Isaiah 6:1-8 In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. 2 Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. 3 And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. 4 And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts. 6 Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: 7 And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged. 8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.
Background:
Uzziah - A king of Judah, 2Ki 15:1-7. In 2Ch 26:1-23, and elsewhere, he is called Uzziah. He began to reign at sixteen years of age, B. C. 806. The first part of his reign was prosperous and happy; but afterwards, presuming to offer incense in the temple, he was smitten with leprosy, and continued a leper till his death, 2Ch 26:16-23.
Seraphims - from seraph, to burn. They were angels so called because they were of a fiery color, to signify that they burnt in the love of God, or were light as fire to execute his will.
Worship allows us to:
Praise is the rehearsal of our eternal song. –Spurgeon
1. See the Lord as He is vs. 1
Ps 145:3 Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable.
Ps 29:2 Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.
“Moved at the voice--filled with smoke”; the trembling and the smoke (shekinah cloud) were symbols of God’s presence.
Ex 19:18 And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly.
2. See ourselves as we are vs. 5
Psalms 51:5 Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.
Isa 64:6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
Before God can deliver us from ourselves, we must undeceive ourselves. -St. Augustine
I am a great sinner, We are an unclean branch of an unclean tree- John Wesley
A sense of the Lord’s presence humbles even the best of men: we cannot see the glory of God and continue to glory in ourselves. Humility is an indispensable preparation for the Lord’s work. Isaiah must first feel his sinfulness before the live coal can touch his lips. –Spurgeon-
It was pride that changed angels into devils; it is humility that makes men as angels.
-St. Augustine
3. See ourselves as we should be vs. 7-8
Ro 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
Lu 4:8 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
- When God measures a man, he puts the tape around the heart not the head. -Anonymous
live coal--literally, "a hot stone," Fire was a symbol of purification, as it takes the dross out of metals
Mal 3:2-3 But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap: And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness.
When a man’s lips have felt the sacrificial flame, he is bold to go upon the Lord’s errands, though it were to the world’s end. – Spurgeon –
