I Saw the Lord (Danny announcement)

I Saw The Lord

Chapter 6 records a pivotal turning point in Judah’s history as a nation and it actually marks the beginning of a new era in life of Isaiah’s as he ministers to God people from this point forward.

The turning point was the tragic death of a King. His name was King Uzziah. With his death came the end of a period of relative strength for the nation and prosperity for the people. And in place of that strength and prosperity, a new king named Ahaz would take the helm but his reign would be characterized by war and weakness.

There were going to be tough days ahead for the people of God…and they would be especially difficult for the people of God if they continued to do evil in the sight of the Lord.

But in a great act of magnificent mercy, God gave Isaiah a glimpse of His transcendant glory. A vision of the majesty of God in the meeting place of the people of God. This majesty was revealed to Isaiah in dramatic fashion. The glory of God was evident and on display as heavenly beings cried out to one another with a repeated chorus.

Isaiah 6:3 (ESV)

3 “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!”

Isaiah was blessed by being a witness of this worship. That is what we want to do today. What we will do today will be quite a bit different than normal. The message time will be different because we want to teach and admonish one another with songs, hymns and spiritual songs today. Music has a way of getting us in touch with our feelings. Our brains are aways active, but music actually engages more regions of our brains and help them activate together and sync up so to speak. When we sing truth about God and too God to one another, the Holy Spirit often acts like a highlighter and illumines us to see what is true.

We want to let the word of God dwell in us richly on this day as we have heard news that threatens to unravel our nerves a bit.

Today we will all preach the message to one another as we sing faith filled songs to our God and about our God to each other.

Isaiah 6:1 (ESV)

1 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.

Isaiah was graciously given a glimpse of God sitting on a throne. He saw God ruling. He saw God reigning. He saw God lifted up over the very devastating news of losing a good king. The good king Uzziah had died, but the King of All Kings was still high and lifted up and seated and comfortably and in control.

That is what we need today. We need a glimpse of God. We need to consult with our King and know that He cares for us. We need to cast our anxieties on Him knowing that He cares for us.

Today we need to see the Lord. Let’s beg Him to show us a glimpse of His goodness and glory on this day when it feels as if we are experiencing the loss of a loved one.

Oh God Give us eyes to see your majestic love and authority as You reign as the Head of the church universal.

SONG: The Lion and the Lamb

SONG: Glory to God Forever

The Holy One

We already read about the holiness of our God in the passage from Isaiah and now we read it at the very last book of the Bible as well. John writes about what he saw…

Revelation 4:8 (ESV)

8 And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!”

God created these unique creatures for the sole purpose of having them declare a repeated phrase day and night in a ceaseless way. Holy, Holy, Holy.

And I don’t think they are saying this in a monotone, robotic voice. They aren’t bored saying this. They probably say this with different intonations of voice every single time they say it because with all those eyes that the are covered with have been able to behold to a greater degree just how unique and distinct and majestic God really is.

They are not growing tired of fulfilling the meaning of their very existence.

And as they continually do their job, there are other beings in John’s vision who are falling down on their faces before the Holy One seated on the throne and they are saying.

Revelation 4:11 (ESV)

11 “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by Your will they existed and were created.”

God is worthy. God deserves glory. There is a great weightiness that needs to be felt when encountering a Holy God.

God’s glory is the manifestation of His essence and actions. To honor Him is to acknowledge and revere Him for Who He truly is. He is the creator who has power which means He has the unquestioned ability to execute His plans as He reigns from His throne.

And He has a will.

He has volition and choice and desires and the capability of pulling all of those off without any threat of hindrance whatsoever.

He is holy. And we can trust that He knows what He is doing even when it is hard for us to see.

God does so often move in ways that are mysterious to us. And honestly that is what should be expected from a Holy, transcendent God. The fact that we can discern any of His thoughts and plans is a massive extension of His undeserved grace.

Experiencing difficulty in trying to discern the higher ways of our Holy God should be expected.

If He is really that unique (that angelic beings had to be created to say the same phrase over and over and over day and night) than it might be par for the course for us finite beings not to quite understand how and why He is mysteriously moving.

We should be okay with that. It’s okay to not know why or how, or what or when. He is God and His ways are indeed higher.

But His is not just holy He is also good and He does good. (ps. 119:68) Let’s ask Him to give us a glimpse of His holiness as we sing.

Song: Revelation Song

The Prince of Peace Presents His People with Peace.

Read this passage of Scripture with me.

Psalm 29:10–11 (ESV)

10 The Lord sits enthroned over the flood; the Lord sits enthroned as king forever. 11 May the Lord give strength to his people! May the Lord bless his people with peace!

I Love this verse. It is stunning in it’s beauty.

Lord (Yahweh) is named by name 4 times in 2 verses. Every time the Psalmist writes that Holy Name is reminding himself and his readers that God is who He is. I am what I am. The Great Ever existing One that has covenanted Himself with His people who were underserving.

And the Great I am is enthroned. Ruling while sitting comfortably, with feet up so to speak, over a flood. He isn’t be swept away by the current. He is ruling OVER it. He is channeling the waters to when His will is directing. Wow.

He is the enthroned King - FOREVER. There will be no change in His status as king. The landscape and the legitimacy of His Kingdom will not change because of those tumultuous flood waters. The foundations of His Kingdom are strong, so bring on the rain.

He is the King forever and He shares His strength with the people of His Kingdom. Look at that. May the Lord give strength to His people. Many of us feel weak today. Maybe we have felt weak for a long time, but the Apostle Paul recognized that when He was weak, He was actually strong because of the sufficient grace of the King that had been given to Him.

And that made Paul content. He said…

2 Corinthians 12:10 (ESV)

10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

He was content which in a very good indicator that He had been a recipient of God’s peace.

And that is how the passage in Psalm 29:10-11 ends.

Psalm 29:10–11 (ESV)

10 The Lord sits enthroned over the flood; the Lord sits enthroned as king forever. 11 May the Lord give strength to his people! May the Lord bless his people with peace!

Lord bless HIS people with peace and the way he blesses His people with peace is by sending the Prince of Peace to rule over them.

Jesus once said to His confused, troubled and weary disciples…

John 14:27 (ESV)

27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.

We have peace right now. It has already been given to us. We just need to set our eyes on the Prince of Peace so that we focus more on Him than we do our fears.

The name Jesus means, He will save His people from their sins. The wages of our sins earned us death, but that has been paid in full by the Prince of Peace and He wants to open up our eyes to see the blessing of peace that we have already be given because What His Name means.

It is a beautiful name that has been give to us by which we must be saved. Let’s sing about it.

SONG: What a Beautiful Name It Is.

Congregational Reading of Col. 1:9-20

Colossians 1:9–20 (ESV)

9 And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,

10 so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;

11 being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.

13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.

17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.

19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

The way that we can experience peace even after hearing hard news is because the Prince of peace made peace by the blood of His cross. Now us sinners don’t have to remain far off from the only source of peace, but that peace resides in us and can rule in our hearts by the indwelling Spirit of Christ that animates us.

The Holy Spirit can bring about his fruit in our lives…the fruit of love, joy, peace…

Reminds me of Psalm 112:1

Psalm 112:1 (ESV)

1 Praise the Lord! Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who greatly delights in his commandments!…He is not afraid of bad news; his heart is firm, trusting in the Lord.

Even if we hear hard things we can trust the Lord. Trusting the Lord means is that we are completely dependent upon Him to do what only He has the capacity to do.

From our waking breath and for our daily bread we need to depend on Him. We need to abide in Him.

Song: Abide

As we are drawn close to the Lord and see Him for Who He is and as He is, we can have strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow.

The One who is holy, and reigning is also willing to bless us with His peace as we trust in Him. So let’s ask Him to remember us. Let’s ask Him to remember us His people. And knowing that He will, we can agree with one another that His grace is enough to carry us on into the future.

Song: Your Grace is Enough

Prayer

Reading:

Romans 11:33–36 (ESV)

33 Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!

34 “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?” 35 “Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?”

36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

Song: Doxology