There is no way that man can comprehend or articulate God. Were it not for the God-breathed Scripture that describes Him and the indwelling Spirit in true believers that explains Him, we would be clueless. But His Word and His Spirit make Him known with breathtaking clarity.
Let the Holy Spirit help you understand the following verse. Ask Him right now, before you read another word, to open your eyes to see and then to sear this majestic picture in your mind forever.
Thus says the LORD, “Heaven is My throne and the earth is My footstool. Where then is a house you could build for Me? And where is a place that I may rest? For My hand made all these things, Thus all these things came into being,” declares the LORD. (Isaiah 66:1-2)
Envision a throne in heaven. God gives us this picture in multiple places. Isaiah saw His throne as did John on the Isle of Patmos. It is a picture God wants us to visualize because it is a reality He wants us to comprehend. He is above all. There is One on the throne of heaven eternally.
But there is an additional piece of this picture that God adds. “Earth is My footstool.” Think of it! See it! Imagine the feet of God resting on the small planet we call “Earth,” and it will help you understand His majesty. How holy, how different, how above us He is!
We are wrapped up in ourselves. “Will I have enough money to make it to the end of the month?” “What does that person think of me?” “Do I have the right clothes?” “Do I have what it takes?” All these minute details fill our days and spin us into unceasing littleness. As one man said, “A man wrapped up in himself makes a very small package.”
But look up! See our Sovereign King on His throne and earth as His footstool. He made EVERYTHING! And this is why the Son commanded us to cease our self-absorbed worry and seek first His kingdom. To live for Him who reigns above.
But at the very moment that this vision of God excites us, it also reminds us that He is unapproachable. How can we know Him? Be considered by Him? Come to Him in our smallness and sinfulness?
THE BELOW-NESS OF OUR GOD
But then God stuns us with an announcement. In the next breath, He forever reminds us of His accessibility in a single sentence.
“But to this one I will look: To him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word.” (Isaiah 66:2)
The conditions are simple for us. Forsake your pride, realize your sin and need, and fear God. Don’t treat His word with contempt or casual disregard, but tremble at every word that proceeds from His mouth. Realize you are the creature, and He is the Creator. Give Him His due place in your heart, mind, and life.
And here is the promise from our majestic God: “I will look at you. I will have regard for you. I will come to you and meet you where you are as you take your right heart posture before me. Draw near to me in humility and repentance, and I will draw near to you. And my nearness will be your infinite good.”
Over and over again in His Word, He invites us to come to Him on these terms. And each invite comes with a promise of His gracious salvation and shepherding care. He mercifully grants us His presence each moment of every day and afterward will receive us into heaven. Not only can we know Him and walk with Him—we can know Him intimately. We can lean on His breast and commune with Him in unceasing prayer.
Oh, what a God! Oh, what a Savior!
