“And when Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, he went not, as at other times, to seek for enchantments, [what a dreadful disclosure is here!] but he set his face toward the wilderness. And Balaam lifted up his eyes, and he saw Israel abiding in his tents, according to their tribes; and the Spirit of God came upon him. And he took up his parable, and said, ‘Balaam the son of Beor hath said, he hath said, which heard _the words of God_, which saw _the vision of the Almighty_, falling into a trance, but having his eyes open: How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, and thy tabernacles, O Israel! As the valleys are they spread forth, as the gardens by the river’s side, as the trees of lign aloes which the Lord hath planted, and as cedar-trees beside the waters. He shall pour the water out of his buckets, and his seed shall be in many waters, and his King shall be higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall be exalted. God brought him forth out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of a unicorn: he shall _eat up the nations_ his enemies, [terrible announcement for Balak!] and shall break their bones, and pierce them through with his arrows. He couched, he lay down as a lion, and as a great lion: who shall stir him up? Blessed is he that blesseth thee, and cursed is he that curseth thee.’” (Chap. xxiv. 1-9.) “Higher and higher yet” is surely the motto here. We may well shout, “Excelsior!” as we mount up to the top of the rocks, and hearken to those brilliant utterances which the false prophet was forced to give out. It was better and better for Israel, worse and worse for Balak. He had to stand by and not only hear Israel “blessed,” but hear himself “cursed” for seeking to curse them. But let us particularly notice the rich grace that shines in this third parable.—“How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, and thy tabernacles, O Israel!” If one had gone down to examine those tents and tabernacles in “the vision” of man, they might have appeared “black as the tents of Kedar;” but looked at in “the vision of the Almighty,” they were “goodly,” and whoever did not see them thus needed to have “_his eyes opened_.” If I am looking at the people of God “from the top of the rocks,” I shall see them as God sees them, and that is, as clothed with all the comeliness of Christ—complete in Him—accepted in the Beloved. This is what will enable me to get on with them, to walk with them, to have fellowship with them, to rise above their points and angles, blots and blemishes, failures and infirmities.[20] If I do not contemplate them from this lofty—this divine ground, I shall be sure to fix my eye on some little flaw or other, which will completely mar my communion, and alienate my affections.