Glory

Send out your light and your truth; let them lead me;
let them bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling!
Then I will go to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy,
and I will praise you with the lyre, O God, my God.
Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God. (Psalm 43:3-5)

For weeks I have been asking God to speak to me and to give me a new awareness of his presence. When I pray this sort of prayer, God often plants a song in my mind as I wake up the next day.

Since the Retreat at Cannon Beach, the song “Show Me Your Glory” has been stuck in my head. Stuck. I do not know very much of this song—just the chorus—and frankly, I am very tired of it. It took me a day or two to connect the song to my prayer.

I searched for "show me your Glory" in the Bible. I found it in Exodus 33:18. Moses asked to see God’s glory. I thought this was kind of a demanding prayer. Really, Moses? God sent plagues of frogs and lice and parted the Red Sea to get you out of Egypt and you ask to see his glory? Wasn't your deliverance enough? Well, no, because after the deliverance came the long years of leading a people who were not always calm followers.

I looked up the whole story in Exodus 32 and 33. Moses had been on the mountain with God so long that the people gave up on Moses and turned to a golden calf instead. God did not take their disobedience lightly. There were harsh consequences. Now Moses is praying after the whole terrible experience is over. In verse 13, he asks, “Show me now your ways” and in verse 18, he prays, “Please show me your glory.”

My ESV study Bible points out that “Moses is asking him to signify his presence as he did when the covenant was confirmed at Mount Sinai.” Remember the cloud of God’s presence that led the Israelites as they journeyed?

Moses is crying out to God. Is God still with him? Will God guide his next steps? He needs a signal.

I pondered this, and the song that is still stuck in my head. "Show me your glory" is not a selfish prayer for a supernatural experience. It is a simple cry for a fresh awareness of God.

Remind me that you are here.
Help me feel and notice your presence.
Today I am seeking you in your word.

The one thing I ask of the Lord—the thing I seek most—
is to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,
delighting in the Lord’s perfections and meditating in his Temple. (Psalm 27:4 NLT)

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