365 Days of the Great Names of God, Day 212: High and Lofty One

High and Lofty One

"In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a high and lofty throne, and His robe filled the temple." (Isaiah 6:1 CSB)

There's a scene in the movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade where the title character is trying to pass a series of potentially fatal tests in pursuit of an invaluable prize he's been seeking at all cost. Several cryptic clues are guiding him through the tests; the first of these is, "Only the penitent man will pass."

As the movie's hero considers this clue, he whispers, "Only the penitent man will pass...penitent man...the penitent man is humble before God...kneels before God..." At the last moment, he drops down, sparing his head from the deadly knife that swings out from the rocky side of the cave.

Our position before the High and Lofty One should also be to drop down. When we, like Isaiah, see "the Lord seated on a high and lofty throne" (Isaiah 6:1), our response should be to kneel...to bow...to fall flat on our faces, maybe, in recognition of two truths: who we are, and who God is.

This kind of humility saves our lives, too. Maybe not in a literal sense, but when we take a low and humble stance before the High and Lofty One, we are saved from our own foolishness, from our sin, from our blurred vision, from our ignorance, from our pride, from ourselves.

The ancient faithful were well acquainted with God in His exalted role, but they had only glimpses of the much fuller picture we can see today: that of the High King of heaven who came to earth.

Only God can be one piece of the totality of all He is without ever compromising any other piece. He can be high and lofty and still come down to dwell among His people. He can be a servant and still be The King. He can eat with sinners and still be sinless. He can be a friend and still be the Master.

When we see all this—really see it, as Isaiah did once his lesser king was removed from his line of vision—what else can we do that makes any sense at all other than to kneel down low...and find there the highest prize of all.