For the past few weeks I’ve been reading through Exodus and I’ve learned more about worship than I ever have. And let me first say that I was not expecting Exodus to be a book that taught me how to worship. Maybe the faithfulness of God. Maybe why trusting in the goodness of God is absolutely crucial. But worship? Not really. Then I got to 33:18, when Moses pleads with Yahweh God, “Lord, please show me your glory.”
Please show me your glory.
I have so much respect for that. He could have asked for a lot of things. He could have asked for more water because they were in a desert. He could have asked for better leadership skills or more cooperative people. But no, Moses was so in awe of God that all he wanted to see was the majesty of Him. That’s how I want to be 100% of the time. In awe.
Okay, so that part stopped me in my tracks, BUT IT GETS BETTER. God’s response to Moses blows my mind, and it should blow yours too. He says back, and I’m paraphrasing, “Sure, but here’s the thing. I can only let you see a tiny glimpse of a fraction of my glory because no person can see my glory and live.”
WHAT.
God’s glory is so awesome, so powerful, so beyond words that we can literally not handle it. I have a God-given guarantee that I would die if I saw the fullness of the glory of God right now. That is wild. The realization that God is far beyond my highest thought of Him is groundbreaking for me, honestly. He is so beyond description that these words I’m typing right now can’t even get 1% of the way to describing it. His glory is infinitely greater than my ability to fathom, and knowing that has changed my life.
The reason I say all of this is because it’s changed the way I worship. It’s changed the way I view worship. It’s changed how I prepare to worship. I was slapped with the realization that I was guilty of subconsciously thinking of the church music team as the “opening band before the keynote speaker”. Not even close. Worship music isn’t there so that we can see a concert or to get us in a churchy mood. It is so much more than that. Worship is the pure ascription of worth that is due God. And He deserves it all, not because he needs a little weekly self-esteem boost or because he likes good tunes. He deserves it because of who He is. And He is infinitely glorious.
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