THE GLORY OF GOD

“Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness.” – Psalm 29:2 (ESV).

Glory is a difficult concept to get our arms around because most of us will not experience glory. Glory must be earned, and we are not all that good at it. If you lived during Solomon’s reign and were invited to the palace to meet the king, you would bow and give Solomon glory. But if Solomon wore the clothes of an ordinary man and walked into some isolated village, the villagers wouldn’t know he was king and wouldn’t give him the glory a king expects. Solomon doesn’t have glory in and of himself. His only glory is when he puts on the robe and crown and sits on the throne.

The glory of God is completely different. God never takes off His kingly garments. He never takes off the crown or leaves the throne. He is not God because of the throne, or the robe, or the crown. Rather, He has a throne, a robe, and a crown because He is God.

Defining the glory of God is impossible because God’s glory lives above and beyond any type of description or definition. The answer is as infinite as God’s glory itself, so the question can never be answered exhaustively. Now, when Isaiah 6:3 says that one angel is crying to another, “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts,” the next thing he says is this: “The whole earth is filled with his . . . ” People could guess that the next word would be “holiness,” but he doesn’t say that. He says, “glory.”  2 Corinthians 4:6 says, “For God, who said, “Let there be light in the darkness,” has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ.” Hebrews 1:3 adds, “The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command. When he had cleansed us from our sins, he sat down in the place of honor at the right hand of the majestic God in heaven”

The scriptures tell us: ”[He] has weighed the mountains and hills on a scale? … all the nations of the world are but a drop in the bucket. [to Him] …[He] spreads out the heavens like a curtain and makes his tent from them” (Isaiah 40: 12, 15, 22). The prophet attempts to give God’s glory some scale through word pictures. Still, even these very picturesque and helpful descriptions fall miserably short of capturing the awesome glory of God. God’s glory encompasses the greatness, beauty, and perfection of all He is. He is beyond our ability to estimate, understand, or describe.

Scripture associates worship with glorifying God far more than any other activity. At its heart, worship ascribes all glory to God alone. We can glorify God in many ways, but Scripture indicates that nothing we do delights God more than calling on His name with sincere hearts and declaring that all glory belongs to Him.

Discussion Questions:

1. The definition of glorifying God is to honor God by our lives, showing His splendor, love, and perfection, and that His presence is seen in us. In what ways does the believer do this in everyday life?
2. What can we do this week to glorify God?