Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 8271

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8271. 'And I will exalt Him' means that now also will Divine worship be offered to Him. This is clear from the meaning of 'exalting' - when it is said that a person will exalt Jehovah - as worship; for Divine worship consists in exalting the Lord in contrast to self, which one does according to one's degree of self-abasement before the Lord. Self-abasement is the essential element in Divine worship. When that element is present in a person he is in the right state to receive from the Lord the truth of faith and the good of charity, and is consequently in the right state to offer Him worship. But if a person exalts himself before the Lord he shuts the interiors of his mind off from receiving goodness and truth from the Lord. For what is meant by self-exaltation when it says of the Lord that He exalts Himself, see above in 8264.


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