High and Lifted Up: Seeing God for Who He is

In Isaiah 6, Isaiah records that in the year that King Uzziah died, he had such a vision of God that caused him to bow down and see his sin for what it is. He referred to God as Holy, Holy, Holy. This vision of Isaiah is as follows:

In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high andlifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called to another and said:

“Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts;

the whole earth is full of his glory!”

4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!”

6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he hadtaken with tongs from the altar. 7 And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this hastouched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”

It is important to see this vision. When we worship, we ought to have such a high view of God similar to that of Isaiah. We ought to see God in his unrivaled sovereignty and indescribable holiness.

A.W. Tozer writes, “The greatest need of the moment is that lighthearted, superficial religionists be struck down with a vision of God high and lifted up, with his train filling the temple.”

To worship, literally means to ascribe worth. In order to truly worship God, we must see God for who he is. We must truly know God in order to worship him. As we move into Theology Thursdays and look at various attributes of God, the purpose is that we know him better and therefore worship him more accurately.

H.B. Charles notes in his book, “On Worship,” that this holy vision of God brought Isaiah to an end of himself. He recognized he was a man of unclean lips. Charles writes,

“When you see God as He truly is, you will see yourself as you are. True worship is transformative. But transformation happens in worship not because that is our goal. We change in worship as we behold the glory of the Lord.”

He continues:

When the vision of God’s holiness convicts us of our sinfulness, we not not need to be pumped and primed to worship. It will be the overflow of glad and grateful hearts that are trophies of grace.

We need right theology, so that we may rightfully worship God. We need a robust and high view of God, so that we will have a right view of ourselves, and fall down before God in genuine worship.

In order to promote a High view of God I recommend a few books:

J.I Packer, “Knowing God.”

A.W. Pink, “The Attributes of God.”

A.W. Tozer, “The Knowledge of the Holy.”

A.W. Tozer, “The Attributes of God.”