“The Lord said to Moses, ‘Cut for yourself two tablets of stone like the first, and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. Be ready by the morning, and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and present yourself there to me on the top of the mountain…’ So Moses… rose early in the morning and went up on Mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him, and took in his hand two tablets of stone. The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, ‘The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.’ And Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped. And he said, ‘If now I have found favor in your sight, O Lord, please let the Lord go in the midst of us, for it is a stiff-necked people, and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance.’
“And he said, ‘Behold, I am making a covenant. Before all your people I will do marvels, such as have not been created in all the earth or in any nation. And all the people among whom you are shall see the work of the Lord, for it is an awesome thing that I will do with you.'” Exodus 34:1-2,4b-10
From the start, Moses had the blessed grace of the Lord’s protection and pursuing, and responded in gradually, consistently growing faith. Whenever the Lord revealed Himself, Moses bowed in reverence, and the more he knew of God, the more he wanted to know. For him, throughout his long life and in spite of brief spates of doubt and disobedience, to be conscious of God’s name and nature and presence was to worship. (Exodus 2:1-10; 3:1-6; 15:1-3; 24:3-5; 33:11-14,18-19)
If we know the Lord by faith in Jesus, we too have been pursued and welcomed into a relationship of increasing knowing. God reveals His mercy, patience, steadfast love and faithfulness in a myriad of ways in dealings with men and nations, through creation and history. The more we desire to know Him, the more we will seek His presence and look for His signature in His visible and invisible handiwork. Recognizing His majesty and might, we will bow before His worth and authority.
And the soul posture of worship will bear itself out in obedience, lofty thinking, manifestation of the fruit of the Spirit, and reflection of His glory. Knowing the Lord changes us.
How determined are we to know Him, and to comprehend all His name contains? When are we deliberately spending time in the Lord’s presence to behold his perfect holy character, to thank Him for His graces and blessings, to seek to understand how He works and wants to work? And how do we respond? Is it our impulse to bow? May we never just check off a duty, but have our mindset, countenance, and attitude toward difficulties transformed by the pledge of His help, sovereignty, justice, and redemption.
Lord, may I ever strive to know You, and increasingly delight in and worship Your magnificent Name.
As the rain and snow 