Show Me Your Glory

Moses said to the Lord, "You have been telling me, 'Lead these people,' but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. You have said, 'I know you by name and you have found favor with me.' If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people." The Lord replied, "My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest." Then Moses said to him, "If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?" And the Lord said to Moses, "I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name." Then Moses said, "Now show me your glory." And the Lord said, "I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. But," he said, "you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live." Then the Lord said, "There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen." --Exodus 33:12-23

Moses is such a great example of the power of faith that I am going to talk about him again today. Moses came to God boldly. He spoke directly to God in reverence, but without apology or self-censorship. He let God know how he felt and what his requests were, no matter how lofty the requests might seem. Moses love God, trusted God, and stood in awe of God. He wanted to see the glory of the God with whom he spoke so intimately over the years. He wanted to see the glory of the God of all creation who created Moses and could just as easy squash Moses if He so chose. But God didn't choose to squash Moses for his request to see God's glory. Instead, God chose to respond to Moses' bold request by doing what He had not been recorded doing for anyone prior to Moses--He would show Moses a glimpse of His glory and splendor. Moses must have felt the excitement and joy bubbling up in his heart that God would grant his unusual request and afford Moses another unique opportunity. As we saw yesterday, God expected big things of Moses and Moses acted obediently; in the scripture today, we see that Moses asked God for big things and God rewarded him. Oh what we would see if we would have the courage to do likewise.