Please show me your glory.
Did he whisper it in a voice barely audible? Did he shout it with a guttural groan? Was he on his knees like a beggar? Was he face to the ground in defeat?
It’s a cry of desperation from a strung-out, worn-out, burnt-out man. A man who didn’t ask for the load heaped upon his shoulders. A man who didn’t want the weight of a stiff-necked and short-sighted people loaded on his back.
Moses knew the weight of sin. He carried the burden of an ungrateful, unruly, and unteachable people. A people fed but never full, set apart but never sure, saved yet never satisfied, wanted but always wandering, free but always afraid, called but always complaining. The weight of the Israelites clung to him like wet clothes in the desert heat.
Please, God! Show me your glory.
Can you hear his fervent plea?
The Hebrew word for glory is kabowd. It can mean abundance, splendor, and honor. At its core, though, it means weight. It comes from the root word kaved, which means to be heavy.
The weight of glory is heavy.
Have you ever considered the weight of God’s glory?
But what is His glory, exactly? And why was Moses so desperate to see it?
While Moses met with God, the people waited with worry. Doubt thrives in waiting, doesn't it? Was God really who He said He was? Did He really care? Was He really there? Their hungry hearts turned to empty hope, so their idle hands built a golden calf.
The weight of sin is heavy.
God concedes to Moses’ request.
Exodus 33:19
And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The Lord.’
There, in the cleft of the rock, God’s glory passes by.
Exodus 34:6-8
The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children, to the third and the fourth generation.”
And Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped.
God’s glory is the revelation of His character. He’s heavy with mercy. He’s dense with love. He’s overflowing with steadfast love. He’s drenched with faithfulness.
The weight of God’s glory is heavy with goodness.
Please, show us your glory!
So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son. (John 1:14)
A thrill of hope. A weary world rejoices. As Mary delivered her baby, God delivered hope. Did she feel the weight of His glory as she held Him in her arms? Was she pinned beneath its piercing gaze? The word made flesh --- grace cloaked in a baby's cry, mercy cradled in a rugged cross.
For the heavy-hearted, over-loaded, bogged-down, pressed down, and overwhelmed --- good news is raining down. The weight of God’s glory is heavy with goodness. And He’s come to set you free. Are you weighed down with sin's heavy yoke? Are you buckling under sorrow's suffocating grip?
The weight of sin and sorrow is heavy. The weight of God's glory is heavier.
His glory outweighs your sorrow. His glory outweighs your failure. His glory outweighs your sin. Come to Him and exchange the weight of your sin for the weight His glory.
Instead of being overwhelmed with the hustle and bustle of the season, may we be overwhelmed and overcome with the awe of His glory and grace.
This Christmas, feel the weight of mercy fall on your shoulders. Sink beneath its surface. Get lost in its lavish embrace. Love indescribable, hope unexplainable, peace imperishable, grace irrevocable --- God's glory poured out in Christ.
Please, Lord! Show us your glory!
He has. He's here. This time, His glory isn't just passing by. It's here to stay because He's here with us. Heavy with hope, laden with love, full of faithfulness. Jesus, God with us.
What will we do? What else can we do but fall to our knees in worship?
The question is … have you exchanged the weight of your sin for the weight of His glory?
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