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A Vision of the Lord
1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I had a vision of the Lord. He was on his throne high above, and his robe filled the temple. 2Flaming creatures with six wings each were flying over him. They covered their faces with two of their wings and their bodies with two more. They used the other two wings for flying, 3 as they shouted,
“Holy, holy, holy,
Lord All-Powerful!
The earth is filled
with your glory.”
4 As they shouted, the doorposts of the temple shook, and the temple was filled with smoke. 5Then I cried out, “I'm doomed! Everything I say is sinful, and so are the words of everyone around me. Yet I have seen the King, the Lord All-Powerful.”
6One of the flaming creatures flew over to me with a burning coal that it had taken from the altar with a pair of metal tongs. 7It touched my lips with the hot coal and said, “This has touched your lips. Your sins are forgiven, and you are no longer guilty.”
8After this, I heard the Lord ask, “Is there anyone I can send? Will someone speak for us?”
“I'll go,” I answered. “Send me!”
9 Then the Lord told me to go and speak this message to the people:
“You will listen and listen,
but never understand.
You will look and look,
but never see.”
The Lord also said,
10“Make these people stubborn!
Make them stop up
their ears,
cover their eyes,
and fail to understand.
Don't let them turn to me
and be healed.”
11Then I asked the Lord, “How long will this last?”
The Lord answered:
Until their towns are destroyed and their houses are deserted, until their fields are empty, 12and I have sent them far away, leaving their land in ruins. 13If only a tenth of the people are left, even they will be destroyed. But just as stumps remain after trees have been cut down, some of my chosen ones will be left.
Reflect
Sometimes I wish…
Sometimes, I wish I had an experience like Isaiah. I wish I could see the LORD in all his glory. I wish to see the beauty of the LORD filling his temple.
But maybe my experience and Isaiah’s experience of the LORD aren’t so radically different. This past weekend I went for a wilderness walk through a secluded ravine nearby. There I heard the rustle of the autumn leaves and the babbling of the brook. I beheld trees in radiant splendor beneath a sky so blue it made your eyes ache for more. Isaiah stood on the train of the LORD’s robe, while I stood on a multi-hued carpet of fresh fallen leaves. God was in his temple.
Have we taken the time to visit the LORD? Have we taken the time to see him?
When Isaiah saw the LORD, he cried out, “I’m doomed! Everything I say is sinful, and so are the words of everyone around me. Yet I have seen the King, the LORD All-Powerful” (Isaiah 6:5).
We need to see our smallness, our pettiness, our sin. We only get our perspective right when we see the grandeur of God. Isaiah saw God and was changed. His lips were cleansed and he was set on a new calling – a new direction for his life. He did not stay in the temple; he went back into the world. But he went back with a message – a message for a nation.
Isaiah’s message was not received by the people of his day.
Sometimes I wish…
Respond
LORD God, I wish the people around me would receive the message of your gospel. Help me fulfill my calling in this world in Jesus’ name. Amen.
David Kitz
David Kitz is an actor, an award-winning author, and teacher. For more than thirty years, he has served as an ordained pastor. His love for drama is evident to all who have seen his Bible-based performances. He has toured across Canada and United States with a variety of one man plays for children and adults. Raised in Saskatchewan, David now lives in Ottawa with his wife Karen. Books in print: The Soldier Who Killed a King, Little Froggy Explores the BIG World, Psalms Alive!, Tunks on Tongues