THE BEAUTY OF THE LORD
Psa. 90:17
Morning Meditation 10/18/16
Verse 17 says, “And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us: and establish thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish thou it..”
God has made us so that we are attracted to beauty. God never created anything in us that does not draw us to Him as the One who will fulfil that desire. Moses desires beauty and therefore says, “And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us.” The fall of man draws him to satisfy the desire for beauty on the creature rather than Creator. This is called idolatry. This Psalm is a Prayer of Moses the man of God. Moses knew what the beauty of the Lord was.
John Phillips says, as he visualizes the meaning of this verse: “We go back in thought to a certain slave hut on the Nile. The Hebrew people are herded there in the Goshen ghetto under the harsh conditions of slavery. We creep into one of those huts. Perhaps this very day Amram, the father of the little family which lives in this hut, has been whipped and lashed by an Egyptian guard. There is a woman in this house, a dear, godly woman, the mother of three children. Her name is Jochebed; it means, ‘God my glory.’ She shines in that slave hut like the Shekinah glory in the tabernacle. She transforms that hut into a holy place, bringing a little of Heaven with her into that home. No wonder that out of that home comes a Miriam, and Aaron, and a Moses!”
The word “beauty” in our text means “kindness, pleasantness, delightfulness, beauty, favour.” This definition defines the effect and the impression that one has when he is in the presence of His beauty. Jesus is the definition wrapped in human skin.
1 Chron. 16:29 says, “Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come before him: worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.” The word “glory” is used in the sense of “honor or respect” and in this case, “reverence.” This text says, “bring an offering,” by this, acknowledge one’s sins, and the impossibility of coming into His presence apart from atoning sacrifice. This is what the sacrificial system was all about. When the believer comes before the Lord today, He comes through the sacrifice of Jesus. Jesus said, “ . . . no man cometh unto the Father but by me” (John 14:6). Now that we have made the sacrifice (by faith in His sacrifice) we can “worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.” God is a holy God. Holiness does not admit anything into its presence that will alter it. If man is holy, and the first man was created holy, and, if sin is the opposite, then if sin is allowed, sin perverts the holy, and the holy becomes unholy. This is what happened to the human race through Adam. Holiness is beautiful beyond description. And man can worship God in the beauty of holiness by faith in Jesus who is our Sacrifice. “O Lord, I come into your presence in the death and resurrection of Jesus, and I worship you in His holy worship, I adore you in His adoration, I love you in His love, I believe you in His faith, I praise you in His praises and I thank you in His thankfulness. And Oh Lord, You have made me so one with Him through the baptism of the Holy Spirit by your grace, I know that His worship is mine. O Lord I am speechless before Your Majesty!” Hallelujah!
2 Chron. 20:19-21 says, “And the Levites, of the children of the Kohathites, and of the children of the Korhites, stood up to praise the LORD God of Israel with a loud voice on high. And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper. And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the LORD, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the LORD; for his mercy endureth for ever.”
What a king Jehoshaphat was! Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have a saved president who agrees with God and will not move without the Lord’s guidance through His Word? Imagine an American president appointing singers who have a true testimony of salvation to sing the praises of the Lord before the legislature, senate, and supreme court meets to make decisions that affect this country. This is what Israel had in the days of Jehoshaphat.
Jehoshaphat gave the message of verse 20 after the singers (vs. 19) had sung. And his message was “ .. . . Believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper.” Then (vs. 21), “ . . . he appointed singers unto the LORD, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the LORD; for his mercy endureth forever.” Imagine taking singers into the front lines of the battle. We are in a battle. Some of you who read these lines are battle weary. God bless you. Get a song book and sing!!! Amen!
David says in Psalm 27:4, “One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple.” You ask David, “What do you want more than anything in the world?” David answers, “You ask me what I want more than any thing in the world? I do not hesitate to answer. I want to dwell (not just attend) in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, and to behold His beauty (I want to see Him when I go). That is my greatest desire.” That is what David is saying in this verse.
What is the Church to us? Is it the house of the Lord? Hebrews 3:6 says, “But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.” He is speaking here of the Church. Hebrews 10:25 says, “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.” We can behold the beauty of the Lord in our quiet time. Every believer needs the quiet time. But God meets with His people in His House, the Church of the firstborn (Heb. 12:23). Ephesians 3:21 says, “Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.” David wanted to be identified with God’s house. We also should be known as ones associated with God’s house. Remember, if you have a problem with worship in your local church, the most common problem is that we are distracted by looking at the church, and not the Lord. Let me emphasize again, “Unto Him be glory IN THE CHURCH.” The church is not to receive the glory. It is the PLACE where HE IS TO RECEIVE THE GLORY. And when you look to the church, you will see people who are very imperfect. But don’t look too close until you have stood before the mirror and gazed for a while upon yourself. You will discover that the one you see in the mirror is just like the ones you see in the church. Now, you can go back to Church, and PRAISE HIM for HIS GRACE. Amen.
David said what I want more than anything else is to go to the house of the LORD and “ . . . behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple.” I think David wrote most of his psalms after an experience of the Lord.. I believe when David went to the house of the LORD and had beheld the beauty of the LORD, you could see it reflected upon his countenance and tell it in his speech. I wonder when people see us come and go to God’s house, what they see? We may come in with a frown but we ought to leave with the beauty of the LORD upon us.
May God bless these words to our hearts.
In Christ
Bro. White
