December 2: All Flesh Will See God's Glory
♫ Music:
Day 4 - Wednesday, December 2
Title: ALL FLESH WILL SEE GOD’S GLORY
Scripture: Isaiah 40:5
And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.
Poetry:
[Untitled Haiku]
by Basho
(Translated by Robert Bly)
The temple bell stops.
But the sound keeps coming
out of the flowers.
ALL FLESH WILL SEE GOD’S GLORY
The key word of the verse for today, glory, has fascinated Christians for millennia. Diane Fairfield’s picture Let Heaven Come illustrates beautifully one of the more common ways of thinking about the glory of God as your eyes are immediately drawn to the top left of the picture, where the bright luminescence depicts the arrival of heaven. The coming of heaven in the brilliant glory of God ensures that all flesh will see God’s glory, as Isaiah says. This idea of God’s glory appears clearly in places like Sinai, where the glory of God is described like a “devouring fire” (Exodus 24:17).
However, Latifah Makuyi’s Victory Song illustrates another possible angle on the idea of God’s glory: God’s glory seen through his work of redemption: “Who could know a King like this (He knows my name for I've been saved by my redeemer) Victory for all is here (He knows my name for I've been saved by my redeemer).” Indeed, this is the focus of God’s glory in Isaiah 40 itself and highlighted in Handel’s Messiah through the quotation of the previous verses of the chapter: it is a message of comfort for a downtrodden and oppressed people. Jerusalem will see peace and her sin will be forgiven. Redemption shows the world the glory of God! But the good news is that this redemption is not merely for Israel: Isaiah 19 has already spoken of how Egypt will serve Israel’s God and become God’s own people along with Israel. Makuyi’s song emphasizes this with the line “All the nations will proclaim ‘Glory glory to the King.’”
But these two perspectives are not all! Another line from Makuyi’s song opens the door to a third outlook on the glory of God: “And the rocks will shout your name: Holy holy Hallelujah.” This perspective seems very different from the first perspective as it focuses on the ordinariness of the natural world instead of an attention grabbing devouring fire. The gripping untitled haiku by Basho highlights this contrast by reminding us that the flowers ring out the praise of God just as the singing of the saints does. The psalmist famously proclaims “the heavens recount the glory of God” (Psalm 19:1). And just as with the other two perspectives, all flesh will indeed see the glory of God in this way.
Which one of these perspectives is correct? This is surely the wrong question. As we meditate on the glory of God, each of them allows us a different kind of glimpse of the glory of God. We could perhaps change the question slightly: which of these perspectives on the glory of God is most helpful for you today?
Prayer:
God, we thank you for revealing your glory to your people. Help us to see your glory, whether it is manifested in amazing ways that grabs everyone’s attention, through the mundaneness of nature, or through your saving acts. Regardless of the means, remind us that you are glorious and worthy of worship.
Amen
Charlie Trimm
Associate Professor and Chair of Old Testament
Talbot School of Theology
Biola University
For more information about the artwork, music, and poetry selected for this day, we have provided resources under the “About” tab located next to the “Devotional” tab.
About the Artwork:
Let Heaven Come
Diane E. Fairfield
2019
Mixed Media
24” x 32” x 1.5”
Fairfield’s painting features the radiant light of heavenly realms in sharp contrast to the barren, terrestrial landscape below. The artist incorporates light-diffracting materials within her canvases to enhance color and light. Through the addition of these materials, she creates pieces that appear to have light within them and in which the color is constantly changing based on the external light, thereby generating a dynamic experience for the viewer. She is committed to communicating about beauty and the glory of God in her art. “There is much in this realm to pull us down and oppress us. My desire is to create a space where people can be uplifted and inspired - a place where they can get in touch with something that enriches them,” Fairfield said about her work.
About the Artist:
Diane E. Fairfield is an American artist who resides in the Southwest, where her paintings are greatly influenced by the vast expanses that surround her. Her artistic passion was ignited in her as a child and, though her life took her in many other directions, she always returned to art and now paints full time. Her college and career years were spent in the Northeast where she majored in commercial art in college, realized that discipline did not fulfill her artistic passion, and continued studies in fine art following college. Fairfield is a colorist whose style is painterly and intuitive. She does not usually rely heavily on preliminary sketches, other than the occasional thumbnail, but prefers to plunge in beginning with an idea of the composition followed by quick application of initial color. From there she builds the painting, line upon line, layer upon layer, often using palette knives and other tools to apply paint directly and without brushes. Often she works in oils over an acrylic underpainting. Her work is in private collections across the USA as well as overseas.
https://www.dianefairfieldart.com/biography
Music #1:
“Victory Song” from the album Victory Song
Lyrics:
The one Messiah
The breath of God
The loving father
Have paid the cost
And in the waiting
The time will come
When the King of Heaven
Will soon return
And the rocks will shout your name
Holy holy Hallelujah
All the nations will proclaim
Glory glory to the King
The reign of chaos
Will never feel
Its day of triumph
As it’s crushed by his heel
Who could know a King like this
(He knows my name for I’ve been saved by my redeemer)
Victory for all is here
(He knows my name for I’ve been saved by my redeemer)
Performer:
Sheffield-based songwriter, worship leader and multi-instrumentalist Latifah Makuyi first turned her creative hand to music-making as a teenager. In spring of 2019 she released her debut EP “Eternal Gospel,” which achieved 250,000 streams on Spotify alone in just the first 6 months of release. Driven by a vision to see lives changed through creative, joyful, truth-filled worship, Makuyi’s passion is as powerful as her distinctive voice.
https://theamencollective.com/latifah-makuyi
Composers/Lyricists:
Latifah Makuyi and Stephen Bradley
Founder of The Amen Collective, an artist-empowering indie record label, Stephen Bradley recently started releasing instrumental music under the name sxxnt (pronounced as ‘saint’). Bradley reworks well known worship melodies into chilled, lofi style beats as a contemporary alternative to soaking worship intended for Bible study and devotional times. Bradley is also the founder of Amen Worldwide, a website and blog dedicated to highlighting great Christian music of all genres.
https://theamencollective.com/sxxnt
https://amenworldwide.com/
Music #2:
Messiah, HWV 56, Pt. 1: 4. And the Glory of the Lord
Lyrics:
And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see it together:
for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.
Messiah Performers/Musicians/Lyricists/Composer:
Unless otherwise noted, all Messiah performances are by Margaret Marshall, Catherine Robbin, Anthony Rolfe-Johnson, Robert Hale, Charles Brett, Saul Quirke, the English Baroque Soloists, and the Monteverdi Choir conducted by Sir John Eliot Gardiner. Biographical information for the performers and musicians can be found by clicking here.
About the Poet:
Matsuo Basho (1644–1694) was the most famous poet of the Edo Period (1603–1868) in Japan. Soon after the poet’s birth, Japan closed its borders to the outside world, beginning a period of isolation in which Japanese culture flourished. Basho moved to Kyoto, where he studied Chinese poetry and Taoism, and soon began to compose small stand-alone poems incorporating natural imagery, a poetic form that eventually became known as Haiku. Basho became a master of the form. His work, rooted in observation of the natural world as well as in historical and literary concerns, engages themes of stillness and movement in a voice that is self-questioning and wry. Around 1682, Basho began months-long journeys on foot that became the material for a new poetic form he created, called Haibun, a literary form alternating fragments of prose and Haiku by examining a journey of the exterior world with the mind of the traveler.
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/basho
About the Devotion Author:
Charlie Trimm
Associate Professor and Chair of Old Testament
Talbot School of Theology
Biola University
Charlie Trimm loves to inspire students to recognize the beauty of the Old Testament and its relevance for the life of the church today. Having served for several years in pastoral ministry, he strives to encourage the spiritual growth of his students in all his classes. He received his Ph.D. from Wheaton College in 2012, writing his dissertation on God acting as a divine warrior in the Exodus. His research interests include warfare in the ancient Near East, the family in the Old Testament, and difficult topics relating to the ethics of God in the Old Testament. He is married to Mariah, has four children, Eily, Kellen, Brynne, and Deklan. When he is not teaching, he can often be found watching soccer.