Discovery: There is movement in worship. We move into the presence of God and in doing so we are moved by Him. This is what happens to Isaiah in Isaiah 6:1-8.
Isaiah has a supernatural and transcendant experience of being in the presence of God. He sees seraphs who have a total of six wings. Normally wings are used for flying but in the case of these seraphs, two pair of wings cover the eyes and feet. This symbolizes the humility required to be in the presence of God's holiness. In fact, in v. 3 these seraphs were calling out to one another, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory."
Isaiah's reaction is initially strange but understandable. He cries out in v. 5: "'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." Isaiah realizes that he is standing before the holy God and unlike the seraphs who have their eyes and feet covered as signs of respect for God's holiness, Isaiah is looking at God face to face.
In vv. 6-7 we see a seraph taking a live coal from the alter and putting it to Isaiah's "unclean lips" and thus sanctifying and purifying him.
Finally in v. 8 we hear the voice of God calling out, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" Isaiah responds by saying, "Here am I. Send me!"
Application:
The reason why we worship is because we need to have a change of heart similar to Isaiah. The first part of worship is moving into the presence of God. In doing so, there are things that are praiseworthy (i.e. Isaiah seeing the Lord high and exalted and the train of His robe filling the temple), there are things that are awe-inspiring (i.e. the voices of the seraphs causing the doorposts and thresholds to shake and to have the temple filled with smoke) and there are moments of repentance (Isaiah's honest and heartfelt confession of sin).
But the movement of worship doesn't allow us to stay where we are. Instead true worship moves us to change and to be transformed. We see that God purifies Isaiah, we see God calling Isaiah, and we see Isaiah responding. I love the movement of Isaiah's heart and attitude throughout this passage. He goes from being awe-struck, broken, and repentant to becoming purified, redeemed, and emboldened.
This is what should happen to us as well as we worship the Lord. I remind you that God is holy. There needs to be a healthy measure of awe and reverence for Him. I also remind you that we need to seek to be purified. We too are a people of unclean hearts and lips and we live among a people of unclean hearts and lips. We need to seek God's forgiveness and grace everyday. In addition, we also need to hear the call of God and seek His Kingdom. He wants us to move from places of fear and insecurity to places of faith and boldness. He wants us to share the Good News of His saving grace that we ourselves have experienced firsthand.
Prayer: Let there be movement in my life! Purify my heart of all the sin that so easily entangles and free me to be bold in living my life passionately for You.
