A Thirst For Glory

The writer in Psalms 27 talks about his deep desires to "dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple." More than anything else, he longs for the intimacy of beholding the full beauty of God with his own eyes. In that moment of personally experiencing the reality of God, surely all the things of this world that we hold to be true will wilt in the brightness of His glory. The Sunday school song goes, "the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace". In the same way, may we long to have that taste of His person, of His presence and holiness.



Sometimes, when we are at out lowest, what we really desire is that taste of Him, that taste that reminds that He is who He claims to be- a God of power, righteousness, gentleness, comfort, and most importantly- one who loves us fiercely. That, is the experience of His glory. Peter, Isaiah, Paul/Saul, Zachariah and Ezekiel have all had the same experience of His glorious presence, to which their only response is to cower in fear and trembling in the dust at His feet and declare the truth of our unworthiness and sinfulness. Romans 3:23 says that "all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God". How true it is- that just as our God is absolutely holy, we are absolutely fallen and unworthy of His perfection. It is indeed in the presence of pure light that one realises how dark the shadows in the corner truly are, for His illumination allows us to understand our own sinfulness. That is why we need Him, our light and our salvation.





Therefore, let us thirst all the more for His grace undeserved, in dwelling with Man intimately through the person of Jesus- let us rejoice in His identity as Emmanuel- "God with Us", God's righteousness revealed in human flesh. And surely as those nails pierced His carpenter's hands on that coarse wooden beam, His blood poured forth as light, unbearably bright light that was a revelation of His glory, His glory.



Ezekiel 43 writes that Ezekiel "saw the glory of the God of Israel coming from the east. His voice was like the roar of rushing waters, and the land was radiant with his glory" with his own two eyes, and that His temple described in the closing of portions of Ezekiel were to be marked with the description "The LORD is There" (Ezekiel 48).

Remember then, that the temple of the Lord is now in ours- as 1 Corinthians 3:16 says, "don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple, and that God's spirit lives in you?" Surely then, you and I are in the very homes and shrines of the living God. He lives in us, and the glory of His temple and His home is found in us. What a joy, that as we approach each other, we should do so with holiness and reverence, with awe and trembling and caution and gentleness and an attitude of worship! Let us together, as a body of His temples, as a congregation of His worship, thirst together for His glory, praying that His glorious presence may be manifested in our worship!