“The Lord reigns; let the peoples tremble! He sits enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth quake! The Lord is great in Zion; he is exalted over all the peoples. Let them praise your great and awesome name! Holy is he! The King in his might loves justice. You have established equity; you have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob. Exalt the Lord our God; worship at his footstool! Holy is he! Moses and Aaron were among his priests, Samuel also was among those who called upon his name. They called to the Lord, and he answered them. In the pillar of the cloud he spoke to them; they kept his testimonies and the statute that he gave them. O Lord our God, you answered them; you were a forgiving God to them, but an avenger of their wrongdoings. Exalt the Lord our God, and worship at his holy mountain; for the Lord our God is holy!” (v1-9)
This psalm reminds me that God is holy and truly worthy of exaltation. God is declared as holy three times (v3,5,9).
This passage shares much of the imagery: “In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!’ And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke.” (Isa 6:1-4)
Both the psalm, and Isaiah’s vision, share imagery of the most high Lord surrounded by smoke and seated on a throne amongst the angels (seraphim and cherubim). Both passages also mention of an earth quake / shaking because of His voice and presence – God’s presence is truly magnificent.
So what does this mean for us today? My takeaway is three-fold. First, the psalmist encourages us to praise God simply because of who He is. He is the one true God, Lord of heaven and earth, and He alone is worth of our praise. Second, I encourage us to remain attentive to God and listen for His promptings (as Moses, Aaron, Samuel and Isaiah did). God talks to everyone who is willing to listen (and even some who aren’t). Third is obedience – it’s great to know His will, though if His calling involves us taking action, simply listening isn’t enough. James 2:14-26 reminds us that faith without works is “dead” (ie. fruitless or worthless, not giving life). If God calls me to action and I listen, but I don’t obey Him, I’m not living out my full potential and glorifying God as much as I could be, so others will potentially miss out on seeing the glory of God.
Praise be to You, O Lord God Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth. Holy is Your name. Thank you for speaking to us through many paths – through our spirit, through Your word, through Your servants, and through Your creation. Please Father, make Your will known to each of us. Please open our eyes to You and Your heart for our lives, that we may choose to obey You. Would You please humble us and grow within us a sense of service, that we’d choose to obey each and every prompting You give. Please help us to help build Your kingdom, since we cannot build it without Your help. All honor, praise and glory be to You O Lord most high. Amen.
~ Conqueror in Training