“Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among gods? Who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praise, doing wonders?” (Ex 15:11) Blessed are You, Almighty God, for the Scriptures testify of Your unblemished holiness and overwhelming beauty. Your omnipresence and omnipotence are utterly unique and beyond comprehension by any human mind. In You resides perpetual freedom, self-existence, self-sufficiency, justice, mercy, love and forgiveness which set You apart from everyone and everything else. Your holiness and beauty extend into every aspect of Your being which makes You unmatched and awesome before all men. Your beauty and holiness intensifies the ugliness and perversion of my sins. As I acknowledge Your beauty and majesty, I am moved to repent when I see the wickedness of my acts. My sins and Your abundant love show me my acute need for You as My Savior.
The beauty of Your holy attributes compel me to fall before You in ceaseless worship and praise. In thinking about my relationship with You, I’ve discovered some contradictions … like when I call on You to rescue me from the consequences of my follies, but complain when the answers are slow in coming or don’t meet my expectations … or when I become elated with doing good and knowing that You are taking note, but become distressed when I think of the times I chose to not do good … or when I delight in the freedom You’ve given me to make choices, but I’m resentful that I feel compelled to obey Your commands … or when I rejoice in knowing that Your justice will punish my enemies, but I dread the consequences of my own mistakes and poor choices. Help me appreciate the fact that self-denial, avoiding evil and unquestioning obedience is what draws me closer to You.
In Your holiness, I’ve been set apart for a very special and unending relationship with You, My Creator and Redeemer. You have given me life, put within me talents for the furtherance of Your purposes and placed a calling on my life to do good and be of service to others. In Your beauty, You’ve given me unique and worthwhile qualities that cannot be measured adequately by the standards of this earth. In short, I am a rarity and there is no one like me. You have created me to be “special” and I am the “apple of Your eye.” My beauty is manifested in loving, selfless service to You and my fellow man. I am in awe as I stand in the presence of Your beauty and holiness and my hope is that I can be a beautiful and holy gift offered up to You each day. And it’s in Jesus’ name I pray. AMEN!!
II Chronicles 20:21 After consulting with the people, Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the Lord and to praise Him for the beauty of His holiness …