Five Invitations: Day 3

Day 3 - Honest to God
Psalm 8:4-5 

God dazzles Isaiah with glory.

How does Isaiah respond?

“Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.”

Do you know what's happening here? Seeing the truth about God makes him see the truth about himself. God’s glory makes Isaiah see himself more clearly than ever before. The weight of God's glory crushes him. He sees his own impurity standing next to God's unmatchable purity.

Isaiah’s response to God tells us what should happen when we connect with God through worship. God inspires honesty about ourselves. When we open Scripture, when we sing, when we eat the Lord’s Supper, we should see ourselves better because we’re seeing God better. The apostle James compares reading Scripture to looking in a mirror. Sometimes we’ll be dazzled by God’s matchless love for us. Sometimes we’ll be undone by the awfulness of our sin. Someone once said that preaching should “afflict the comfortable and comfort the afflicted.”

Many of us come to church wanting all sunshine and rainbows. We want to leave feeling better, feeling happy. Isaiah didn’t feel good when he saw God. Not at first. When he sees God, sees himself, he laments and repents. He just melts to the ground, weeping. God inspires honesty in Isaiah’s worship.

When has worship made you more honest about yourself? When has worship made you honest about your sin? When has worship made you honest about your God-given dignity?

REFLECT:
When has worship made you more honest about yourself?

PRAY:
Lord, help me to see myself with honesty - both the good and the bad. Help me to turn from my sin but never let me forget how much you love me. Amen.