The Glory of God

The writing of this post was somewhat difficult because I had/have no words to truly define to working of the Lord in my heart throughout the semester, but my prayer is that what the Lord has begun to teach me will resonate with you and will cause you to worship our glorious Lord as it has caused me to. I repeat again the verses of my previous post.

Jeremiah 9:23-24,
“Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches:
But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth Me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD.”

These have been the unofficial theme verses of this semester. As Dr. Olson challenged us in our last chapel of the semester to share which attribute of God we have learned this semester and I thought back over the course of the sixteen weeks, the attribute of my Lord which I have seen most clearly could, perhaps, be best summed up as The Glory of God.
God is a God of glory. He is inherently glorious, and His glory is full and complete in itself. There is nothing that I can do to add to or detract from His glory. (Yes, there are ramifications and factors on the human level which I do not understand in their horizontal outworkings, but in the big picture, God’s glory is wholly separate from me.) That being said, I cannot “glorify God.” But God can manifest His glory through me (which may perhaps be perceived by others as my “glorifying God).” In words this may be confusing, but a definitive difference lies between the two concepts.
The God of all glory began teaching me of His glory throughout the semester through revealing the weakness, the impotence, of my own mind and heart. I struggled with focus more than I ever had before. It was not that I was sidetracked onto any other issue in particular, it was simply that my mind and my spirit were not continually seeking His face—my “default” setting was not Christ alone. This was a source of frustration to be throughout the semester, for I was arriving at the end of day after day frustrated and confused, deploring the fact that I had not worshipped my God worthily nor glorified Him by my life that day. Yet just as often as I sought His face, pouring out my grief at my failure and my frustration at not “glorifying Him,” He would give me to know that His glory did not depend on me and on what I thought glorified Him or not. His glory IS. What I think glorifies Him may not glorify Him at all, and what I do not think glorifies Him may be the very thing that He has ordained to bring Himself great glory. He is God. Whether I walk worthy, whether I seek, whether I am focused or not, whether I am in fellowship, God’s glory will be untouched. Therefore, the only possible response is to praise Him, to worship Him. Simply the fact that He is God demands that I worship Him. He is so great that I have no recourse but to worship. He will bring glory to Himself. He will work. He will do all things to the praise of His glory. Let me but worship. Because He is my God, my King, and my Friend. Because He is the only One for me.

Jeremiah 9:23-24

Jer. 9:23-24 "Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches; But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth Me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD."

These two verses sum up this semester for me. How the resident pride in me has fought for its life this semester--rearing its abominable head in facet after facet of my life. But the Lord was continually gracious to keep pointing out its root and its manifestations. These two verses have rung in my head as the standard of truth and right. At times, it seemed to be the only truth that remained in my mind. But what a glorious truth it is. He is the LORD. He is the God of lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness. He allows Himself to be known by even me. In Him alone I may glory.

So this is my testimony of praise to my God who has shown me His grace and has not cast away His servant, His child, due to struggle and sin, but has chosen to sanctify and mold and purge until--glorious thought--Christ is formed in me. "But we know that when He shall appear, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is." O how I long to stand at last before my Lord and to be like Him! O for my Heavenly Home! With Amy Carmichael I say, "Of all our prayers, this is the sum, 'O come, Lord Jesus, come'."