Glorious Presence

Remember yesterday’s devo?  Moses desired God’s presence.  Today, Moses asks for something else.

Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.”

And the Lord said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.”

Then the Lord said, “There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock.  When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by.  Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen.”

Glory is God’s magnificence, which we cannot possibly comprehend in our mortal bodies.  He is holy and we are not.  And his holiness will consume us if we look upon his face.

But…thanks be to Jesus (our rock)…in whom we can see God’s goodness pass before us, have his glory pass near us, and be held and covered from being consumed…until the day we see him face to face.

God promises that there is a place near him where we can stand on a rock where is glory is present.

I love this story.  Man reaches out to know God, experience his presence, and see his glory.  God responds in the most loving of ways and assures man that he will indeed go before him and lead him and be with him, and that he will cover him and protect him and amaze him with his glory.

What more could a man want?