"O Lord, our Lord"

“O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens.” (Psalm 8:1 ESV)

Often overlooked in modern preaching is the majesty of God. Perhaps it is because we are focused on the love and grace of God found in salvation that we forget the meaning of “Majesty.” The Hebrew word for majesty is geuth ( גֵּאוּת - gay-ooth'), meaning excellent things, lifting up, majesty, pride, proudly, raging (Strong’s Hebrew 1348). It is like the word "holy"; people forget that "holy" means "sacred" and "set apart." The word in Hebrew is qadosh ( קָדוֹש Strong’s 6918). Majestic is the summation of the goodness, grace, and beauty of God.

One of the best examples in the Bible is found in Isaiah’s throne room vision (Isaiah 6:1-5):

"In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. 3 And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.” At the sound of their voices, the doorposts and thresholds shook, and the temple was filled with smoke. “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.”

Can you imagine the beauty and holiness so overwhelming that when standing in His presence as a human, you are crushed by your depravity? That is what happened to Isaiah. This is the majesty of God. What we should remember is that this majesty has not been earned; it is not simply a title given to a king but an inherent attribute of God. It is what makes Him King of kings and Lord of lords elevated so far above us in holiness that we cannot even conceive of His perfection.

Psalm 97:1 reads, " The Lord reigns, let the earth rejoice."   We frequently rejoice in the mercy and love of God; however, we should not forget His majesty. It is a part of what makes Him God. Christ preached this very thing in the parable of the treasure in the field, “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field." (Matthew 13:44), or the parable of the treasure and the pearl, “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it." (Matthew 13:45-46).

For the believer, Christ is our treasure beyond compare. When you treasure something, you are careful how you treat it. You honor it because it has meaning to you, it gives you great pleasure, and you realize it is more than just a “thing,” it is a source of happiness. Believers, Christ must be first in your life every day. Above, your family, above your work, and above your fancy new car. In a world where your achievements judge you, the true measure of being complete is not found in what you do, have, or participate in, but in who Christ is to you and what He has done in your life.

We are saved by grace through faith in Christ alone. Without His sacrifice, without His grace, and with the stirring of faith by Him within us, we would be destined for the pit. It is his imputed, or gifted, righteousness that makes us complete, justifies us before God, and, like Isaiah, gives us the ability to stand before God where we, too, will be humbled by His majesty.

Do you know Christ as your Savior? Is He your majesty, your King of kings and Lord of Lords? Have you received salvation through Christ alone? Seek Him today with the utmost haste, for we never know when we will stand in front of His majesty. Let us all make Christ our treasure in the field, and our pearl among gems, center your life on Christ alone, and all things will fall into place through God’s providence.

Grace and Peace.