God of Glory

“Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His Name; worship the Lord in the splendor of His holiness.” - Psalm 29:2

There is a foundational truth about the glory of God that we must understand before we can worship God the way He desires, in Spirit and in truth. (John 4:23). That truth is this: We cannot give God glory. He is fully glorious, in and of Himself; and there is nothing we can do or not do that will ever change that.

This truth can be difficult to understand, because glory is something that we, as humans, have to earn or have given to us. For example, if you walk in a palace and approach the throne of a king wearing his kingly robes and crown, you bow and give him glory. But, if that same king were to take off the robes and crown, leave the throne, put on the clothes of a beggar, and walk out into the street and sit down you would not know he was a king, therefore you wouldn’t give him glory. The king doesn’t have glory in and of himself. The only glory the king has is when he puts on the robe and crown and sits on the throne.

God never takes off His kingly garments. He never takes off the crown or leaves the throne. He is not God because of the throne, or the robe, or the crown. Rather, He has a throne, a robe, and a crown because He is God. He and His glory are inseparable. Glory is as essential to God as light is to the sun…as wet is to water. You cannot get water wet – it is just wet. You can’t give God glory – He is just glorious. In Scripture He is repeatedly called, “God of glory.” Imagine if the world had never been created. Imagine if we were not here and angels had never been created. God would still be glorious. Hence, we cannot add anything to His glory and we cannot subtract anything from His glory. He is fully and forever glorious.

So how, then, do we glorify God? We glorify Him by recognizing His glory and testifying to the truth of His glory through worship. Not just musical, corporate worship services – although that is part of it – but also by the daily, hourly, moment-by-moment worship of honoring Him with our lives. We should live in such a way that our lives ascribe to God the glory that is rightfully His.

God, help me each and every day to first, recognize Your glory more and more; and second, to live in a way that ascribes to You the glory that You are due. There is no one like You, no greater God, no closer friend. Thank You for saving me so that I can experience even just a small amount of Your infinite glory through Your Son. In Jesus’ name, amen.