The Shepherd's Song by Larry Barkdull

Author:Larry Barkdull [Barkdull, Larry ]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Christmas, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
Publisher: Deseret Book Company
Published: 2009-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 5

Here I Raise My Ebenezer

Iclimbed fourteen steps, passed through the Beautiful Gate, and entered the Court of the Women, the first area of the inner temple compound. I noticed many people within the court worshipping in humble reverence or coming out of or going into the four large rooms at each corner. I crossed the marble floor eastward and headed toward a massive bronze door, the Gate of Nicanor, which led into the sacred inner courts where the great altar of sacrifice stood in front of the temple. I climbed fifteen more steps and entered the Court of the Men. In this narrow courtyard, I could observe the sacrifices being made on the altar in the innermost Court of the Priests, and beyond it, the holy temple.

The area was crowded, but not as much as the outer courts. I moved to a far corner, and there I prepared to plead with God for Miriam’s life. My heart was heavy with grief and anxiety. The weight of my burden pressed down on me so that every movement that I made seemed an exertion.

I prepared to pray, strapping my small, leathern phylacteries to my left arm and forehead, and then lifted my prayer shawl. I paused and considered its workmanship. Miriam had sewn it for me as a wedding present, “to abide under the shadow of the Almighty,” according to the psalmist. On the day of our marriage, we covenanted to live in the safety of obedience, under the watchful care for God. Now, in reverence, I draped the prayer shawl over my head, and prepared to offer up the prayer of my life. But I could not even utter the first word.

As I looked out upon the great altar of sacrifice, the fear returned that without a sacrifice, my prayer might fall short. I mourned that I had nothing to offer—nothing except my broken heart. I removed the prayer shawl from my head and looked toward the temple for courage. Twice a day a white cloud of incense would issue from the top of the temple and rise heavenward to God carrying the prayers of Israel. I longed that my prayer might likewise ascend to the Almighty.

I broke from my thoughts as a father and his young son walked past me. The father was instructing his son in the ordinances of the temple. Pointing to the altar, he said, “It is constructed of unhewn stones, as tall as three men, rising fifteen cubits into the air.” Then he indicated the rampart that led to the altar’s summit. Priests were ascending and descending with animal and meal sacrifices to place on the fire that burned on the uppermost surface.

The boy said, “It seems so cruel.”

The father said, “The law of sacrifice helps us remember that a price must be paid for every broken law.” When he said no more, I assumed that he was like most Israelites, who possessed a thin knowledge of their religion. On the other hand, my father had taught me that the law of sacrifice was profoundly sacred and rich in symbolism.

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