What is Holiness?

July 28, 2019

Worship in WORD

Psalm 29                          A psalm of David. 29 Ascribe to the Lord, O mighty ones, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. 2 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness. 3 The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the Lord thunders over the mighty waters. 4 The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is majestic. 5 The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars; the Lord breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon. 6 He makes Lebanon skip like a calf, Sirion like a young wild ox. 7 The voice of the Lord strikes with flashes of lightning. 8 The voice of the Lord shakes the desert; the Lord shakes the Desert of Kadesh. 9 The voice of the Lord twists the oaks and strips the forests bare. And in his temple all cry, "Glory!" 10 The Lord sits enthroned over the flood; the Lord is enthroned as King forever. 11 The Lord gives strength to his people; the Lord blesses his people with peace. NIV (’84)

Psalm 29                              A psalm of David. 29 1 Honor the Lord, you heavenly beings; honor the Lord for his glory and strength. 2 Honor the Lord for the glory of his name. Worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness. 3 The voice of the Lord echoes above the sea. The God of glory thunders. The Lord thunders over the mighty sea. 4 The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is majestic. 5 The voice of the Lord splits the mighty cedars; the Lord shatters the cedars of Lebanon. 6 He makes Lebanon's mountains skip like a calf; he makes Mount Hermon leap like a young wild ox. 7 The voice of the Lord strikes with bolts of lightning. 8 The voice of the Lord makes the barren wilderness quake; the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh. 9 The voice of the Lord twists mighty oaks and strips the forests bare. In his Temple everyone shouts, "Glory!" 10 The Lord rules over the floodwaters. The Lord reigns as king forever. 11 The Lord gives his people strength. The Lord blesses them with peace. , New Living Translation ®, copyright © 1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. All rights reserved_.

Psalm 29                              A Psalm of David. 29 Give unto the LORD, O ye mighty, give unto the LORD glory and strength. 2 Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness. 3 The voice of the LORD is upon the waters: the God of glory thundereth: the LORD is upon many waters. 4 The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is full of majesty. 5 The voice of the LORD breaketh the cedars; yea, the LORD breaketh the cedars of Lebanon. 6 He maketh them also to skip like a calf; Lebanon and Sirion like a young unicorn. 7 The voice of the LORD divideth the flames of fire. 8 The voice of the LORD shaketh the wilderness; the LORD shaketh the wilderness of Kadesh. 9 The voice of the LORD maketh the hinds to calve, and discovereth the forests: and in his temple doth every one speak of his glory. 10 The LORD sitteth upon the flood; yea, the LORD sitteth King for ever. 11 The LORD will give strength unto his people; the LORD will bless his people with peace. KJV

Psalm 29                   Ascribe to the Lord  Glory                                              A Psalm of David. 29 Ascribe to the Lord, O heavenly beings, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. 2 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness. 3 The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the Lord, over many waters. 4 The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is full of majesty. 5 The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars; the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon. 6 He makes Lebanon to skip like a calf, and Sirion like a young wild ox. 7 The voice of the Lord flashes forth flames of fire. 8 The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness; the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh. 9 The voice of the Lord makes the deer give birth and strips the forests bare, and in his temple all cry, "Glory!" 10 The Lord sits enthroned over the flood; the Lord sits enthroned as king forever. 11 May the Lord give strength to his people! May the Lord bless his people with peace! ESV

I. Splendor – vv. 1-2

II. Storm – vv. 3-9

III. Sovereignty – v. 10

IV. Stillness – v. 11

http://www.essentialvermeer.com/palette/images_palette/oiul_painting_palette.jpg

Storm

Before I pick up the brush to paint a picture of the Holy God portrayed in Psalm 29, I must speak about the palette of colors I will use. More specifically, what is the binder* used to give cohesion to the various pigments that create these hues and tints I will dip my verbal paintbrush in? The answer is holiness. You may be thinking, “haven’t you covered that already when you commented on verse 1 & 2?” Yes, but remember what I said in my July 20^th entry, “I do not feel that I covered everything I could have under the heading of “Splendor.” The most glaring omission, I believe, is the absence of any definition of the word “holy” or “holiness.” In fact, of the over 700 places where the word appears in my journal, there is only one place where a brief definition is given in a quote from a commentary on Romans 12:1-2 and the subject of holiness was not at the core of the issue addressed there as it is here in Psalm 29.

Imagine using a word that is of the highest significance and foundational to understanding who God is and how He acts but never defining what it means! I believe we use words like holy and holiness without identifying them because we think we already know what it means. When we use the word, we think of purity or moral perfection. Those may be accurate ascriptions, but they are not at the core of what holy and holiness mean. They are the fruit and not the root of these words.

So what does the holiness of God mean? At bottom, it is His transcendence. He is “set apart,” or as some have said, “He is Wholly Other.” He stands above, apart and beyond all else that exists, because He is eternal and self-existent in contradistinction to the finitude of His creation. Yet, His Holiness – His transcendence - touches His creation in an imminent way as seen in all His actions in the production of, provision for, and providential maintenance of the universe. We call this His general revelation through nature, where He communicates His supremacy and sovereignty and splendor to all His sentient creatures. This is a revelation that all can see, but only the redeemed will perceive.

Furthermore, we also see His majestic holiness in the Bible, which we call His special revelation. It elaborates on things revealed in nature as well as information which nature cannot tell us. This is a revelation all can read, but only the redeemed will receive.

Therefore, in general revelation, we know:

The heavens declare the glory of God;

the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

Ps 19:1 NIV     

And

... since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities — his eternal power and divine nature — have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made,
 Rom 1:20 NIV

However, there are things which nature cannot reveal:

... Jesus said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. ²⁶ Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure.Matt 11:25-26 NIV

And

²⁵ Now to him who is able to establish you by my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past, ²⁶ but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all nations might believe and obey him— ²⁷ to the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ! Amen.
Rom 16:25-27 NIV

And

 However, as it is written:

"No eye has seen,no ear has heard,no mind has conceivedwhat God has prepared for those who love him"—¹⁰ but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit.
The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.1 Cor 2:9-10 NIV

And

Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. ² By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.
 ³ For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, ⁴ that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
1 Cor 15:1-4 NIV

Now I realize that I have strayed somewhat from my original intentions of defining holiness and the holiness of God. Yet I hope you can see that it is more than moral purity. It is the material from which the ethical aspect of holiness is cut, if I can use another metaphor.

Louis Berkhof says:

The Hebrew word for "to be holy," qadash, is derived from the root qad, which means to cut or to separate. It is one of the most prominent religious words of the Old Testament, and is applied primarily to God. The same idea is conveyed by the New Testament words hagiazo and hagios. From this it already appears; that it is not correct to think of holiness primarily as a moral or religious quality, as is generally done. Its fundamental idea is that of a position or relationship existing between God and some person or thing.(from Systematic Theology, by Louis Berkhof, PC Study Bible formatted electronic database Copyright © 2012 by Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved.)

He goes on to define the two-fold nature of the holiness of God that I have intimated above.

The Scriptural idea of the holiness of God is twofold. In its original sense it denotes that He is absolutely distinct from all His creatures, and is exalted above them in infinite majesty. So understood, the holiness of God is one of His transcendental attributes, and is sometimes spoken of as His central and supreme perfection... It is quite evident, however, that holiness in this sense of the word is not really a moral attribute, which can be co-ordinated with the others, such as love, grace and mercy, but is rather something that is co-extensive with, and applicable to, everything that can be predicated of God. He is holy in everything that reveals Him, in His goodness and grace as well as in His justice and wrath. It may be called the "majesty-holiness" of God, and is referred to in such passages as Ex 15:11; 1 Sam 2:2; Isa 57:15; Hos 11:9. It is this holiness of God which Otto... regards as that which is most essential in God... He regards it as part of the non-rational in God, which cannot be thought of conceptually, and which includes such ideas as "absolute unapproachability" and "absolute overpoweringness" or "aweful majesty." It awakens in man a sense of absolute nothingness, a "creature-consciousness" or "creature-feeling," leading to absolute self-abasement.

But the holiness of God also has a specifically ethical aspect in Scripture... The ethical idea of the divine holiness may not be dissociated from the idea of God's majesty-holiness. The former developed out of the latter. The fundamental idea of the ethical holiness of God is also that of separation, but in this case it is a separation from moral evil or sin. In virtue of His holiness God can have no communion with sin, Job 34:10; Hab 1:13. Used in this sense, the word "holiness" points to God's majestic purity, or ethical majesty. But the idea of ethical holiness is not merely negative (separation from sin); it also has a positive content, namely, that of moral excellence, or ethical perfection. If man reacts to God's majestic-holiness with a feeling of utter insignificance and awe, his reaction to the ethical holiness reveals itself in a sense of impurity, a consciousness of sin, Isa 6:5... This ethical holiness of God may be defined as that perfection of God, in virtue of which He eternally wills and maintains His own moral excellence, abhors sin, and demands purity in his moral creatures.

Theology, by Louis Berkhof, PC Study Bible formatted electronic database Copyright © 2012 by Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved.

I am aware that this is a lengthy clarification on the meaning of Holiness. However, whole books have been written on the subject. I hope I have infused into the colors of the portrait of our majestic God (seen in this psalm and all of God’s revelation of Himself), that binder called God’s holiness which makes its layers and luster and luminosity into one grand masterpiece.

Alas, I feel like a 2-year-old trying to paint a copy of a Rembrandt...

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&source=images&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwix-bDiiNzjAhUDXK0KHWotBOMQjRx6BAgBEAU&url=https%3A%2F%2Far.pinterest.com%2Fpin%2F132996995222317406%2F&psig=AOvVaw1TJ_Jv2qxBzdbi1WdfXDks&ust=1564556057480324

* Binder refers to substances that hold the particles of pigment together in paint. All paints include a binder of some sort because this is what keeps the pigment in place after the paint dries.

https://www.artistsnetwork.com/art-terms/binder-in-paint/

Worship in Witness:

As I sit here and think about what I am going to say, I thought of yesterday. It was during my prayer time before I went to bed. I was pacing around my living room as I often do and God had impressed something on my mind. I thought then, “I’ll use that tonight in my ‘Witness’ portion of my journal.” Fast forward to now... I forgot... I forgot the “important” thing God was teaching me at that time. I can imagine standing in heaven one day and a huge drawer with my name is pulled open. I can hear myself asking, “What’s in the drawer Lord?” Jesus will say, “It contains all the things My Father sought to teach you. All the things you forgot.” As I peer inside, I see that it is filled to the top with myriads of notes with my name on them all dated and full of writing on them. The drawer seemed to be deeper than it appeared on the outside, though it looked immense. 

This is how I often treat the things which God is seeking to teach me. I am thrilled at the time. Almost proud of myself for thinking these things.

I have to remind myself of this truth:

  

⁸  Good and upright is the Lord;
therefore he instructs sinners in the way.⁹ He leads the humble in what is right,
and teaches the humble his way.¹⁰ All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness,
for those who keep his covenant and his testimonies.Ps 25:8-10 ESV

Wisely does the psalmist tell himself to praise the Lord and “forget none of His benefits” (Psalm 103:1-2 NASB). One of those benefits is that He has revealed His ways to His people (see Psalm 103:7). Yet how carelessly and pridefully do I handle the precious jewels that the Lord shares with me. Quick to rejoice, overconfident in my ability to remember it (oh the irony – I forget that I forget), and the next day (or hour) it slips out of my memory. How often the Lord has to tell His people to remember. Did not the Lord realize this and was one of the reasons He instituted what we call “the Lord’s supper?” Did He not command us to “do this in remembrance of me” (see Lk. 22:19; 1 Cor. 11:24)? I know that every time I hear thunder, I will remember that it is the LORD’s voice reminding me of His awesome majesty and glorious holiness.

P.S.  Practically speaking, I need to get a small notepad to record what I believe the Lord is teaching me. Later I can compare it to His word to see if it is so. Unfortunately, I have already told myself to do this... but I keep forgetting to buy one. ☹

Worship in Song:  Remember and Proclaim by Andrew Peterson

I know you will think I am making this up but it happened again. I was thinking about what song to use here and the song by Andrew Peterson titled, “Remember and Proclaim” came to mind. So guess what song immediately began to play on Spotify? You guessed it! Hallelujah to my great and awesome God!

As we gather round this table

We remember and proclaim:

Christ has died, Christ is risen

Christ will come again

There’s nothing to fear and everything to gain

And so we gather here to remember

To remember and proclaim

Every footstep tells the story

As the people join the feast

We remember His blood and body

Broken for you and me

One step and we remember

The other we proclaim

His death until He comes

O, He’s coming back...

He's coming back again!

And every time

We break the bread

We drink the wine

I can hear the song

In my heart, in my head

And I sing along…

We remember, we proclaim

His death until He comes again!

We remember, we proclaim:

Christ has died, Christ is risen

Christ will come again!

Now we join with friends and neighbors

To celebrate again

Around a different kind of table

We remember just the same

This feast, it is a battle

That we wage against the night

This joy is just a shadow

Of the resurrection...

Of the resurrection life!

And every time we break the bread

We drink the wine

I can hear the song

In my heart, in my head

And I sing along…

We remember, we proclaim

His death until He comes again!

We remember, we proclaim:

Christ has died, Christ has risen

Christ will come again!

We remember, we proclaim

His death until He comes again!

We remember, we proclaim:

Christ has died, Christ has risen

Christ will come again!

Lyrics: https://genius.com/Andrew-peterson-remember-and-proclaim-lyrics

Video: https://youtu.be/ZHcIEDXXIq4