Bless the Lord, O my soul! O Lord my God, You are very great: You are clothed with honor and majesty. Who cover Yourself with light as with a garment. (Psalm 104:1-2)

The Bible tells us that “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:24). Yet we who are mortal and finite often struggle with relating to and comprehending the One we are to worship because He is infinite, without beginning or end. It seems that God, understanding this disconnect, “clothed” Himself in layer after layer of things that we can better understand. By that I mean, through His Creation, we “see” His invisible attributes, as Paul put it, (Romans 1:20) thus allowing us to better perceive the One who is incomprehensible.

The first “layer” of clothing was donned when He spoke into the darkness and said, “Let there be light.” From that point on, the Almighty continued to manifest His infinite greatness in the physical world, provoking David to say, “When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained; what is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him?” (Psalm 8:3-4). In other words, by observing the incredible things He has created, man is moved to acknowledge His majesty and power, and at the same time, recognize our own frailty.

In fact, by “clothing” Himself in His creation, He also concealed, or at least confined, His infinite greatness and majesty. Were it not so — i.e. if we were to behold Him as He is — we would be consumed. As it is written, “You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live” (Exodus 33:2). That truth causes us to consider another truth: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). In Messiah, God walked among men that His glory might be made manifest in a way it had not been before; and that we might truly see His face and live.

Speaking of Messiah, the Scripture says that, “Honor and majesty You have placed upon him” (Psalm 21:6) and that He is “the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person (Hebrews 1:3). In the context of our devotional, this is to say that Messiah is the “outer layer” and, consequently, most personable expression of God’s glory. When we “see” Him, we see the glory of the Father. To underscore this truth, it is written that when Messiah was transfigured, “His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light” (Matthew 17:2).

All of this is to say that our Father in Heaven, from the beginning, has desired to reveal Himself to His most beloved creation, man. Why? Because the great and glorious Creator is desirous to have an intimate relationship with all of us, so that we might dwell with Him throughout eternity. Thinking on this, how can we not exclaim, “Bless the Lord O my soul, and all that is within me. Bless Your holy Name.”

Blessings and Shalom,  

Bill