. . . thou shalt say, O Lord, I will praise thee: . . .

For two thousand years Christian people often have pointed toward themselves and their works. But as we enter the fulfillment of the feast of Tabernacles the Lord Himself becomes the glorious Center of our attention. We praise Him always!

. . . though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortedst me.

Every Christian must go through periods of chastening, of judgment, of warfare. God is not pleased with what Satan has brought about in our personality. The tribulations through which we enter the Kingdom of God are part of the spiritual fulfillment of the Day of Atonement, the reconciling of us to God's righteous and holy Nature. They are Divine judgment on us.

Many times the suffering is intense and prolonged. It indeed is a fiery trial. How we desire to escape from the Lord's prison! But in order to escape from God's prison we must break God's laws.

After we have suffered awhile, He who has wounded us binds us up. The chastening of the Lord creates patience and the peaceable fruits of righteousness in us. Our sins and self-seeking depart from us. We enter rest in God and God enters rest in us. Our warfare has been accomplished, our iniquity pardoned.

Behold, God is my salvation; . . .

In all our prior dealings with God He has been separate from us. He has saved us, healed us, given us wisdom, helped and strengthened us in every way. God has done these things for us and in us.

But as we enter the "Tabernacles experience" we notice a change taking place in our relationship with the Lord. He Himself is becoming our salvation. No longer are we able even to think anything by our own wisdom or knowledge. He Himself becomes our mind, our prayer, our salvation, our health, our wisdom, our help, our strength.

Sometimes it is difficult for us to "let go." Without our realizing it there are things we do that constitute our "religion." Our set of beliefs and practices are "earning" our salvation to a certain extent, although we Christians would reject that concept if it were brought to our attention. Nevertheless we trust in these religious behaviors and perceive them as being our salvation.

Oftentimes, as God begins to move us into the fulfillment of Tabernacles, events in our lives take place that cause our religious activities no longer to be effective. We discover that one by one the things and thoughts in which we trust are being removed from us. We attempt to hold on, to preserve our former relationship, our former kind of contact with the Lord. But if it is the Lord who is making the change we never again will be content with the old way.

To be continued.