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. Isaiah 6:1
The prophet in today’s text gives us a tiny glimpse of Glory, of the Lord to whom we gather to ponder and remember. We often sing in Edward Payson Hammond’s lovely hymn about ‘The pure and holy, meek and lowly Jesus’. And we remember Him who humbled Himself. But we do well today to consider His high and lofty position to which His Father has exalted Him.
The scene that Isaiah describes we cannot really imagine. Isaiah was no doubt sad about the death of the good king Uzziah. He had seen Uzziah sitting upon a great throne. And he had known of Uzziah’s good reign and excellent judgments. But now God shows the prophet a sight so much higher and grander that Isaiah can forget all about Uzziah.
The sight that Isaiah received that day we too shall view in a coming day, with one great difference. When we behold our Lord in His glory, He will be wearing the marks of Golgotha. He will be forever carrying the evidence that He was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities. So the sight that will fill our eyes in Glory will be so much more splendid and touching and meaningful than that which Isaiah saw.
We behold today a table on which are bread and a cup of wine. These simple tokens take us back to Calvary. But they also take us forward to the glorious expectation of His coming for us and of being able to see Him exalted on His throne.
Isaiah fell at His feet. So shall we. Today, our hearts are bowed low in recognition of His being lifted up on the cross, and of being lifted up forever in Glory. – Jim MacIntosh