You will search in vain to find anything about the beauty of God in a theology book. Beauty is missing when we look at the typical list of God’s attributes. Most, if not all, would admit that God is the source of beauty, but the study of the beauty of the Lord is omitted. Augustine rightly insisted that God is beauty itself, referring to Him as, “my Father, supremely good, beauty of all things beautiful.”
I have stood transfixed on the peak vista of a fourteener, looking out over majestic mountains, stretching out before me as far as my eye and the cloudy atmosphere would allow. I have experienced intimacy with God while standing knee deep in a roaring canyon river, as a doe and her fawn suddenly appear in the fog of the morning mist. I have heard worship songs that bring me to tears. Beauty is all around us.
David said it was the supreme passion of his life—to gaze on the beauty of the Lord,
One thing I ask from the Lord,
this only do I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
to gaze on the beauty of the Lord
and to seek him in his temple.
(Psalm 27:4, NKJV).
David understood that God is most eminently desirable and attractive. His beauty quickens the soul in realization that we were made for a different world. When we see and feel something of beauty—a vista, a river, a painting, a song or an act of heroism—God is pulling back the curtain on His glory and giving us a glimpse into His presence and His character. When we see beauty, we see the symmetry of His attributes, the depths of His greatness and the wisdom of His deeds.
May we join David and gaze upon the beauty of the Lord. This summer, enjoy the mountains, streams and creation of God. Listen to great music. Get up early and watch the sunrise. Stay up late and gaze into the night sky. Beloved, let your heart be stirred by the beauty of the Lord.
Gazing upon His beauty,
Steve
Steve Holt D.D. MA
www.steveholtonline.org
www.theroad.org
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