Day Five: Isaiah Sees Himself

And I said: "Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!"
Isaiah 6:5

After seeing the Lord, Isaiah saw himself very clearly. "Seeing God does not produce rapture or giddiness or religious flippancy. It produces terror and self-loathing." Isaiah realized then more than ever how truly sinful he was. The thing that always catches me about Isaiah's experience here is the curse that Isaiah calls down. "Woe is me!" He calls a curse upon himself! I believe that we (and when I say we, I mainly mean me, Scott) can take a lesson from this. We are a prideful people. We spend as much time as possible exalting ourselves, many times at whatever cost is necesary. Isaiah, when he saw the Lord, pronounced a curse upon himself. He was utterly humbled in the presence of the holy God. This was a big reason that I desired to begin studying the holiness of God. When we see who God is more clearly, we see ourselves more clearly. In light of God and who He is, I am less than nothing. I want to, no, I need to be reminded of that every second of every day. When Isaiah, a prophet, sees God, he sees that he is "a man of unclean lips." What is it that we are seemingly good at, that we need to be reminded that we are "unclean" in that area? I believe that God has gifted me to lead worship with my voice and my piano. But the thing that I need to remind myself of is this: apart from the grace of God, I am a man who's songs are profane. Only by the active obedience of Christ can my worship be pleasing to a holy God.

I'll probably have more to share later, but for now, I must refrain from writing.