HOLY SPLENDOR

Ps.96:6- Splendor and majesty are before Him,
Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary.

David is not just writing good lyrics for a song or even trying to capture the rhythm of a poem, David is describing what he himself has tasted in the presence of the Lord. His phrase, ‘strength and beauty’, captures the sense of what you might experience in the presence of the Lord. One of the most amazing experiences I have had in my life was when the Lord came to me in my hospital bed several years ago. All of my senses, the physical ones and the spiritual ones, were in a sort of a sensory overload as He spoke Psalm 46 over me. “God is our refuge and strength, a very ready help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth shakes and the mountains slip into the heart of the sea…” What I experienced in those moments I can only describe as authority and power and at the same time compassion and gentleness. He speaks like no other man, His presence fills us with strength and acceptance. His words empower and comfort us all at the same time. Here is how Matthew Henry describes this verse.

“He is great in the revelation of his glory both in the upper and the lower world, among his angels in heaven and his saints on earth: Splendor and majesty are before him, in his immediate presence above, where the angels cover their faces because they are unable to bear the dazzling brightness of his glory. Strength and beauty are in his sanctuary, in both the sanctuary above and this one below. There is in God everything fearful and yet everything that is friendly. If we serve him in his sanctuary, we will see his beauty, for God is love, and we will experience his strength, for he is our rock. Let us therefore go out in his strength, captivated by his beauty.”

Whether you are at the top of your game or hanging on to your last breath the Lord’s presence is an absolute necessity in your life. In this place of strength and beauty we are strengthened, empowered, corrected, and directed in our daily lives. Trying to run our race without His immediate presence is like trying to maneuver through an obstacle course while blind or with impaired vision. Take David’s admonition and sing your new song to the Lord, it is in those moments that you will taste the strength and beauty of the Lord.