He has the two lines right.

He has not yet recognized the Man standing in the court.

Near is not the same as in.

The watchman sees two things at once: a city that feigns the law, and the invasion on the road.

The ruins remain in view.

So does the watch.

Abraham could not number the stars. Neither can we. The sky remains as it was, and the promise still runs to us.

The Mercy That Still Remembers

A conscience that still aches is not always a sign that something is wrong. Sometimes it is a quiet mercy.

Scripture never pretends the past did not happen. The ache that rises unbidden is not automatically condemnation. When it drives us back to the finished work of Christ instead of into self-punishment, it is doing the work a living conscience is meant to do.

A numb conscience is far more dangerous than a tender one.