The Holiness of God
"Who shall not fear and glorify thy name, O Lord? For thou alone art holy" (Revelation 15:4).
Read: Rev. 15:3-4; Ex. 15:1-19; I Sam. 2:2; Ps. 99:3,9; Acts 9 31.
What Is God Saying?
This passage is taken from the Song of Moses. It contains the elements of his praise, thanksgiving, and triumph in God, when he and his people had crossed the Red Sea and were safe on dry land. This song is familiar to all devout Jews. At all services, the Shema (Creed of Israel) was recited and was followed by two prayers (as is done to this day)-one refers to this Song. As Jewish people still commemorate the way God saved them at the Red Sea, their greatest deliverance, so the faithful in Revelation, all Christians of all time and in all circumstances, will sing the same song. They will sing that song in substance and with deep emotion because they have been brought safely through all their fiery ordeals to the promised Land of Heaven.
How Does This Apply To Us?
What does this song mean to us right now? Can we sing it in our present trials and triumphs? We have yet to finish the course or fight the good fight of faith to the end. We have yet to cross the finish line. Our summons to join the faithful martyrs has yet to come. Then what about the many Christians who are enduring great trials now and for whom the glory of the finish line is not even in sight? Can we sing this song and say this prayer?
Consider how the fear of the Lord and the awareness of His holiness can affect our life and prayer right now and tomorrow. Make the song of the triumphant martyrs yours today. But do it in the fear of the Lord, that is never fail to respect the strength, the beauty, and the glory of God's holiness. That's an all-important first step in prayer.
Pray With Me
O God, only You are holy by nature and only from You comes the gift of holiness. Help me to respect the strength of Your holiness. God-given holiness is the secret of spiritual joy. The world is controlled by corruption and guided by easy compromises. The gift of your holiness is my only sure defence... the very life of my soul. Let your holiness protect me as a shield, and support me as a foundation. Help me to sense the beauty of Your holiness. I would accept the holiness that can transform my life from a useless existence into the beauty of purposeful living. I would worship You in the beauty of holiness. Help me to pause in silence before the glory of Your holiness. I would wait in patience, in holy stillness, and expectant wonder. Then my life, for all its imperfections, will glow with radiant testimony to the holiness that Your grace alone can give. My life will be bathed with glory as clouds waiting in unhurried silence over the splendor of a setting sun.
"Who shall not fear thee, O Lord?" Lead me away from such folly. Let the vision of Your holiness turn me toward You now in grace, lest the day should ever come when the vision of Your holiness will turn me away in the certain judgment of the Final Day.
To the glory of Christ by whose holiness I am shamed and by whose love I am saved. Amen.
Moving On in the Life of Prayer
In Acts 9:31 we read, "So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was built up; and walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it was multiplied." Let us remember that fearing God and being comforted by the Holy Spirit go hand in hand in life as well as in this text. They belong together. Fear of God is not dread or fright. It is awe and wonder; it is respect and appreciation; it is giving honor and glory to the Source of our Life, the Provider of our needs, and the One who is faithful and just to forgive our sins. That is the foundation of real prayer. That is the way to receive the comfort (the strength) of the Holy Spirit for daily life.
