Dear Pilgrim, have you seen His glory?

Dear Pilgrim, have you seen His glory? Just as Moses was emboldened, have you asked Him to show you His glory (Exodus 33:18)? Have you desired to see His glory?

Pilgrim, because you take delight in the Lord, He will give you the desires of your heart (Psalm 37:4). He fulfils the desires of those who fear Him (Psalm 145:19). If you desire to see His glory, this is a request He will honour. Pilgrim, will you be bold and ask Him to show you His glory? Even though you are nothing but dust and ashes, you can be so bold as to make such a request. For your confidence does not come from yourself, but through Christ. In Christ and through faith in Him you may approach God with freedom and confidence! Will you be bold to ask Him to show you His glory? The God who reveals Himself to those who did not ask for Him will surely delight to reveal Himself to those who desire to see His glory.

The Lord revealed His glory to Moses on the mountain (Exodus 34:2). It is on the mountains that the Lord reveals Himself! Ascend the mountain, Pilgrim, and present yourself to Him…and He will come.

But first, hide yourself in the cleft of the rock, dear Pilgrim, for no-one may see His face and live.

Come, climb up, Pilgrim, higher, still higher, keep going….oh, persevere now, dear Pilgrim! The climb is difficult, but it must be done. Here now, here is the cleft in the rock. Come, take shelter. Hide in the cleft of the Rock, Pilgrim. See, the glory of the Lord is about to pass by (Exodus 33:22).

This rock…my Rock, my Saviour (Psalm 18:46)! My Rock, my Redeemer (Psalm 19:14)! The Rock of our Salvation (Psalm 95:1)! Could it be that this cleft in the Rock is pointing to the One who is the mediator between man and God, the man Christ Jesus?

This rock… He made water flow for His people who drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them in the desert, that rock which was Christ (1 Corinthians 10:4). He split the rock and water gushed out (Isaiah 48:21) – and as Jesus died on the cross, a spear split His side and water gushed out (John 19:34).

This rock…this rock that makes those who do not believe fall, because they do not obey the message of salvation (1 Peter 2:8).

O Pilgrim, this cleft in the Rock…it too is filled with glory! Shield your eyes, Pilgrim! Fall to your knees! The glory of the Rock…..the glory of Christ!

For He had glory with the Father before the world began (John 17:5). When He became flesh and made His dwelling among us, His glory was seen, the glory of the Only Begotten Son (John 1:14). His glory was revealed at His birth, when the glory of the Lord shone around the shepherds in the fields nearby, and a great company of the heavenly host appeared, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest!” (Luke 2:13-14). He revealed His glory when He performed the first of His miraculous signs at Cana in Galilee, when He changed water into wine (John 2:11). He was glorified when He raised Lazarus to life (John 11:4). He revealed His glory when He was transfigured on a high mountain (Luke 9:32). He will come in His glory when He returns to earth, and He will sit on His throne in heavenly glory (Matthew 25:31). He is the radiance of God’s glory (Hebrews 1:3). We see the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ (2 Corinthians 4:6)!

O Pilgrim! Is your reaction to this the same as the apostle John when he had a revelation of the glory of Jesus (Revelation 1:12-16): “When I saw Him, I fell at His feet as though dead” (Revelation 1:17). Is your reaction to this the same as the apostle Simon Peter who, when he had a revelation of the glory of Jesus, fell at His knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” (Luke 5:8). For when we receive a revelation of His glory, we realise how far short we have fallen of His glory. His glory reveals to us our sin. The light of His glory exposes our darkness.

Feel the weight of His glory, Pilgrim. Feel it. Allow Him to reveal His glory to you, that you might clearly see all that He is, even as you lie face down on the ground at His feet. Then allow Him to touch you and to tell you not to fear (Revelation 1:17) and remind you of the hope you have for the future – for that day when our bodies of sin will finally be destroyed, and as part of the bride of Christ, clothed in our glorified bodies, we will be able to sit down at the wedding feast of the Lamb, and see Him face to face! Allow Him to raise you to your feet, to send you out to do good works that He has prepared in advance for you to walk in, able to proclaim with David, “I have seen You in the sanctuary and beheld Your power and Your glory” (Psalm 63:2), glorifying Him with your lips. And as you go out into the darkness, where thick darkness is over the peoples, the Lord will rise upon you and His glory will appear over you (Isaiah 60:2).