Holy God

Isaiah 6:1-5. “In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.’ At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. ‘Woe to me!’ I cried. ‘I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.’”

Last time we talked about God loving us so much that he runs to us when we turn back to him. Now we see Isaiah encountering God, and it shakes him to his core. Not exactly the warm, fuzzy father figure.

We often want to put God in a box, to say in effect, “I have God figured out.” But God is so big and so multifaceted that we cannot do that, simply because our human limitations make us incapable to fully comprehend him. But we need to try, because he wants a relationship with us and relationships mean we really get to know each other.

So one facet of God is that we need to understand is that he is holy. He is awe-inspiring. He is so perfect and great and glorious and powerful that he can easily cause us to profoundly sense our inadequacy and sinfulness. And that’s okay, because he already knows this and yet still loves us. So, like Isaiah, we confess, and we worship him as the King, the LORD Almighty.