Wednesday: The Beauty of Holiness
Read 1 Chronicles 16:1-36. Try to picture the scene. Do you imagine it as solemn, fearful, or festive and joyous? In what way might it be a combination of both? What can we learn from this scene about worship and how we should teach and even experience worship?
Image © Lifeway Collection at Goodsalt.com
The place of worship was the tabernacle, where God had dwelt with ancient Israel and where the plan of salvation had been revealed to them. Central, then, to worship and to worship education must be Jesus and the plan of salvation, all of which was foreshadowed in the tabernacle service. Whatever else God has done for us that deserves praise and worship, it all means nothing without the hope of eternal life offered to us by His sacrificial and substitutionary death on the cross.
Also notice the “evangelistic” thrust of the passage: all the world was to learn about the God of Israel.
Look at 1 Chronicles 16:29: “Give to the Lord the glory due His name; bring an offering, and come before Him. Oh, worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness!” (NKJV). The beauty of holiness? What might that mean?
For starters, think about how ugly, how damaging, how degrading, sin is. Also, it’s hard for us now to imagine just how evil, terrible, and degrading the worship practices of the nations around Israel were, practices that included, of all things, child sacrifices. And, no question, these things reflected what the people who practiced them were like.
In contrast, ancient Israel was to be a holy nation, separated from the evil customs around them. They were to be holy in their hearts and minds; this is what gave their worship meaning and beauty before God. Over and over the Old Testament prophets railed against people who worshiped the Lord while engaged in corruption and while their hearts were far from Him.
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For around 1500 years the true idea of worship was hidden under layers of coercion, persecution, threats of hellfire, and outright exploitation. The notions of free choice, respect for one another, and grace were hidden from view. The Reformation opened our eyes to this abuse and gave us the opportunity to worship freely once again. Even now, some 500 years after the dawn of the reformation, we have still got a lot of catching up to do.
True worship occurs when we reflect the love of God into the lives of those around us. The hyprocrisy of professing a love and loyalty to God and living a life of selfishness is still the greatest threat to our Christian witness.
Paul says it so well:
When we have that sort of relationship with Jesus we are worshipping him in all we do.
Amen, Maurice! 🙂
The next element of worship I discovered is offering and/or sacrifice. The first thing David did when they installed the Ark in its new home was to offer sacrifices of peace and thanksgiving.
Sacrifice is to give up what you value for the benefit of another.
We worship the LORD for giving His life to save us from our sins, to restore our relationship with Him. Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God-this is your true and proper worship.
Rom 12:1
Both in public and in private worship it is our privilege to bow on our knees before our creator when we offer our petitions to Him. Jesus, our example," kneeled down, and prayed" (Luke 22:41) of His disciples it is recorded that they too, "kneeled down, and prayed" ( Acts 9:40). True reverence for God is inspired by a sense of His infinite greatness and a realization of His presence.
Worship is not simply a specific physical act, such as kneeling in prayer. Rather, it is the condition of a heart that love and adores God, a heart that has been humbled before a great and mighty Creator. It is a heart that has been broken at Calvary, devoted to the death of self, and committed to the lordship of Jesus Christ. Such a heart is not looking for self-fulfillment but for the glory of its Maker and how He desires to be approached. In the Christian world today, many believe they have the right to choose the form or style of worship that seems appropriate for them. Let us worship God in the beauty of Holiness!
What does it mean the Beauty of Holiness
This is a partial answer. The beauty of holiness is deeper than what we wear, see or eat. When I believe in thinking and living according to the law of God (love and all its arms), and being set apart from the ugliness of sin. When I accept and reach for His way as being the best way, then I prize holiness as the most beautiful way to live. Then I can plainly see the beauty in such a life.
When I hear that phrase, “the beauty of Holiness”, I picture the beauty and splendor of heaven, with all the angels bowed reverently before God, worshipping Him in gratitude for what He has done, and because He is their creator. I also picture the redeemed in heaven, bowing before Gods thrown, in gratitude, for the sacrifice He made, so that we could be there in His presence, and because He is our creator.
That’s what worshipping God in the beauty of holiness brings to my mind.
When I am not sure what a phrase means I like to get a few opinions from other translators, so " beauty of holiness"? First question is who or what is it describing? The LORD? His courts/temple? or the worshipper's clothes? - all these are possible from the original language according to various translations below:
Worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness;
Worship the LORD in all his holy splendor
Worship the LORD in holy attire
Worship the LORD in holy array.
Worship the LORD, majestic and holy.
Worship Lord Jehovah in the court of his Holiness.
Worship the LORD in [his] holy splendor
adore ye the Lord in his holy court
However when I consider the context - it is all about praising the LORD and giving Him the glory - then I believe the phrase is about Him and I believe this translation explains the meaning the best - Worship the LORD in all his holy splendor
"Holy attire" to me brings to mind being clothed in Christ's righteousness.
I am glad to read that: “They were to be holy in their hearts and mind; this is what gave their worship meaning and beauty before God.”
I focus my comment on the why God had to start with re-establishing Himself as the one God that reigns supreme – the great I AM - before true worship could again take place.
God made man to be able to interact with him. In the beginning, God gave us our form and His Spirit with which form can interact and worship Him. But *form/man* lost its way when God’s Spirit did not have any longer direct access to him to direct his ways.
As I understand it, the beauty of Holiness is expressed oneness with our Maker – 1Peter1:7-16KJV.
Worship is a spiritually generated desire birthed by the full oneness with the Creator; but the complete understanding how to rightly worship was left behind in Eden; without God, man was left to his own devises and engage in worship were form worships form.
Therefore, since the beginning of fallen humanity, man formed gods assigning to them powers derived from their own needs for security, order and emotional imaginations and so established worship were form would worship form.
Mankind established a familiar working relationship with their 'family of gods' by establishing worship traditions and not willing to give up the gods they had formed and 'knew'; they had vested their form with powers, declared them to be gods and, by giving them human traits were able to ‘interact’ with them in their societal settings – Rom.1:17-25KJV.
Throughout time, God's prophets prepared the way to re-introduce the true God; enough interaction to build a 'familiar' relationship between the true God and man would need to transpire before God would introduce Himself in person.
Always, God inspired man’s heart and mind by His Spirit, though He needed to wait until His People Israel came to the end of their road before He would say by His Son: “I am Spirit, those who worship me must worship me in (my) Spirit and Truth” – John4:24KJV.
When the time was right, He formed by incarnation His Son Christ Jesus to, once and for all times, reveal to His created form - man – by inspiration and demonstration the understanding of Beauty of Holiness.
Now, through Faith, mankind can be inspired again to know God’s Spirit of Love and walk in Truth and Light and so have Life with which to worship Him in His Holiness.
The beauty of holiness in this world was seen in the good Samaritan helping an "enemy", Boaz redeeming his kinsman's property and raising up children to his name, Elisha serving a meal to the Syrian host who came to capture him, or the captive maid telling her heathen master there was One who could heal his leprosy. It was 3 faithful captives who honored God at the sacrifice of their lives, and the countless number who were hunted like animals and yielded their lives rather than deny their Lord through those long years of the dark ages when the church was busy judging the servants of Christ as heretics.
It will be seen in those who "follow the Lamb withersoever He goeth", who will sing the song of Moses...and the Lamb before the Throne of God clothed in spotless garments.
Today they are found seeking the lost and putting their all into building up the kingdom of God in these waning hours before probation closes.
The Beauty of Holiness
In the photo above it reminded me of Exodus 15:1-21. The worship that erected from the heart. After the Israelites were afraid and they were hurrying to escape from their powerful enemies, the was a magnificent miracle preformed in favor of them. After crossing over the other side and the enemies were no more there because the Lord destroyed them, there was a big celebration. After that, the ladies took to the street in celebration about who the Lord is, might in battle.
The Lord said, those who honor Him, he will honor. At that time the ark was transferred in the proper way as was instructed by the Lord and he accepted their worship. When Cain and Abel went to worship, the Lord accepted Abel worship as 'True worship'.
While true worship stems from the heart it is portrayed to the outside and is accepted by the Lord. 1 Chronicles 16:1-36. He determines who worship is true or false.
David danced out of his clothing, yes, he danced out of his clothing and the Lord accepted his worship. His wife condemned him and the Lord pronounced a curse on her. Leave it up to us, we will condemn David for dancing out of his clothing as vile and unacceptable. He might be called to the church board if in our time.
Another evidence of making a joyful noise before the Lord. Psalms 100:1. Now this evidence of rejoicing before the Lord. Psalms 37:4. Philippians 4:4. It is found in Isaiah 24, albeit(did you know) it is what has ceased for those who refuse to turn to Him. Isaiah 24:8.