“Please show me your Glory!”—Exodus 33:18
Imagine what this short prayer means! The children of Israel were delayed in their journey because of idolatry. While Moses was on Mount Sinai, they made a golden calf to have a “god” like the other nations. God was very angry, and Moses—bless him—threw down the stone tablets that were written by the finger of God. After confronting the people about their sin, the perpetrators were put to death.
Moving forward, God made this suggestion: that His Presence—the fire during the night and the cloud during the day—would no longer accompany them, lest the next time He “consume” them. In His stead He would send an angel to guide them.
Moses could not tolerate this. If the Presence of God did not go with them, Moses said he did not want to go. Better to remain in the wilderness with the Presence of God than to go to the Promised Land without Him! So, God gave Moses the assurance that indeed, He would go with them. God affirmed that He had heard Moses’ prayer, saying that Moses had “found favor in His sight.”
Moses is not content with this simple promise, but prays that he might see God’s glory. Although we should not expect to physically see the glory of God as Moses did, we should and must pray that we would share Moses’ passionate desire for the glory of God.
Let Us Pray
Heavenly Father, give me the heart of Moses, who cared only to see Your glory. And I pray for ___ that he/she might so strongly desire to know You that they would be willing to sacrifice time and energy just to be assured that You are pleased with them. Above all, give them a holy desire to glorify You in their private lives, in their public lives, and in all their associations. May You be their most prized treasure. I pray You will get glory from their lives.
Help us to get to know You as well as it is possible for us as sinners to know You in this life. Today, show us Your glory through Your Word and help us to reflect this glory to others. Let us be like Moses who did not know that his face shone—let us live in Your presence and radiate Your presence to others.
Consume us with a desire to see You glorified in our lives. Show us Your glory!
We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Note: Every morning before I get out of bed I pray, “Lord, glorify Yourself today at my expense!” Join me in making that your habit too, for nothing else really matters except that God get glory from our lives. This is the best way to simplify our lives around one unifying passion. Do it, Lord!