And he said, I beseech thee, show me thy glory.—Exodus 33:18.
At the time when Moses spoke these words, he had just received a remarkable proof of the favor of God towards him: God had punished the Israelites for the great sin which they had committed, in making and worshiping the idolatrous calves, at the very moment when he was delivering the Law in Mount Sinai. On this account he had destroyed many; he had threatened to visit their sins upon future generations, he had separated himself from them, and ordered his Tabernacle to be pitched without the camp; he had refused to go up with them into the land of Canaan; he had ordered them to put off their ornaments, and, in dread suspense, to await his judgment. In the midst of this indignation, Moses had ventured to prostrate himself before God, and to become an earnest intercessor in their behalf: he prayed for them, and prevailed. At his intercession, God was pleased to promise that he would not deprive them of his protection, but continue the visible tokens of his presence amongst them as before.
Emboldened by such gracious condescension, and mercy, Moses prefers a farther request in which he had probably long, though in vain, sought an opportunity of preferring. “And Moses said, I beseech thee, show me thy glory.”—What! it may be asked had not Moses before this seen the glory of God? Had he not witnessed it when God appeared in Horeb, as a fire in the midst of a bush? Had he not seen it in the Pillar of the Cloud which guided the Israelites in their passage from Egypt? Had he not seen it continually resting upon the Tabernacle and appearing with awful brightness at its entrance? Had he not, in common with all the Israelites, seen it resting upon Mount Sinai, when the glory of the Lord covered the mountain, and the mountain appeared to burn with fire? Had he not seen it, in still greater effulgence, when he was called up into the mount, and entered within the cloud and the glory, and remained there forty days and forty nights conversing with God?—He had; and, therefore it is plain that Moses meant, by the glory he desired to see, something far surpassing the splendor he had already witnessed; something which should be more expressly characteristic of the God of the universe. He wished, probably, to see God in his proper form, under such an appearance as that in which he manifests himself to the blessed inhabitants of heaven.
This request of Moses, it may be, was founded on a misapprehension, both of the nature of the Divine glory, and of the capacity of man to behold it. Yet God was pleased graciously to answer it; at once instructing him in the true nature of the Divine glory, which is that of his moral attributes; and intimating, that, in the present state of man, he was incapable of beholding the proper glory of the Divine Essence. “And he said, thou canst not see my face, for there shall no man see me and live.” Yet, that he might in some measure gratify the desires of his faithful servant, he added, “Behold, there is a place by me; and thou shalt stand upon a rock; and it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a cleft of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by; and I will take away mine hand, and thou shall see my back parts but my face shall not be seen:”—i. e. I will give thee such a lowered representation of my glory, as thou mayest be able to bear; a representation which may be compared to seeing only the back of a person, instead of surveying the whole figure.
It is a natural mistake to judge of glory by the outward appearance. Hence we are apt, at first sight, when we hear of the glory of God, to conceive only of some external glory; something bright and dazzling, like the radiance of the sun in the firmament. The glory of God, in this respect, might indeed sufficiently display his infinite superiority to all other beings. His glory, even in this lower sense, is represented by St. John as illuminating the boundless regions of heaven: nor could man any more endure the splendor with which the Divine Majesty might clothe himself, than the eye could endure the brightness of the meridian sun. But from this lower sense of the word it is necessary that we should turn our attention to one which is far more elevated and sublime. Indeed, the aim of all Scripture is, to wean our thoughts from the objects of sense, from what is material or external, and to fix them upon things spiritual and internal.
We rise to a nobler and juster sense of the term, the glory of God, when we consider it as consisting in the perfection of his attributes. In these his glory preeminently consists. Let us proceed with reverence to contemplate them.—His attributes are either his natural or his moral qualities.
I. Consider, first, his natural attributes.
1. God is self-existent.—All other beings are created, and created by Him. He is the great Parent of existence. There was a time when other beings were not; and there was a period when they began to be, and to possess life and the various powers of life. And they then became, not what they chose to be, but what he made them. Their powers and faculties also are limited and capable of increase. Their knowledge increases, their perfections advance. But God remains the same unchangeable; incapable of increase or progress in the perfection of his attributes. What he is at this moment, he always was, when as yet there was no created being.
2. Reflect next upon his Omnipresence:—He fills heaven and earth. He is equally in all places. Other beings reside where he has placed them; in heaven, on earth, or in hell. They have their proper and peculiar sphere of action. He alone has no place, no sphere no limitations. His perception, agency, power and wisdom are operating in every part of the universe, with as much perfection as if they were concentrated in a single spot—as though he were no where present and had no existence but there exclusively. He pervades all things, he comprehends all things; yet is pervaded by nothing, comprehended by none.
3. Survey his Power.—He is almighty, and can do every thing. These words are easily used; but what do they imply? How inconceivable is that infinity of power which they attempt to describe! He can do, instantly and perfectly, all things which are feasible. He can act without agents or instruments. All other beings, animate or inanimate, are but his instruments to fulfil his will. He speaks or wills, and it is done. He said, “Let there be light, and there was light.” No other beings can create; they work with the materials which he bestows. They combine and modify these: but they cannot create: they cannot form what they please out of nothing. He needs the help of no other being: indeed, the strength of all other beings, annexed to his own, would be no addition to it; for they possess none which they do not derive from him. His powers alone are underived. He is the original Fountain of his own perfections.
4. Contemplate, also, the infinity of his Knowledge.—All things in heaven or on earth he distinctly and fully observes and knows. Every truth, in all its bearings, in all its recesses, in all its fullness, is perfectly unfolded to his mind. He knows the smallest things as well as the greatest; surveys and remembers all the actions, and all the thoughts, of every one of the lowest of his creatures, as well as of the highest. There is nothing so minute as to be overlooked; nothing so vast as not to be comprehended by him without labor or effort. Amidst attention to every object in all his boundless dominions, he alone is never fatigued by the intentness of his observations, nor distracted by the variety of his knowledge. All things are equally naked, equally plain, equally revealed to him. The most secret recesses of the most secret mind lie exposed to his penetrating glance. Nor is his knowledge confined to things past or present. In this it is pre-eminent, that he also knows every thing future. All the thoughts and all the actions of all the beings who shall be living millions of ages hence, are now present to him, with as much certainty as are the events transacting at this moment. Yet no confusion disturbs his mind. He is all mind. It is of the essence of his nature to be omniscient.
5. Consider further his Wisdom.—He plans and directs all the events which occur in the universe. His plans are invariably pursued by all the creation, devils as well as angels fulfilling his will; all beings however unconscious, or however averse, acting as his instruments, and accomplishing his purposes. His plans never fail, can never be frustrated. He alone is never disappointed, never deceived, never surprised. All the designs of his adversaries are foreseen, all converted by him to his own glory.
6. View, lastly, the immeasurable extent of his Bounty.—By him all things subsist. All creatures in earth and heaven are replenished out of the storehouse of his beneficence. They all wait on him for everything they need, and derive from him every thing they enjoy. He gives, to all, exceeding abundantly above what they can ask or think, or can ever conceive: he gives freely, neither expecting nor needing a return: yet the treasures of his bounty are not exhausted; they are not even diminished. Millions of generations yet unborn will equally be dependent upon him for the supply of their wants, and will equally partake of his boundless beneficence. Every archangel is as much a pensioner on his bounty as the meanest creature. All creatures are but parts of his family, for which he daily, provides, “giving to each their portion in due season.”
And now, when we consider merely these natural perfections of the Deity, how sublime an idea do they present of the majesty of his glory! In how many, and in what important particulars do all creatures differ from him; their powers from his powers, their excellency from his excellency, their glory from his glory! The distinction between them is not only great—it is infinite. They do not even approach to him. Their inferiority is not that of degree only—it is that of kind. He is every thing; they are comparatively nothing: he possesses every thing; they possess only what he pleases to communicate. Things of a like kind may be compared; but what comparison can possibly be instituted between finite and infinite, between time and eternity, between matter and spirit? Were all the myriads of creatures which now exist by his power, whether angels or archangels, principalities, thrones, or dominions, to be weighed in the balance against him, they would be found lighter than vanity. All their excellence would be as a drop in the ocean, compared with his excellence and the glory of his perfections. All that he possesses is original, is self-existent, is unlimited; what they possess is dependent, is finite. Hence we see why all creatures ought to seek exclusively his glory, and why he may justly, and without vanity, seek his own. There is, properly speaking, no glory any where but in God; and whatever glory other beings possess is but an emanation, a spark, derived from him, and communicated to them. It is his glory which is seen and admired in their glory.
All for the Glory of God 