His enemies be scattered. Arise, O Lord, into Thy
rest, Thou and the Ark of Thy strength." And as the Ark is borne
nearer to the ancient gates, which once defended the heathen Jebusite
against all foes, a new cry is raised--"Lift up your heads, O ye gates,
and be lift up ye everlasting doors, and the King of Glory shall come
in." And so the Ark entered into Jerusalem, henceforth the Holy City,
of which God said, "The Lord had chosen Zion, He hath desired it for
His habitation." Still looking at this Jerusalem of the past, we see
the same David fallen from his high estate, sore punished for his sin,
weeping for the dying child of His shame, fleeing from the city before
the threats of another son whom he had loved "not wisely, but too
well." Then we see the buildings of the temple rising high above
palace and homestead, and mark the glory, and the wisdom, and the
weakness of Solomon. Later we see clouds of sin and sorrow gathering
thick over Zion. Idolatrous kings have set up their heathen altars and
high places. Of nearly every monarch the same dark sentence is
recorded--he did "that which was evil in the sight of the Lord." The
days come when we see the Temple of God closed; no sound of Psalm, no
smoke of incense within its walls. Men burn sacrifices to Baal and
Ashtaroth, and the Valley of Hinnom echoes with the cries of hapless
children offered to Moloch, the hideous idol of the Ammonite. We see
the Ark of God cast out of the holy of holies, the name of Jehovah
removed from every public document, the altars of God overthrown, and
His Priests slain with the sword. Even to-day they point to the
mulberry tree of Isaiah, where one of the greatest of the prophets was
slain in the Valley of Kedron. Still looking back, we see the hand of
the spoiler and the oppressor busy with the city which had forgotten
God--forgotten the things which concerned its peace. The ruined walls,
the desecrated temple, the mournful band of exiles, all these seem to
pass before us like a dream. Then for a time come brighter scenes, as
Israel returns from its exile, and with joyful Psalms sings, "Let them
rejoice whom the Lord hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy, and
gathered them out of all lands."

Such was the Jerusalem of the past, over which the Son of God gazed and
wept. What was the Jerusalem of the present, on which He looked; what
of the future? It was a doomed city, because in spite of all its
chances, its warnings,