The Planetarium

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The other mourning something I read in Isaiah brought forth an interesting picture in my mind.

Isa 6:4 And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke.

When I think of God’s holiness my mind simply cannot grasp what it means, what true purity means. As I look at the world around me it seems so far away from being anything like the One who created it. As one commentator put it… We tremble with fear and awe, but at the same time we are fascinated by His holiness, which is attractive, desirable, promising, and compelling. I think that is what Paul must have meant when he called it reverential fear (1 Pet 1:17).

As I was thinking about Isaiah’s worshiping God:

Isa 6:1-3 I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. 2 Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one cried to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!”

I got this picture of the first time I ever sat in a planetarium. As I walked in all of the noise and chaos of the world was immediately shut out as the darkness engulfed me. And as the night sky opened up before me the vastness of the universe and the stars and planets overwhelmed me. It made me stop and think about worshiping the Lord, how the entirety of the world around us diminishes to nothing as the universe opens up before us as the Creator of the universe allows us to enter into His presence. As the earth becomes just a spec, so our presence in it becomes less than a spec. And that’s when I can really focus on the greatness and goodness of God.

Our worship should be like that every time we enter into His presence. I have found that in approaching God like entering into a planetarium puts the focus where it needs to be. Not on me and my needs first, but on the character and presence of the One who created me. And as I sit in that planetarium in my mind, I realize that God is sitting there with me, His Holy Spirit surrounding me with His Holiness.

Each and every time we come before Him and we shut out the world around us we should expect to get a glimpse of His glory, knowing that He will never disappoint as His robe fills our temple… How can we do anything less than join the seraphim and cry Holy, Holy, Holy.

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