The LORD reigns; let the peoples tremble!
He sits enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth quake!
The LORD is great in Zion;
he is exalted over all the peoples.
Let them praise your great and awesome name!
Holy is he!
The King in his might loves justice.
You have established equity;
you have executed justice
and righteousness in Jacob.
Exalt the LORD our God;
worship at his footstool!
Holy is he!
Moses and Aaron were among his priests,
Samuel also was among those who called upon his name.
They called to the LORD, and he answered them.
In the pillar of the cloud he spoke to them;
they kept his testimonies
and the statute that he gave them.
O LORD our God, you answered them;
you were a forgiving God to them,
but an avenger of their wrongdoings.
Exalt the LORD our God,
and worship at his holy mountain;
for the LORD our God is holy! | Psalm 99
Isaiah was one of God’s great prophets. God often spoke to Isaiah. He told Isaiah to tell God’s people that someday a wonderful Savior would come.
One day God spoke to Isaiah in a vision. A vision is something like a dream. In that vision Isaiah saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high up. His robe filled the Temple. And above Him there were seraphim. Seraphim are shining heavenly creatures.
Isaiah saw that each of the seraphim had six wings. With two wings he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and he used two to fly.
These wonderful seraphim called to each other. One said, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.” Then another answered, “Holy, holy, holy!”
When Isaiah saw the vision, he was afraid. The vision showed him that God is holy. What does that mean?
What does the Bible mean when it tells us that God is holy?
Do you remember the story of Moses – how God let Moses see just a little of His glory and afterwards Moses’ face shone bright as the sun? That brightness was a part of God’s holiness.
But God’s holiness is much more than shining brightness. God is pure. God never sins. God always does right. God is all light and glory. He is all goodness. Nothing sinful can even come near Him – it would be burned away by His holiness.
We cannot think all that God’s holiness means. The angels and the seraphim see it, and they praise Him day and night. They sing to Him, and they serve Him. The angels are holy, too. They do not sin. But God is much more holy than the angels. That is why the seraphim covered their faces and their feet. That is why they call Him Lord of hosts.
If nothing sinful can go to God, how can we go to Him? When we think how sinful we are, and how great and holy God is, we do not dare go to Him. We would not even dare pray to Him, if we could see how holy He is.
But God wants us to come to Him. Oh, He is so good to us! He told Isaiah not to be afraid. And He tells us not to be afraid. But He also tells us, in the Bible, that we can only to Him in Jesus’ Name. Jesus is holy. Jesus is God, too, you know. But He took little children in His arms – little sinful children. He wanted to bring them to God the Father. And we can go to God today if we go in Jesus’ Name, because Jesus died to take our sins away, to make us clean, so that even our holy God will let us come to Him.
Something to talk about
- How can sinful people go to a holy God?
- Why do we pray to God in Jesus’ Name?
Memory verse
Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory! | Isaiah 6:3