Moses - Show My Thy Glory

We have been talking about four dangerous and transformative prayers found in the Bible.

Last time we talked about David’s prayer - “Search Me Oh God.”

Tonight I want to talk about another one of the major audacious and dangerous prayers.

You can find this dangerous prayer of Moses in Exodus 33:18

Exodus 33:18 KJV 1900

18 And he said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory.

What if the greatest danger in your life is not what you fear—but what you’re willing to live without?”

Moses' prayer, "I beseech thee, shew me thy glory" (Exodus 33:18), may be one of the most dangerous prayers in Scripture precisely because it is not a prayer for anything God can simply give—it is a prayer for God Himself.

This prayer, “Show me Thy Glory” wasn’t merely a prayer of spiritual curiosity

It was born out of a crisis.

1. The Crisis Behind the Prayer

When we hear Moses pray,

"I beseech thee, shew me thy glory" (Exodus 33:18),

we often imagine a man simply longing for a deeper spiritual experience.

Certain elements of that is true.

But there is something more happening.

This prayer comes immediately after one of the darkest moments in Israel's history—the sin of the golden calf.

While Moses was receiving God's law on Mount Sinai,

the people were at the foot of the mountain worshiping an idol.

They had broken the covenant almost as soon as it had been given.

As a result, a frightening question hung over the nation:

What would God do?

He had departed because of their vile and evil acts and breaking of the covenant -

Exodus 33:3 “...for I will not go up in the midst of thee; for thou art a stiffnecked people: lest I consume thee in the way.”

The Lord told Moses that He would send an angel before Israel, but His presence would no longer dwell among them as before. To Moses, that was unacceptable.

Moses understood that the greatest blessing was not the Promised Land.

It was not victory over enemies.

It was not prosperity.

It was the presence of God.

Moses took the tabernacle some distance from the camp (unusual and out of the ordinary - but God was ready to smite the people and the Tabernacle was where he often showed himself.

It was here Moses went in and sought the Lord

I love Exodus 33:9 “9 And it came to pass, as Moses entered into the tabernacle, the cloudy pillar descended, and stood at the door of the tabernacle, and the Lord talked with Moses.”

As you read further you find...

Exodus 33:11 KJV 1900

11 And the Lord spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. And he [Moses] turned again into the camp: but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the tabernacle.

He would take what God tells him, and what God shows him, and be a conduit of grace to the people as he left the tabernacle and went back to the camp.

By returning to the camp, Moses re-enters the world of the people—

their concerns,

their governance,

their daily struggles.

This wasn’t a retreat from intimacy with God but rather the fruit of that intimacy being channeled back into leadership and instruction.

Moses couldn’t remain perpetually in the tent of meeting; he had to bring what he received from God back to the community that needed it.

Joshua, however stays at the tabernacle

And then Moses would return to the Tabernacle and they would watch him as he sauntered up the slope to the door of the Tabernacle, reverently and slowly stepping inside taking one small glance back at the people - and then he would get to the business at hand.

His conversation with God - the Cloud had returned to the Tabernacle - but that wasn’t enough for Moses

That is why Moses pleaded:

"If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence." (Exodus 33:15)

In other words:

"Lord, if You're not going, I don't want to go either."

Look at this interesting exchange between God and Moses:

Exodus 33:12–14 KJV 1900

12 And Moses said unto the Lord, See, thou sayest unto me, Bring up this people: and thou hast not let me know whom thou wilt send with me. Yet thou hast said, I know thee by name, and thou hast also found grace in my sight. 13 Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, shew me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight: and consider that this nation is thy people. 14 And he said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest.

Notice in this prayer where Moses says, “You told me to bring up this people - but you have not let me know who you will send with me.”

Now God had already told Moses earlier in the chapter - Exodus 33:2 “2 And I will send an angel before thee;...”

But Moses doesn’t know this angel, there is no name of the angel, the angel —however capable— is not an acceptable substitute for God’s presence

In fact the angel is irrelevant if God’s presence is absent.

We aren’t seeing abstract theological anxiety - what we are seeing is the existential terror of a leader tasked with the impossible job of taking these people to the promise land without the assurance of God’s presence.

The golden calf incident has shattered the assumed continuity of God’s presence.

Is the covenantal relationship going to remain intact after Israel’s awful openly defiant, and egregious betrayal.

Then notice Moses’ prayer - he reminds God that God knows him by name and has shown him grace, and yet he pleads for God to reveal His ways so that Moses might know God and continue finding grace in His sight.

There is a crucial paradox here - Moses recognizes that being known by God is not the same as knowing God’s character and intentions.

God responds with assurance and hope - Ex 33:14

Exodus 33:14 KJV 1900

14 And he said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest.

It is right after God says this and out of that crisis that Moses prays an audacious, dangerous but transformative prayer:

Ex 33:18

Exodus 33:18 KJV 1900

18 ... I beseech thee, shew me thy glory.

2. The Courage of the Prayer

A. Moses Was Already Closer Than Most Men

Moses had already experienced more of God than almost anyone else:

The burning bush

The plagues

The Red Sea

Mount Sinai The pillar of cloud and fire

Most believers would have been satisfied.

Yet Moses essentially says:

"Lord, I want more."

B. Moses Wanted God More Than God’s Gifts

One of the most remarkable things about this chapter is that Moses was not primarily concerned about what He or Israel would receive from God.

He was concerned about Who would be with them.

That is a dangerous prayer - because when we truly ask for more of God, He often leads us beyond familiar territory. Out of our comfort zones

The prayer says:

I am not satisfied with where I am spiritually.

I want deeper fellowship.

I want greater revelation.

I want You more than Your gifts.

Many believers pray:

"Lord, bless me."

Moses prayed:

"Lord, show me Yourself."

Those are very different prayers.

Think about what was still being offered.

The Promised Land was still available.

Victory over their enemies was still available.

Protection was still available.

Guidance was still available.

Even an angel was still available.

Yet Moses was not satisfied.

Why?

Because Moses understood a truth that many believers never learn:

The greatest blessing God can give us is not what comes from His hand, but His presence.

The Promised Land without God was not enough.

An angel without God was not enough.

Victory without God was not enough.

Blessings without God were not enough.

Moses wanted God Himself. - HE MUST HAVE THE PRESENCE OF GOD WITH HIM.

What “angels” (substitutes) are you settling for?

Think of this:

When God offered to send an angel instead of His presence (Exodus 33:2), He was essentially offering Israel a blank check:

"You will get the land, you will defeat your enemies, you will have prosperity—you just won't have Me."

This is the ultimate modern temptation.

We want God’s blessings, His protection (the angel), and the "Promised Land" (success/comfort),

but we are content to live without his actual, disruptive Presence.

We must honestly ask ourselves: If God gave you everything on your prayer list today but walked out of the room, would we even notice?

Are you more interested in God’s blessings than His presence?

Moses settled this, hear him as he says:

"If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence." (Ex. 33:15)

In other words:

"Lord, if You are not going, I don't want to go either."

Moses would rather stay in the wilderness with God than enter Canaan without Him.

C. Moses' Prayer Is Progressive

What's fascinating about Exodus 33 is that Moses doesn't begin by asking to see God's glory.

The prayer unfolds in stages.

His requests become deeper and deeper.

Notice the progression:

"Show me Your ways" (v. 13)

Moses wanted to understand how God works.

He wanted to know God's mind and God's purposes.

He wanted to know where and how God would lead them.

Then:

"If Thy presence go not with me..." (v. 15)

Moses moves beyond wanting God's ways.

Now he wants God's companionship.

He is no longer asking merely for direction; he is asking for God's nearness.

Finally:

"Show me Thy glory." (v. 18)

Moses moves beyond God's ways and beyond God's presence to the fullest revelation of God available to him.

He wants God Himself.

This is often how spiritual growth works.

We begin by asking:

"Lord, what should I do?"

Then we learn to ask:

"Lord, will You go with me?"

Eventually the mature believer begins asking:

"Lord, I simply want more of You."

Or even:

Many Christians stop at God's gifts.

Some pursue God's guidance.

Fewer pursue God's presence.

But the deepest hunger of all is a hunger for God's glory.

And that's what makes this prayer so courageous.

God had already promised His presence.

Most people would have been satisfied.

Not Moses - - He wanted more.

"I beseech thee, shew me thy glory."

3. The Cost of the Prayer

What happens when God answers?

A. God's Glory Is Overwhelming

Exodus 33:20 "Thou canst not see my face..."

God places Moses:

in the cleft of the rock

Moses cannot see God's face and live; he must be hidden in the rock.

We cannot look upon the raw glory of God's holiness without being consumed, unless we are hidden in Christ.

under His hand

This isn't a casual experience. It risks exposing what must change

B. Seeing God's Glory Exposes Us

The closer we come to God, the more clearly we see ourselves.

Think of:

Isaiah crying, "Woe is me!" (Isaiah 6)

Peter saying, "Depart from me; for I am a sinful man" (Luke 5:8)

John falling at Christ's feet as dead (Revelation 1:17)

C. God's Glory Rearranges Priorities

The world becomes smaller.

Sin becomes uglier.

Eternity becomes more important.

This is the true cost:

A prayer for God's glory is also a prayer for God to reveal whatever stands between us and Him.

You cannot pray, "Show me Your glory," while simultaneously saying, "Leave me unchanged."

When was the last time you prayed a prayer that cost you something?

Moses entered the mountain as Israel's leader, but he repeatedly came down with a greater burden for God's presence than for his own success.

Even though there is a cost, there is also a transformation.

3. The Change That Comes From the Prayer

A. God answered by revealing His character

Notice God's response.

Moses asks:

"Show me thy glory."

God responds:

"I will make all my goodness pass before thee." (Ex. 33:19)

Then in Exodus 34:6-7 God proclaims:

"The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth..."

Moses asks to see God's glory.

God reveals His character.

The greatest glory of God is not merely His power but His holiness, mercy, grace, truth, and goodness.

Transformation begins when we know God as He truly is.

B. Moses Left Shining - He was changed

After this encounter:

"The skin of his face shone." (Ex. 34:29)

The people could see that he had been with God.

This becomes a picture of spiritual transformation.

Moses entered burdened.

Moses exited changed.

C. We Become What We Behold

Paul later writes:

"But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image..." (2 Cor. 3:18)

We become like what we behold.

People become:

worldly by beholding the world

fearful by beholding problems

Christlike by beholding Christ

When we pursue God's glory, we do not merely gain information—we are transformed.

What would change in your life if God truly showed you His glory?

Conclusion

I would conclude with something like:

The prayer began in crisis.

It required courage.

It came with a cost.

But it produced transformation.

Then challenge them:

Most of us spend our prayers asking God for things.

Moses asked for God Himself.

The dangerous prayer is not:

"Lord, bless me."

The dangerous prayer is:

"Lord, show me Your glory."