Let me remind you that this unique and exceptional end of a life of
communion may, in its deepest, essential character, be experienced
by each of us. There are two passages in the book of Psalms, both of
which I regard as allusions to this incident. The one of them is in
the forty-ninth Psalm and reads thus: 'He will deliver my soul from
the power of the grave, for He will take me.' Our version conceals
the allusion, by its unfortunate and non-literal rendering
'receive.' The same word is employed there as here. Can we fail to
see the reference? The Psalmist expects his soul to be 'delivered
from the power of the grave,' because God _takes_ it.

And again, in the great seventy-third Psalm, which marks perhaps the
highwater mark of pre-Christian anticipations of a future state, we
read: 'Thou wilt guide me by Thy counsel, and afterwards _take_
me' (again the same word) 'to glory.' Here, again, the Psalmist
looks back to the unique and exceptional instance, and in the
rapture and ecstasy of the faith that has grasped the living God as
his portion, says to himself: 'Though the externals of Enoch's end
and of mine may differ, their substance will be the same, and I,
too, shall cease to be seen of men, because God takes me into the
secret of His pavilion, by the loving clasp of His lifting hand.'

Enoch was led, if I may say so, round the top of the valley, beyond
the head waters of the dark river, and was kept on the high level
until he got to the other side. You and I have to go down the hill,
out of the sunshine, in among the dank weeds, to stumble over the
black rocks, and wade through the deep water; but we shall get over
to the same place where he stands, and He that took him round by the
top will 'take' us through the river; and so shall we 'ever be with
the Lord'