Day 274 - Nehemiah 13, Psalm 92

It is in all respects an apt and appropriate end to the work of building the holy city and the temple of the Lord that when the citizens have been purified by God from all the filth of foreign pollution, which is alien to God, the orders of the priests and the Levites should be duly preserved in their own ministry in order that the teachers of the church who have been instructed according to rule may continually exhort the people now cleansed from all sin to remain henceforth in goodness and to grow. Among other things, the people offer wood to the Lord to feed the fire of the altar when they perform works of virtues that are assuredly worthy of divine consecration. For if wood did not sometimes symbolize something good, the prophet would not say, “Then shall all the wood of the forests rejoice in the presence of the Lord.” [Psa 96:12-13(95:12-13 LXX, Vg).] Now the wood burns and is consumed in the altar of the burnt offering when in the hearts of the elect works of righteousness are perfected in the flame of love—The Venerable Bede