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MEDITATION:

Written by John Piper, a contemporary theologian, author, founder of the organization desiringGod.org, and chancellor of Bethlehem College and Seminary.

Defining the glory of God is impossible, I say, because it is more like the word beauty than the word basketball… There are some words in our vocabulary that we can communicate with not because we can say them, but because we see them. We can point. If we point at enough things and see enough things together and say, “That’s it! That’s it. That’s it,” we might be able to have a common sense of beauty. But when you try to put the word beauty into words, it is very, very difficult. It’s the same thing with the word glory. So, how shall I do it? We have to try, because we can’t just leave it for people to fill up on their own.

Here is the way I am going to try to do it. I am going to take it and contrast it biblically with the word holy and ask, “What is the difference between the holiness of God and the glory of God?”… The holiness of God is, I think, his being in a class by himself in his perfection and greatness and worth. His perfection and his greatness and his worth are of such a distinct and separated category — we have been taught that the word holy means separate — that he is in a class by himself. He has infinite perfections, infinite greatness, and infinite worth. His holiness is what he is, as God, that nobody else is. It is his quality of perfection that can’t be improved upon, that can’t be imitated, that is incomparable, that determines all that he is and is determined by nothing from outside him. It signifies his infinite worth — his intrinsic, infinite value. Now when Isaiah 6:3 says that one angel is crying to another, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts,” the next thing he says is this: “The whole earth is full of his . . . ” You might have expected him to say, “holiness,” but he doesn’t say that. He says, “glory.” The glory of God is the manifest beauty of his holiness. It is the going-public of his holiness.” The glory of God is the manifest beauty of his holiness. It is the going-public of his holiness. It is the way he puts his holiness on display for people to apprehend. So, the glory of God is the holiness of God made manifest.

PRAYER:

Written by Augustine of Hippo (354-430), an early Christian theologian and philosopher. He was the bishop of Hippo Regius (modern day Annaba, Algeria) and is viewed as one of the most important church fathers in Western Christianity.

Look upon us, O Lord, and let all the darkness of our souls vanish before the beams of thy brightness. Fill us with holy love, and open to us the treasures of thy wisdom. All our desire is known unto thee, therefore perfect what thou hast begun, and what thy Spirit has awakened us to ask in prayer. We seek thy face, turn thy face unto us and show us thy glory. Then shall our longing be satisfied, and our peace shall be perfect. Amen.