August 27, 2026
Thursday, August 27
If God’s glory is His greatness on full display, as I asserted yesterday, that leads to our second question: How do we seek God’s glory?
When (in Exodus 33) Moses says, “Show me your glory,” he’s saying, “I want to know everything there is to know about you, Lord. I want to experience it all.” And God’s answer is interesting. He says, “I can show you my back, but you can’t see my face.” He tells Moses to climb up on a rock, and God will pass by him, covering him in the crevice of the rock with his hand, and then let go so Moses can see his back. Moses does what God says, and we expect to hear a physical description of what he sees. But instead, this is what happens (Exodus 34:5-7):
5 The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. 6 The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, 7 keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children, to the third and the fourth generation.”
There is no physical description of God’s face, hand, or back. That’s because Moses didn’t see anything but the same desert vista he had been looking at the whole time. The view didn’t change. But He heard God speak. And what did God say? What were these words that revealed His glory to Moses? He told Moses His name. But more than that, He told Moses (and us) how to see the glory of God all around us.
God says, ‘You want to see my glory? I’ll tell you what to look for from now on: My glory is my mercy and grace, my patience and faithfulness and never-failing love. And my glory is my righteousness, too. So anytime you fail and come to me for forgiveness, you’ll experience my glory. When you see a sinner transformed, that’s my glory. When you enjoy and give thanks for all the many ways I show you my faithfulness, and how every good thing in your life is a little gift from me, you’ll be seeing my glory. And when you see the wicked get what’s coming to them, that’s my glory too. The more you walk with me, the more you will see my glory. And when you act this way, when you tell others about me, you’re making my glory known.”
How do we seek God’s glory? By devoting our lives to knowing Him better, to experiencing more of Him. It means that our highest goal is to experience those “wow” moments of seeing God in action, coming to know who He really is. Instead of scheming to get God to give us the lesser glories (wealth, pleasure, success), we shoot for the ultimate glory. Sure, we enjoy those other things when God chooses to give them to us. But He is the true prize.
In the 1600s, Scottish Presbyterians were trying to summarize the Christian faith. They came up with a document they called The Westminster Shorter Catechism, which includes 107 questions and answers. The first question is, “What is the chief end of man?” In other words, what is the point of life? Why do we exist? Here’s the answer: “The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.” Or as I would put it: Our job is to enjoy the feast that He is preparing, and bring other people to the feast. That’s it.
“Lord, please show me where this world’s junk food is getting in the way of me enjoying the true feast that you offer. Where you give me the world’s pleasures, I pray that I would enjoy them responsibly, and always with gratitude to you. But teach me to find my true sustenance in you. In Jesus’ name, amen.”
Senior Pastor
First Baptist Conroe
More from Pastor Jeff at his website: jeffbergerwriting.com
