably short in teaching them about responsibility. The most important lesson is this, they can never, ultimately make their wrongs right. What they stole on Monday, should they return it on Wednesday, they can never give back Tuesday. Part of the evil of theft is that something is always stolen that cannot be returned. Destroy a pencil and you can never return that pencil. Steal a pencil, and there’s always a little less lead; there’s never enough to get you out of the red.

Remember, all stuff is God’s stuff. Theft is rebellion against His distribution, a belittling of the wisdom of His providence, and a mockery of His power to do anything about it. Worse yet, all sin is theft. All sin is a stealing from God what is His due, and He is due all. Do you have some “all” in your back pocket? Obey perfectly from this point forward, still you cannot give back 1996, the year of stupidity. God deserved 1996, and you tried to embezzle it. You can’t make your rights wrong, but you should. Anselm said it something like this: no one should make payment but man, no one can make payment but God. The debt we cannot pay, God did in Christ Jesus. If a thief sold himself into slavery to pay his debts (Exodus 22:3), then a near kinsman may purchase him out of his slavery by paying the redemption price. Jesus took on flesh that He might be our kinsman redeemer and ransom us by His precious blood (1 Peter 1:18–19) so that the record of our debt was nailed to the cross (Colossians 4:13–14).

We’re not redeemed because God made a settlement. The debt was fully paid. All that was owed in both obedience and damnation was fully rendered and suffered by Christ in out stead. Such redemption not only pays our debts, it transforms us to be, as best we may to our neighbor, debt payers. Redemption makes us responsible.

Bloody Justice and Bloody Grace (Exodus 21:12–32)

Give God’s law a fair shake and I believe you’ll be struck with the fairness of it. A cursory glance looking for barbarisms and inconsistencies won’t suffice. That’s not fair. Study it. Generally our society agrees that law takes some of that. I don’t want to argue for this here, rather, I want you to be struck with where you see this in the Bible.

After God’s mighty redemption of His people He gives them these laws of justice. After grace, justice. After mercy, righteous judgment. Grace isn’t allergic to justice. Mercy isn’t polarized against righteousness. Remember that the salvation of God’s people came by judgment. Justice fell on Egypt that Israel might go free. But this wasn’t justice enough. The death penalty hung over Israel’s head as well. If they were to go free, redemption must be paid. A lamb must bleed. There will be blood: bloody justice and bloody grace. The only reason any get grace, is because God upheld justice.

“But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus (Romans 3:21–26).”

God compromises no justice in His grace, and His grace instills justice into His people. We who are saved by grace should seek justice. When one son harms another, a good parent punishes the guilty not only because they love the innocent, but because they love the offender. We should lovingly seek for justice to be done in society by the proper authorities, all while declaring the righteousness of God revealed in the gospel of Christ who shed his blood in payment for the eternal death penalty that stood over our heads. May God’s redemption make us people of righteousness.

Y = Blue (Exodus 21:1–11)

Ideate one of those paint-by-number jobs. 1=B, 2=R, 3=Y, etc. Got it? You follow the directions and its hideous. You blame the publisher; it was published in some backwater country after all. But then you learn that it was published in that country, for citizens of that country, and that “Y” stands for a word in their tongue that corresponds to your blue.

Folks can get all twitchy when you get to passages in the Bible that talk about slavery and they start doing all kinds of weird things to the text. Some have proposed that we replace the word “slave” with “servant.” This is taking a play out of the postmodern politician’s playbook. When you want to legitimize evil, give it a slick name. But we don’t need to fool people into liking the Bible. The way forward isn’t to impose some new word on the Scriptures, but to immerse people in the world of the Bible. In other words, the way to paint the picture correctly is to inform them what “Y” looks like in that other world.

The reason even Christian’s get slavery jitters when dealing with the Scriptures is because their trying to paint ancient slavery with modern colors. But this isn’t that. Let us all agree that the African American slave trade was an abomination and that modern human sex trafficking is horrendous. But this ain’t that. Those aren’t the colors that the Biblical canvass is calling for. For example, in Romans slavery, not ancient Old Testament, Moses-given Scripture slavery, but in Roman slavery, consider that a slave could be better educated than his master, hold esteemed positions and vocations such as being a doctor, and have a higher social standing than a free man. Picture a slave in Caesar’s household, living in luxury, carrying out important duties for the state, looking down on the free man who is a day worker living in poverty. This isn’t to defend the institution of Roman slavery, nor to say that all Roman slaves were treated well—many were not. The point is simply that when you read “1=B,” B may not mean what you think it does.

Slavery is our history and we want to revise. Slavery was their story and they preserved. God redeemed His people out of slavery and into a slavery to Him. The only way to really begin to paint this picture rightly is to see the glorious gospel colors with which the law paints slavery. The Hebrew slave sold himself into slavery (Leviticus 25:39–40). Seven years later, all debts are cancelled (Deuteronomy 15:1–2). He is set free and sent out liberally (Deuteronomy 15:12–15). All these laws are in place to provide and care for the poor and to bless the slave. Now imagine you’ve struggled to eek by. You’re in continual fear of what you might loose due to debt. You’ve sold yourself for the second time to a generous master who cares for you and your family better than you’ve ever been able to do yourself. As his slave, your total well-being is his responsibility. Under him, you feel most free and loved. You bind yourself to him forever (Deuteronomy 15:16–17).

The boring through of the ear likely represented an open ear towards your master. This is likely the imagery at play in Psalm 40:6, “In sacrifice and offering you have not delighted, but you have given me an open ear. Burnt offering and sin offering you have not required.” Hebrews 10 quotes this verse with a slight change and puts the words in the mouth of Christ. “Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, ‘Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure.’ ” Jesus’ body was an open ear of obedience unto the Lord for us. In Isaiah both the Messiah and Israel are referred to as the Servant of YHWH. They have the same title because the Messiah stands in place of the people being the servant they should’ve been. Jesus obeys for us and purchases our redemption with His own blood. To call Him Lord is our joy and to live unto the Father following His example is our heart’s desire.

Once you’re painting painting Biblical slavery with these vivid gospel colors, colors of deep and glorious red, richest royal purple, mingled with the humblest of earth tones against the darkest backdrop contrasted with bright resurrection light, well, then you don’t hesitate to introduce yourself as Paul did, as “a slave of Christ Jesus (Romans 1:1).” We sing with the psalmist, “To you I lift up my eyes, O you who are enthroned in the heavens! Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maidservant to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the LORD our God, till he has mercy upon us (Psalm 123:1–2).”