My heart overflows with a pleasing theme;

I address my verses to the king;

my tongue is like the pen of a ready scribe. (Psalm 45:1)

“Then bring near to you Aaron your brother, and his sons with him, from among the people of Israel, to serve me as priests—Aaron and Aaron’s sons, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. ² And you shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty. ³ You shall speak to all the skillful, whom I have filled with a spirit of skill, that they make Aaron’s garments to consecrate him for my priesthood. ⁴ These are the garments that they shall make: a breastpiece, an ephod, a robe, a coat of checker work, a turban, and a sash. They shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother and his sons to serve me as priests. (Exodus 28:1-4)

When YHWH instructs Moses regarding preparations for the ordination of Aaron and his sons as priests, he gives some pretty specific criteria for their official clothing. These are precisely the kinds of details that I usually skip over in my Bible reading, but tonight, thankfully, I didn’t and I received an unexpected blessing. I noticed the emphasis God placed on the glory and beauty of these garments. God told Moses to make holy garments “for glory and for beauty.” YHWH goes on to instruct Moses to speak to “all the skillful, whom I have filled with a spirit of skill.” God actually had a team of tailors and seamstresses to whom the Spirit had given special skill and artistry for the designing and production of priestly vestments!

The friendship of the Lord is for those who fear him,

and he makes known to them his covenant. (Psalm 25:14)

Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. Matthew 28:16

Eleven is an odd number in more ways than one. By this point in Matthew’s gospel, we have become so accustomed to the number twelve that it is truly jarring to be confronted with the number eleven (10:1-2, 5; 11:1; 14:20; 19:28; 20:17; 26:14, 20, 47, 53). Something isn’t right. Someone is missing. There are supposed to be twelve, but there are only eleven.

I was really impacted this morning by this unassuming verse and its mere mention of “the eleven.” The number hit my ear like the shrill screech on a violin when the bow goes astray interrupting what was otherwise a mesmerizing concerto. For all of Judas’ faults and for his inexcusable betrayal of the Lord, I cannot help but miss him when I read this verse.

I read something this morning that really stimulated my thinking about prayer. Sir Roger Scruton’s excellent book “Beauty: A Very Short Introduction” notes a distinction in the philosophy of aesthetics between various kinds of pleasure. He labels these “pleasure from,” “pleasure that,” and “pleasure in.” “Pleasure from” he defines as the pleasing sensation one derives from an interaction with someone, or from the consumption of something. He uses the example of snorting cocaine. One’s pleasure of cocaine is pleasure from the high that the drug induces and not pleasure in the cocaine itself. Similarly, “pleasure that” is the sense of accomplishment one derives from the completion of a duty, especially, though not necessarily, an unpleasant duty. For example, I am paying my tax bill today, and while I do not enjoy paying taxes per se, I do derive a pleasing kind of relief from paying it and being out from under this obligation to my government. “Pleasure in,” however, is quite distinct from the previous two in that its focus is purely the beauty and enjoyment of the person or object itself, for his/her/its own sake, apart from any benefit or utility the person or object may have.

If I had cherished iniquity in my heart,

the Lord would not have listened.

¹⁹ But truly God has listened;

he has attended to the voice of my prayer.

²⁰ Blessed be God,

because he has not rejected my prayer

or removed his steadfast love from me!