“The iniquity of the holy things.”

What a veil these words lift, and what a sobering revelation they give. It is humbling—and deeply beneficial—for us to pause and look honestly at this painful reality.

Consider the sins mixed into our public worship: hypocrisy, empty formality, lukewarm hearts, irreverence, wandering thoughts, and forgetfulness of God. What a heavy load of guilt lies there. Think also of our work for the Lord—how much rivalry, self-interest, carelessness, half-heartedness, and unbelief defile it. And then our private devotions: their looseness, coldness, neglect, drowsiness, and self-centeredness—what a mountain of lifeless earth we find there.

If we examined more closely, we would discover that this iniquity runs far deeper than it first appears. Dr. Payson once wrote to his brother:

“My parish, and my heart as well, greatly resemble the garden of the sluggard; and what is worse, I find that many of my desires to improve both arise from pride, vanity, or laziness. I look at the weeds covering my garden and sincerely wish they were removed. But why do I wish it? What motivates the desire? Perhaps I want to walk through it and say to myself, ‘How well kept my garden is!’—that is pride. Or perhaps I want my neighbours to look over the wall and say, ‘How beautifully your garden flourishes!’—that is vanity. Or perhaps I want the weeds gone simply because I am tired of pulling them up—that is laziness.”

In this way, even our longing for holiness can be corrupted by sinful motives. Beneath the greenest grass, worms are often hiding. We do not have to search long to find them.

How comforting, then, is this truth: when the High Priest bore “the iniquity of the holy things,” he wore on his forehead the inscription, “Holiness to the Lord.” In the same way, while Jesus bears our sin, He presents before the Father not our impurity, but His own perfect holiness.

Oh, for grace to behold our great High Priest with the eye of faith.

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