Psalm 96:9

Psalm 96:9

The splendour of His holiness

“The splendour of His holiness.” It sounds very grand doesn’t it, until we ask ourselves what does it actually mean? Is this a description of God Himself or does it describe the throne room of heaven where He dwells? Is the Jewish writer thinking about the beautiful Temple in Jerusalem and the robes and adornments of the priests as they serve before the Lord? The context seems to be the Temple rituals, as we saw yesterday, but then the verse embraces all the earth, most of whom would never go to worship the Lord in Jerusalem. 

It seems to me that this is a universal call to all nations and individuals to recognise who the Lord God is and to pay Him the respect He deserves. To do so we must have a realistic and honest view of ourselves, we are stained by sin, we are corrupt and evil, easily led and constantly under the influence of the Satan. By contrast, God is pure and true, untainted and perfect in character, in His attributes and in His deeds and words. For sin-stained humans He is beyond reach, frightening in His power and authority, beyond reproach and so, so superior to us mortal men. That sets Him apart from us, in fact we have no means of approach, all we can do is tremble at the sheer awesomeness of His Being. And yet approach Him we must for He is our Creator, our Provider and our Protector, there is no point in avoiding Him, denying Him or rebelling against Him, we can never win! 

Thank God with me today, that He has made a way of approach, that He has washed us clean by the blood of an eternal sacrifice, no more Temple rituals for us! Thank God that He leans towards us and commands us to “draw near.” As we approach Him, let us do so with reverence and awe and yes, maybe fear at times. He is Holy! He alone is God! He is our Father! Hallelujah!

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