The Pulpit Commentary — Psalms — Volume 3 — Section 177

compact 1-Jsut,:r of a highland fortress, its buildings as seen from below standincr out e.;;;e.inst the clear Syria:i sky, and conveying an impression of grace and strencrth that would long linger in the memory " (Liddon). The attachment of Mohamm:dans to the sacred city of Mecca is well known, and almost every religion has its special centre, and every god his shrine. The realistic presentation of a divinity in some image involves the localization of his worship to some place. An unfamiliar instance of special interest in sacred places was given by Professor Minas Tcheraz to the "World's Parliament." Speaking of the Armenian Church, he said, "One result of the manifold persecutions has been to strengthen the attachment of the Armenians to the Church of St. Gregory the Illuminator. Etchmiadzin has become a word of enchantment, graven in the soul of every Armenian. The Armenians of the mother country bow down with love before this sanctuary, which has already seen 1591 summers. And as regards those who have left their native land, if it is far from their eyes, it is not far from their hearts. A Persian monarch, Shah Abbas, had forcibly transported into bis dominion fourteen thousand Armenian families. Like the captive Israelites at the remembrance of Jerusalem, these Armenians always sighed at the recollection of Etchmiadzin. In order to keep them in their new country, Shah Abbas conceived the project of destroying Etcbmiadzi □, of transporting the stones to Djoulfa (Ispahan), and there constructing a similar convent. He actually transported the central sto □ e of the chief altar, the baptismal fonts, and other important pieces, but the emotion of the Armenians was so great that he was forced to give up his project of vandalism." The sentiment of Christians in relation to the Holy Sepulchre may be compared with the sentiment of the Jews in relation to the holy city and temple. And a subject which may be suggested for consideration is the value and the peril of this association of religion with places and buildings. L THE VALUE OF THE ASSOCIATION OF RELIGION WITH PLACES. That value lies in the help which material things can be to the spiritual life of beings who have material forms. The wholly spiritual is at present unattainable by us. We are com- pelled to shape the spiritual in formal words, and to present the spirituo.l in mo.terial images. The sacro.ments are based on this value of sensible helps to spiritual feeli□ g. And so historic and beautiful church-bnildi □ gs cultivate reverence; familiar services nourish the spirit of worship; the church we have attended since childhood, or in which we have felt the power of Divine things, readily quickens emotion o.nd renews faith. The hermit who retires even from hallowing associations, does but make new ones for himself, for none of us can afford to neglect tho help that sacred places and things may be to us. Il. THE PERIL THAT JIIAY LlE IN THE ASSOCIATION OF RELIGION WITH PLACES. It is the peril that always lies in the connection of the material with the spiritual. The material is always trying to encroach. In exaggeration we see this in the ignor- ant heathen who thinks of his image as a god, instead of as a help to the appreheusion of God. This subtle peril lies in services, Sl\cred buildings, sacraments, llnd even formal doctrines. They become absorbing in thcm~clves, not agoncics of the spiritual. -R.T. Ver. 3.-Tlte emblem of spiritual unity. "Compact together." Stanley thinks this term indicates the impression made on country visitors by the conformo.tion of the irround on which the city of Jerusalem stood. "Those deep ravines which soparnte Jerusalem from the rocky plateau of which it forms a part, and acted 1\8 its natural defence, must also have determined its natural boundaries. The city, wherever else it spread, could never overleap the valley of the Kedron or of Hinuom. 'l'he expression of compactness was still more appropriate to the original city, if, as seems probable, the ve.lley of Tyropceon formed in earlier times a fos'se within a fosse, shutting in Zion and Moriah into one compact mass, not more than ho.lfa mile in breadth." This compact- ness is taken as a type of the higher national unity. The nation rcslored from the Captivity was regarded as e. whole nation, the distinction betweeu Judah and Israel being no longer recognized. The sign of unity was the gathering from all the tribes of worshippers at the Jerusalem feasts. The crowds of worshippers pressed into the area of the temple seemed to be represented by the compactness of the city. L SPIDITUAL UNITY 1s THE UNITY OF A COMMON LIFE. And tho real sign of life 198 THE BOOK OF PSALMS. [PB. oxxn. 1-9.