Glimpses of Glory: A 7-Day DevotionalSample

A Glimpse of Glory

What does it look like to serve God in the wilderness? I suppose we should see how Moses answers that question. While the Israelites down below mourn as a result of their sin, Moses communes with Yahweh once more atop the mountain. God made him two offers, both of which Moses refused, which leads us to an all-too-important question: What does Moses really want?

“Please show me Your glory.”

More than his desire for personal gain and more than his desire to dwell in the Promised Land, Moses desired to see God and to dwell as near to Him as possible. Therein lies the key to serving God “in the wilderness.” And you know what? King David, the man after God’s heart himself, shared Moses’s desire. He once prayed to God, “One thing have I asked of Yahweh, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of Yahweh all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of Yahweh and to inquire in His temple” (Ps 27:4). David, like Moses, desired nothing more than to dwell in the presence of God and behold His glory. Even when living in the wilderness, he prayed to God, “O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek You; my soul thirsts for You; my flesh faints for You” (Ps 63:1, emphasis added). More than he desired a crown or a throne or food or water, David desired to draw near to God.

The testimonies of Moses and David teach us an important principle for serving God in the “wilderness” of life: God’s people should desire to draw as near to Him as possible.

There remains one problem, however. God explains to Moses that sinful humanity cannot behold His glory. By His graciousness, God permits Moses to see His goodness (v.19), but by His holiness, He withholds from Moses the full extent of His glory (vv.20–23). Moses may understand God’s heart better than most, but he is a man, and even the best human remains a human at best, so he will only receive a passing glimpse of God’s glory. We rightly admire Moses for his desire to draw near to God, but even that nearness demands necessary limitations.

Where do we fit into this story? Like the Israelites, we find ourselves in this weird in-between state where, on the one hand, Christ has freed us from bondage while, on the other hand, we await the future dwelling place God has promised us. We, like the Israelites, must learn to serve God “in the wilderness.” We must desire to draw as close to Him as possible while recognizing the necessary limitations. By faith and obedience, we should draw as near to Him as His grace allows; in humility and repentance, we must not lose sight of His holiness and overstep our bounds. We seek glimpses of His glory by serving Him now, yet by faith anticipate the day when we will finally behold His face.