The Beauty of Holiness

2023-05-31

The phrase “beauty of holiness” appears four times in the Bible, three of which are in the larger phrase, “worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.”

Holiness is the word that encapsulates the LORD’s otherness. He is separate from everything else because He always was, unlike everything else. It is the display of His power that causes awe. It is His purity from anything filthy or even common or ordinary. The reason the phrase is used with worship is because when we see His holiness, we are filled with awe and fear and wonder.

Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come before him: worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness. (1 Chronicles 16:29)

And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the LORD, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the LORD; for his mercy endureth for ever. (2 Chronicles 20:21)

Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness. (Psalms 29:2)

O worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness: fear before him, all the earth. (Psalms 96:9)

His beauty of holiness demands a response. He deserves glory and our best. He deserves our praise because of His mercy toward us despite our wayward nature. We acknowledge Him and fear Him.

The word beauty is most apropos because if you see God for all He is, He is beauty, far more than anything in the world. We want that same beauty of holiness reflected in us. Therefore, we must worship Him in holiness; we must be reborn, regenerated, and abiding in Him.