Song of the Day
“Holy, Holy, Holy” – Traditional
Scripture to reflect upon
- Isa 6:3,
- Rev 4:8-11,
- Ps 145,
- Ps 59:16,
Devotional thought
Can you imagine the impact the vision of God’s holiness had on the prophet Isaiah? In Isaiah 6, there is a picture of creatures flying around the holy throne of God, crying out Holy, Holy, Holy to the Lord God Almighty as they cover their eyes and feet. Isaiah seen a vision of the Lord sitting upon His throne, and it says that the hem of His robe filled the entire temple! I am not exactly sure of why it references this, but I can imagine that Isaiah was just trying to get his readers to imagine the vast size and magnitude of what he had the privilege to witness with his own eyes! It was an amazing seen, Seraphim (which are angelic-type beings) were flying and shouting, the brightness and radiance of God was there, the sound of voices shaking door frames, and smoke filling the temple! Oh, I can’t imagine how exhilarating this must have been for him.
What happens next though is what seems to happen whenever someone encounters the holiness of God, he is humbled and begins to confess his unworthiness! He sees the complete “otherness” of God; His purity, His radiance, His majesty, His holiness, and it leads him to see himself as dirty and completely unable to stand in God’s presence without being consumed! Isaiah realizes and laments the reality that he is completely unprepared and morally unworthy to be in the presence of the highly elevated and holy King of kings.
The basic sense of the word “holy” is to be “set apart from that which is commonplace, special, unique,” and I believe that it is so important for God to have this “holy”, special place in our hearts as we follow Him. We must learn to fear Him and understand the true nature of God before we can accurately see ourselves! There is absolutely no one that “deserves” an audience with the perfect and Holy King of the universe. We are all unclean, as Isaiah realized, and unworthy of God’s attention and compassion, but that does not stop God from responding to us in kindness and love!
This is what makes Him holy! He doesn’t deal with us as He “should”. Instead, He deals with us as a loving Father who has called us into the kingdom of His Son’s love! I do not know if we will ever be able to fully comprehend the holiness of God, but I do think that we can allow Him a holy, separate from everything else, reverential place in our lives! We can, and should allow His holiness to define our lives, instruct our worship, and command our morality. That is what we need to grasp as we surrender ourselves before Him each day.
Prayer
Holy Father, I do confess that Your holiness is something very difficult for me to understand, but I choose even now to allow it to change the way I view You and myself. I give You a special place in my life as Lord and King, that will characterize all of my daily activities. I worship You Lord and thank You for revealing Your glory and holiness to me now. Forgive me for all of my unclean ways and purify me through Your holiness God, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
