"Jehovah bless thee, and keep thee: Jehovah make His face to shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: Jehovah lift up His countenance upon thee, and give thee peace." By means of this threefold benediction the name of Jehovah was to be put upon the children of Israel--that is to say, their consecration to Him as His accepted flock and their enjoyment of His covenant grace were to be signified. In a sense the invocation of this blessing was the highest function of the priest: he became the channel of spiritual endowment in which the whole nation shared. It is a striking fact that the distinctive ideas conveyed in the three portions of the blessing--Preservation, Enlightenment, Peace--bear a relation, by no means fanciful, to the work of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. First are invoked the providential care and favour of God, as Ruler of the universe, Arbiter among the nations, Source of creaturely life, Upholder of human existence. Israel as a whole, and each individual Israelite as a member of the sacred community, should in terms of the covenant enjoy the guardianship of the Almighty. The idea is expanded in Psalm cxxi.:-- "Jehovah is thy keeper: Jehovah is thy shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall not smite thee by day, Nor the moon by night. Jehovah shall keep thee from all evil; He shall keep thy soul. Jehovah shall keep thy going out and thy coming in, From this time forth and for evermore." And in almost every Psalm the theme of Divine preservation is touched on either in thanksgiving, prayer, or exultant hope. "For God will save Zion, and build the cities of Judah; And they shall abide there, and have it in possession. The seed also of His servants shall inherit it; And they that love His name shall dwell therein." Often sorely pressed by the nations around, their land made the battle-field of empires, the Hebrews could comfort themselves with the assurance that Jehovah of Hosts was with them, that the God of Jacob was their refuge. And each son of Abraham had his own portion in the blessing. "I will say of Jehovah, He is my refuge and my fortress, My God in whom I trust." The keynote of joyful confidence in the unseen King was struck in the benediction which, pronounced by Aaron and by the high-priests after him, associated Israel's safety with obedience to all the laws and forms of religion.