Show Me Your Glory

There is a passage in Exodus (Exo 33) where God, exasperated with His people, tells Moses, "You guys go on to the Promised Land. Just do it without Me." Moses prays that God would not desert His people and God agrees. "I will also do this thing of which you have spoken; for you have found favor in My sight and I have known you by name" (Exo 33:17). Moses's response is somewhat out of the blue, and, yet, perfectly understandable. For the God of the Universe, the One God, the Lord of All, to say, "You have found favor in My sight and I have known you by name" is quite stunning. So Moses answers, "I pray You, show me Your glory!"

That's quite a prayer. "Show me Your glory!" It's quite a prayer because it is the prime purpose for which humans were created. It's quite a prayer because God's glory is the thing we've missed. It's quite a prayer because, as it turns out, "You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!" That is, for normal humans to see God in all His glory unmitigated is fatal.

God agreed. He had caveats. He hid Moses in a cleft in a rock and passed before him, covering the rock so Moses would be spared a life-ending view. But God agreed. What did God declare in this moment of highest revelation?

Then the LORD passed by in front of him and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations" (Exo 34:6-7).

There is a lot to the glory of God -- so much that it is inconceivable to humans. Even fatal. But there are some key components that would allow us a lifetime of contemplation and wonder. There is His self-existence of God. Fundamental. The concept behind YHWH. "I AM." Nothing else is self-existent; only God. There is His compassion and grace. There is His patience and lovingkindness. Christ referred to Himself as the Truth. There is His mercy on one hand and His justice on the other.

These, apparently, are the primary components of His glory that He wanted to express most clearly when He passed before Moses. These are the main components to contemplate. Omniscience, omnipotence, omnipresence, even love are contained in these primary components. All that God is seems to have its roots in these components. While the vastness and immeasurability of God exceed human comprehension, these are a start. A good start. God's opinion of a good start. A wonderful place to dwell when we contemplate the glory of God.