"...for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!"
Have you ever thought something was just fine until you compared it to something else? And it wasn't until then that you saw the other thing was far better?
One day, several years ago, we agreed to have a vacuum salesman come into our home and show us what his very expensive high quality vacuum could do. He asked us if we would use the vacuum that we normally used and vacuum the carpet. After we did that he went around the room, vacuuming with his fancy vacuum and when he was finished we were appalled at what we could clearly see on a little swatch of black cloth. Our vacuum was not doing a very good job at sucking things up! We were now seeing the ugly truth. Our vacuum was leaving much filth behind. Sad but true.
In the same way, we often think we are getting along just fine, until we get a glimpse of something better and we see that our condition is not as good as we once thought.
The nearer we come to God, the closer the view we get of him, the more we see our own sinfulness. Isaiah saw an awesome vision of God in Isaiah chapter 6. He saw him sitting upon a throne as King. He saw him high and lifted up, the train of his majestic royal robe filling the temple. He saw the angels of God, even they covered their faces and feet with their wings. Do we have this kind of humility in his presence?
He heard them saying "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!"
You who are of purer eyes than to see evil
and cannot look at wrong...Habakkuk 1:13
Consider the purity, the holiness, and the goodness of our God. He sees all of our sin, he knows everything that is happening, but think of how horrible sin is in his sight. There is far too much that we tolerate. Far too much that we are not ashamed of. Yet even with all the "little" sins we tolerate, there are horrible things that we could say "I cannot even look at that! It's so wrong!" And to think that God thinks (feels) that way even about the sins that we take lightly. God give us grace to see our sin as he does.
Many are the sorrows of the wicked,
but steadfast love surrounds the one
who trusts in the LORD.
Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice,
O righteous, and shout for joy,
all you upright in heart!
Psalm 32:10-11
Isaiah's response to seeing the King was the right one. He recognized his sin. He saw it clearly, especially when compared to the purity of God's holiness. There was no pretending that he was going to be fine. No deceiving himself into thinking that he could be "good enough" for God to accept him into his presence.
"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
Though our condition seems hopeless, there is hope for us all. Though is looks grim, God's love has made a way for the wrong to be made right. There is cleansing for the one who recognizes their filth. There is healing for the one who admits their illness.
For godly grief produces a repentance
that leads to salvation without regret,
whereas worldly grief produces death.
1 Corinthians 7:10
In Matthew 9:10-13, Jesus was reclining at a table eating with some very sinful people. We are all sinful in God's sight, but these were people whose sins were well known among other people. When the religious leaders of the day saw this going on, they asked the disciples of Jesus "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?" Notice how Jesus responded to them. He said,
"Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.
Go and learn what this means, 'I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.'
For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners."
For God so loved the world,
that he gave his only Son,
that whoever believes in him
should not perish but have
eternal life.
For God did not send his Son
into the world to condemn
the world, but in order
that the world might be saved
through him.
John 3:16-17
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