Today we find the famous passage where Moses says, “Now show me Your glory.” And in doing so, he sets the model for contemporary worship. “Show me Your Glory” could be the theme of many current worship songs.
It is not quite the first example of worship-as-experience, as Moses at the burning bush might have served that role. It is also not quite the first example of sensual worship, in the sense of involving the senses (sight, sound, maybe touch), for the tabernacle involved all of these and more. But I guess you could say this is the first incident of the audaciousness of self-initiated experiential worship.
Before this moment in history (Exodus 33), it has often been God doing the initiating (the burning bush, Adam, Noah, Abraham, etc.). When a man has initiated the relationship, he has come to offer (Early generations who began to call upon the name of the Lord, Abraham’s gift to Melchizedek, Jacob’s altar, etc.). But here, for the first time, a man calls upon God and asks for one more experience. This is Moses, the man who spoke with God face to face, and yet, somehow it is not enough. He needs to see His Glory.
God says, “Bring up these people to the land.”
Moses says, “Who will you send with me?”
God says, “I know you by name, and you have found favor in My sight.”
Moses replies, “If I have found favor in Your sight, show me Your ways.” (very significant. “He made known his ways to Moses, his acts to the people of Israel.” Psalm 103:7)
God replies, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”
Moses pleads, “If Your presence does not go with me, do not lead us anywhere. We need Your favor.”
God assures, “What you have said I will do, for I favor you and know you by name.”
Moses crosses the line: “Please show me Your glory.”
God’s answer is, “I will make my goodness pass before you. I will proclaim my name. But you cannot see my face, for no man can see me and live.”
Moses: “ . . . (Blink) . .. “
God: “See this cleft of a rock? Hide in there, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will remove my hand and you may see My back. For no one can see my face.”
I say that Moses sets the model for contemporary worship. By which, I mean that contemporary worship has narrowed to this singular expression of relationship between God and mankind. You could rightly say that in most free churches today, the practical definition of worship is “when God shows up.” God’s felt presence is the obvious-but-unspoken center of the worship target. The job of the worship leader is to help people sense that Jesus is in the house.
You don’t believe me? The shift in lyrics has been dramatic. Here is one way to demonstrate that seeing God’s glory seems to be a favorite theme of today’s songs. A quick scan of CCLI Top 10 in Fall of 2018 reveals these lines:
1. What could separate us now. 2. You restore ev'ry heart that is broken. 3. Who . . . leaves us breathless in awe and wonder / I sing for all that You've done for me. 4. Ten thousand reasons for my heart to find. 5. I've heard the tender whisper Of love / You tell me that You’re pleased / I'm loved by You / It's who I am. 6. 7. The Father's arms are open wide / The precious blood of Jesus Christ / Isn’t He wonderful. 8. Bowing here I find my rest / And without You I fall apart / You're the one that guides my heart. 9. Weak made strong in the Saviour's love. 10. I've tasted and seen of the sweetest of loves / flood this place and fill the atmosphere / Your glory God is what our hearts long for / To be overcome by Your Presence Lord
Do you see personal experience clearly expressed in 9 of the ten songs? Themes of sentimental emotions, assurance of God’s love (for me, in particular), anthropocentric manifestation that puts God on my level, whom I address as “You.” You are “a good, good Father” who whispers to me, who brought heaven down because “You didn't want heaven without us,” whose “love was greater” than my sin, to whom I say “You are love,” You have “unfailing love” You set me free, You are “rich in love,” and “I’m loved by You,” the one whose “arms are open wide,” who “guides my heart,” who makes me strong in “the Saviour’s love,” who has “the sweetest of loves.” That’s a lot of love!
For the sake of comparison, consider ten hymns that made someone’s top 10 list of most popular hymns (note: at least one is a Gospel Song, but our study here is on history, not genres). I’m not saying these hymns are BETTER, I’m simply noting the shift toward the topics and descriptors for God and His acts that are current. Here is the emphasis of a century ago:
How do I describe myself, and my relationship with God? I am “a wretch,” and He “died to take away my sin.” “The eye of sinful man” cannot see His glory, because He is “Perfect in . . . purity.” “My sin . . . Is nailed to the cross,” and He “shed His own blood for my soul.” You offer me a “pardon for sin,” He is my soul’s “salvation,” You are “my inheritance,” so I “worship Him in humbleness,” and “crown Him Lord of all.” After all, I am His “purchase of blood.”
While this is far from a scientific study, it is more than enough to demonstrate how much we have moved from viewing ourselves as sinners in need of His atonement, to being children in need of Your love. Our theological issue is more about a broken relationship than of being dead in our sins. On the occasions when we acknowledge our sin and His cross, we sing about His “love,” not His “blood.”
My sin was great Your love was greater. “Weak made strong in the Savior’s love.” You came to “restore every heart that is broken,” to leave us “breathless.” You tell me “that You’re pleased,” and your “arms are open wide,” so I can “find my rest,” my weakness “made strong,” for “our hearts long . . . To be overcome.”
YOUR ENCOUNTER
There is good reason to have the manifest presence of God serve as the center of our worship target, actually. Paul wrote to the Corinthian church,
When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus, you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord. 1 Corinthians 5:4-5
Do not be mistaken: the power of the Lord Jesus was present with Moses in the Glory moment here, as well. Just as He was in the tabernacle, and just as he was the rock from which the water flowed for the people of Israel, and that Rock was Christ, so THIS rock in which Moses was hidden is Christ, broken in such a way as to bring us safety, so that we could dare to look at God and live.
Whatever your own background or repertoire of worship, take this moment to carefully read through ten hymns or songs and bask in the truth of your standing with the Lord of the Universe. Share with someone your insights, and write about it in your journal.
CCLI Top 10:
What a Beautiful Name
Great Are You Lord
10,000 Reasons
Good, Good Father
This is Amazing Love
O Come to the Altar
Lord I Need You
Lion and the Lamb
Cornerstone
Holy Spirit
Top 10 hymns:
Amazing Grace
How Great Thou Art
Holy Holy Holy
It is Well
Great is Thy Faithfulness
Praise to the Lord the Almighty
Be Thou My Vision
All Creatures of Our God and King
All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name
Blessed Assurance