The Most Beautiful

“One thing I have asked of the Lord, and I will seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord…”—Psalm 27:4

The sun came up this morning and, especially at the ocean, it is beautiful.

That photo of a distant land, that masterpiece of art—absolutely beautiful.

My mom was beautiful, on the outside and also how she lived her life.

Outward appearances and inner strength are our definitions of beauty.

But gazing at the beauty of the Lord?

How are you supposed to worship that kind of God?

And how can that be, anyway?

Even Isaiah says: “He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.”

But our God’s beauty is not skin-deep or even panoramically marvelous.

It is far more than being a good man (or mom) who taught and did good things.

The beauty that King David longed to gaze at, and to which all down through the ages have been invited

Is a definition from his culture that blows away all of our limited western definitions.

To the Hebrew...

God is beautiful because He is inventor, owner, Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary extraordinaire, and the One and only perfect living example of all of these:

Glory, strength, greatness, power, victory, majesty, praise, honor, excellence and holiness.

God is beautiful because He embodies all that is good.
Which means real worship of a beautiful God is unlike anything we can imagine.
And it was never meant to be boring,

Never meant for going through the motions,

Of standing up and sitting down and then going home.

But an invitation to gaze at, stand in awe of, shout a loud thanksgiving to, or be holy shock-and-awe still before

The most beautiful One who stands far and above all that we can see, take a photo of or imagine.

And to know that the whole world—even yours and mine— is in His hands, still.

And what could be more beautiful than that?

"There is no lapse in His character or inconsistency in His nature. Our God is everything He says He is… for now and all eternity." - Matt Redman

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“You have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you and I have appointed and placed and purposefully planted you, so that you would go and bear fruit and keep on bearing, and that your fruit will remain and be lasting, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name, as My representative, He may give to you.”—John 15:16, Amplified

We say:

“This is broken, I need to fix this.”

“It’s not getting done and someone’s got to do it.”

“If you want a job done right, do it yourself."

God says:

“The LORD sat as King over the deluge;

The LORD still sits as King, and forever!

The LORD will give unyielding and impenetrable strength to His people;

The LORD will bless His people with peace.”

—Psalm 29:10-11 (Amplified)

Looks like “seize the day” has already been accomplished.

So now what do I do?

In the upside-down thinking of the Kingdom of God, sometimes, the most meaningful, down-in-the-dirt-and-sweaty, and powerful thing to be done is this:

Exchange ability for availability.

“… to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way [we] will lay up treasure for [ourselves] as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that [we] may take hold of the life that is truly life."—1 Timothy 6:18-19

“My availability to God’s call…is predicated on understanding that God doesn’t need any more messiahs. He sent One. The job is finished. We are not needed. I am not needed. Ah, but I’m wanted. That’s liberating, isn’t it? To not be needed but wanted?”—Jared C. Wilson, “The Imperfect Disciple” 

[Adapted from 11-2-14]