May 6

May the LORD answer you in the day of trouble; may the name of the God of Jacob protect you. May He send you help from the sanctuary and sustain you from Zion. — Ps 20:1-2 BSB

When the soul faces the trying hour of temptation, it needs help from the sanctuary. And only help from the sanctuary can truly sustain it. Any other help leaves the soul just as it was found. So why does the Lord send help from the sanctuary? Because the soul to whom help is sent has a saving interest in the Father's love, the Savior's blood, and the Spirit's teachings—a saving interest in the eternal covenant of the Triune God.

Help is sent from the sanctuary because that person's name has been registered in the Lamb's book of life from all eternity, engraved on the palms of His hands, borne on His shoulders, and carried in His heart. That soul was present in the sanctuary when its covenant Head stood up on its behalf. The Lord wrote all His members in His book when none of them had yet come to be. Just as the soul was virtually in the sanctuary before time began, it will be personally in the sanctuary after time ends. But first, it must be "made fit to share in the inheritance of the saints in light." Since it is destined for the sanctuary, it must have a nature suited for its holy delights. Receiving help from the sanctuary prepares the soul to inhabit it. Life and grace flowing from there make the person a new creation, producing spirituality and heavenly-mindedness. The breath of heaven in the soul lifts the affections upward, weans the heart from the earth, and makes the person a pilgrim and sojourner here below, "looking for a city with foundations, whose builder and maker is God" (Heb. 11:10).