“For all those [things] hath mine hand made, and all those [things] have been, saith the LORD: but to this [man] will I look, [even] to [him that is] poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.” (Isa 66:2 AV)
That is quite a standard. Perfection is not the standard, while pursuit of it is. The poor and contrite in spirit is the spirit that confesses and forsakes. There is respect for God’s word, as expressed by the trembling at it. The one to whom God looks is the one who respects God’s word and is humble enough to either live it or confess when one fails. Those who see God’s word as the very voice of God are the one to whom God looks. The context does not matter in the sense that the truth above is a universal one. The dispensation does not matter. The historical context does not matter. What is written above applies from Adam and Eve until the coming of Christ and beyond. God seeks those who will respect His word, strive to live by it, and repent when one fails.
God loves righteousness. God is righteous. Perfectly so. So it would make sense the LORD would seek out those who reflect what He loves. The issue most of us struggle with is the idea we have to be perfect for God to seek us out. We are told that only the perfectly sinless can really and truly walk with God. This is simply not so. If that were the case, no one could walk with God until their glorification. We have the old man to deal with. We will always have to strive against sin and we will fail from time to time. If God requires absolute sinlessness for Him to keep company with mankind, then Jesus would have never sat with sinners.
There is another application here. I get asked all the time for evidence of salvation. Not my own. Rather, those who question theirs. One of the indicators is one’s attitude toward the word of God. Do we tremble at it? Is there respect for the word of God that was never there before? Do we study it? Do we read it? Do we approach the word of God as it is: the very voice of God? How do we react to its doctrines? Does our lives change because we read it? Many of those who profess Christ want nothing to do with what the word of God says. They confess Jesus as their Savior, but when the word of God instructs contrary to their value system, the word of God is rejected. There are others who profess Christ who never spend any time at all reading it. They do not sit under the preaching of the word of God. They do not subject themselves to the truths found therein, nor do they see the word of God as something one cannot live without.
God has a standard. It id not absolute perfection. Not in the sense that we never fail. Rather, it is the condition of the heart. When we do fail, are we contrite? Do we go to the word of God and seek it as the means by which we might please the Father? This is what He looks for. As of late, I have been thinking of my earthly father. He was not perfect, by any means. However, he did spend time with us individually. Since there were so many of us, those times were infrequent. Which, to me, makes them even more precious. I can remember two specific events, even though I know there were more. What struck me is how much like the LORD my father was at that moment. He wanted me with him, and he wanted me to be a part of what was important to him. Even though I was thirty years younger, my faults, inexperience, or simple mind did not matter to him. What mattered to him was my heart. That is all God wants. He will get the sinless perfection. At our glorification, He will eternally transform us into perfect Christlikeness. What He wants now is our humble heart. The question is, are we giving it to Him?
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