Guest Post by Dan Brewer
A Word from Bob: Dan Brewer is a good friend, a fellow church member at Christ’s Church in Federal Way, WA, and a fellow biblical counselor. I’m excited to have him minister to you through today’s guest post. Here’s some background to help you get to know my friend. Daniel J. Brewer is 
the Chief Operations Officer for a small city in the Seattle area. Dan has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Civil Engineering. He is a certified Biblical Counselor through ACBC and serves in the Counseling Ministry of his local church—Christ’s Church in Federal Way, Washington. Dan is currently pursuing a Master’s Degree in Biblical Counseling (MABC) from Faith Bible Seminary in Lafayette, Indiana. Dan and his wife, Gail, have five children and two grandchildren and love spending time outdoors.
Have You Considered the Glory of the Lord?
I was meditating on the glory of the Lord this morning in my studies of Isaiah 40. I will admit that this was partially as an assignment for one of my seminary classes (so thank you Professor Aucoin!).
Have you considered the glory of the Lord? Isaiah 40:5 says:
“Then the glory of the Lord will be revealed,
And all flesh will see it together;
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
The glory of the Lord. Glory is a mysterious thing. What is it?
Moses wanted to see the glory of the Lord. We see this in Exodus 33:18 where Moses said:
“I pray You, show me Your glory!”
Some may suggest that Moses was arrogant to even dare ask such a thing, and perhaps in some sense there may be some truth to that. However, I see it differently. We should daydream about the glory of the Lord and seek after it as Moses did. We should be established and rest in the glory of the Lord and proclaim it to the nations. After all, that is our divinely designed purpose.
Notice that Lord did not rebuke Moses. In verses 19-20 the Lord answers Moses:
“I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the Lord before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion.” But He said, “You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!” (Exodus 33:19-20).
The Lord answered Moses’ prayer and was gracious to him. The Lord showed Moses all the glory that he could handle, and the Lord protected Moses in the process. In verses 21-23, the Lord goes on to say:
“Here is a place by Me, and you shall stand on the rock. So it shall be, while My glory passes by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock, and will cover you with My hand while I pass by. Then I will take away My hand, and you shall see My back; but My face shall not be seen.”
We can only imagine what Moses saw that day. What Moses saw changed him. It made his face to glow like the sun and that was just from seeing the Lord’s back! Have you ever tried to imagine about what Moses saw?
Radically Changed by the Lord’s Glory
Moses is not the only person in the Scriptures who caught a glimpse of the glory of the Lord. Isaiah had seen the glory of the Lord (Isaiah 6); Peter, James, and John saw the transfigured Lord (Matthew 17:1-8; Mark 9:2-8-; Luke 9:28-36); and John saw Christ in all His glory on the Island of Patmos (Revelation 1:12-18). Saul encountered the glory of the Lord on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:1-9). To say that the glory of the Lord radically changed these people is an understatement.
Have you considered the glory of the Lord? Have you sought after it with due diligence? If we are honest with ourselves, we tend to be bent on considering our own glory, and seeking after our own fame. As Paul Tripp says:
“We are glory thieves.”
We have got it all backwards, inside out and upside down. We tend to make life all about us, our glory, and our fame, when we should be making life all about the glory of the Lord and His fame. Our calling, our job, is to make Him famous by reflecting His glory to the world around us.
“You are My witnesses,” declares the Lord,
“And My servant whom I have chosen,
So that you may know and believe Me
And understand that I am He.
Before Me there was no God formed,
And there will be none after Me.
“I, even I, am the Lord,
And there is no savior besides Me.
“It is I who have declared and saved and proclaimed,
And there was no strange god among you;
So you are My witnesses,” declares the Lord,
“And I am God” (Isaiah 43:10-12).
Be Captivated and Changed by the Father’s Glory
Consider the glory of the Lord today. Daydream about it as David did:
“On the glorious splendor of Your majesty And on Your wonderful works, I will meditate” (Psalm 145:5).
Ask the Father to show you His glory and let His glory melt away the things that have captured your heart. Be captivated by the Lord, the Incomparable God. Be in awe and wonder as you gaze upon glorious splendor of His Majesty, and let Him, in all His radiant glory and holiness transform you.
Thank You for this post. I had not considered myself as seeing the glory of the LORD & today I will think on this, pray & look for the glory of the LORD. Thank You Dan & Bob.
Thank you Barbara.
As I was further thinking on God’s glory this week, I came across an article called “Do You See?” written be David Powlison in the Journal of Biblical Counseling (JBC, Volume XI, Number 3 – Spring 1993). In the article Powlison quotes Elizabeth Barrett Browning from “Aurora Leigh,” Book VII:
“Eath’s crammed with heaven,
And every common bush afire with god;
But only he who sees takes off his shoes;
The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries.”
Powlison challenges each of us in the opening paragraph of his article with a series of questions. He asks, “Do you see? Is your earth crammed with heaven, and does your common bush blaze with glory. Do you take off your shoes on holy ground? Or do you pluck berries, idle and ignorant?”
This has been helpful for me as I look for God’s glory. It is not difficult to find. His earth is crammed with it.
I hope that this is helpful as we consider God’s glory together.
Dan
Thank you for sharing. This concept of Beholding the Glory of the Lord is one of the most important and life changing realities I see amongst my counselees too – unpacking 2 Cor. 3:18 is eye opening. Your post is helpful toward that end. Thank you again.