No End In Sight
Psalm 99:9 ESV says, “Exalt the LORD our God, and worship at his holy mountain; for the LORD our God is holy!”
The only way to keep from seeing God as too small is to see him as continually great. There is something deeply wrong with our faith if our expectation in prayer and worship is anything but an ever-increasing outpouring of God’s glory.
In different seasons of ministry, I have experienced this. There is a palpable sense of glory whenever holy saints gather with hungry and expectant hearts—each week of prayer and worship offered a deeper and deeper encounter of God’s glory. We would walk away each week, faces glowing like Moses coming off the mountain until the following week when God showed us more of his heart.
Experiencing God like this feels too good to be true, yet it is the only acceptable way to follow Jesus. No, I’m not talking about mere emotions or comfort. I’m not describing good worship music or preaching. I’m talking about the glorious renewal of our lives to be more like the holy God we serve. I’m referring to the manifest presence of the Holy Spirit, signs and wonders, gifts of the spirit, and the fruit of repentance and surrender.
How could I describe the atmosphere of heaven? Could I write on and on about the movements of the Spirit of God? Can I articulate how the Father woos his people's hearts with his presence? How could I type out a suitable description of what it is like to stand in a room of love-sick worshippers? We stand on concrete floors with a frame room and brick walls, yet it is as if we were kneeling at the fold of God surrounded by thunder and flashes of lightning.
And it’s all we can bear to just look at his glory and be amazed.
It is in these moments that we are filled to overflowing. Our souls have been filled to the brim. There is no more room left for another blessing of renewal, and yet God’s endless mercy and love are still pouring out—no end in sight.
So often, I have come to the gathering of believers to find that most have arrived with an empty cup. Many times I have done the same. What oppressive lie has spread over the bride of Christ to cause us to believe we have been cut off from the flow of God’s abiding presence?
I love to sit and write about being in God’s presence, but I know I don’t even come close to capturing such glory. He is holy beyond comprehension, yet somehow he invites us to worship him on the mountain. He longs for us to be like Moses, who sought after the face of God.
When we read a verse like Psalm 99:9, we can remember that God is not asking us to merely pause for a moment in a daily routine and pray a simple prayer. He is calling us to step into our identity as throne-room worshippers. His holiness is real. It is transforming good and what we were created for, so exalt him today.
