Watch and Keep Garments

The people in Nehemiah stand in ordered worship, with priests, Levites, thanksgivings, offerings, and tithes. This is not empty arrangement. The Lord gathers a people to serve Him with clean hands, ordered praise, and costly obedience. Yet the same Lord who plants His people as a beloved vineyard also comes in judgment against pride, uncleanness, and rebellion. Song of Songs shows the beauty of the Beloved in the midst of a thorny world. As Methodius says, “I am the flower of the field and the lily of the valleys — Christ speaks of Himself as the flower of the field, because through the virginal womb He sprang up from the earth as a root out of dry ground.” If Christ is the lily among thorns, then those who belong to Him must not love the thorns.

Zechariah turns our eyes to the Pierced One. The right response is not mere speech, but mourning from the heart, repentance that does not excuse itself. Jerusalem’s lament and Revelation’s bowls teach the same fear: God’s patience is not indifference. Those who harden themselves under His blows store up wrath; those who look upon the Pierced One with true grief find the road of mercy. Babylon falls, and all its splendor is thrown down. Therefore do not dress yourself in her luxuries, her lies, or her impurities.

Cyprian reminds us: “Also in the same place: "Blessed shall they be who shall watch, and shall keep their garments, lest they walk naked, and they see their shame."” Let each man keep his garment by repentance, prayer at the appointed hours, almsgiving from his own goods, and a guarded tongue. The Judge is not asleep; therefore let the church be awake.