We all know the hymn, “Lord i stand in awe of thee, holy God to Him all praises due, I stand In awe of thee. ” It goes something like that, I may have missed a couple of words but you get the point right? What does it mean to stand in awe of God? To be speechless, to not have adequate words that describe our God? Do we spend enough time with Him, listening, learning, and hearing, that we get to that point of awe? Don’t you want to get to that overwhelming, indescribable place of utter amazement? I know I do. Man I want to look upon Him and be amazed.
God is a Holy God, and yet, too often we try to personalize God, we even have the audacity call him our homeboy as though he is a part of our show… forgive us God. You are not a side element of our lives, but you are the whole that makes up life. When people are in your presence they are changed, lives are made new and people are transformed to freedom; in an absolute abandonment for You. God I want that, more than anything else.
But what does that look like? To stand in awe of thee. Two stories come to mind.
Exodus 33:18vv
18Moses said, “Please(AD)show me your glory.” 19And he said,(AE) “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The LORD.’ And(AF) I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. 20But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for(AG) man shall not see me and live.” 21And the LORD said, “Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock, 22and while my glory passes by I will put you in a(AH) cleft of the rock, and I will(AI)23Then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall(AJ) not be seen.” cover you with my hand until I have passed by.
Moses thought he could handle seeing God’s glory, and Yahweh quickly reminded him you can’t see my glory and live but I’ll show you my goodness… oh and by the way you will only see my back. How crazy is this? Being in the presence of God made Moses face literally shine and the Israelites were frightened. 34:29-35
Can you imagine what that must have been like? I would bet my life that Moses stood in awe of God and was radically different from that point on.
The second story comes from Isaiah 6:1-7
1In the year that(A) King Uzziah died I(B) saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train[a] of his robe filled the temple. 2Above him stood the seraphim. Each had(C) six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3And one called to another and said:
(D) “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts;(E) the whole earth is full of his glory!”[b]
4And(F) the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and(G)5And I said: “Woe is me!(H) For I am lost;(I) for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the(J) King, the LORD of hosts!” the house was filled with smoke.
6Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7And he(K) touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”
James MacDonald puts it this way…
So where am I going with this? Simply put…. STAND in AWE OF GOD!!! Please I beg of you, and if you don’t know where to begin or how to arrive at that place, then start with a quiet place, no distractions…. put away the kids, turn the cell phones off, make sure it’s just you and Him… and begin to pray for it. Humbly ask…”God Reveal Yourself to Me.”
