Possessing is Praising

“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.” (2Ch 20:21 AV)

Four times the Bible uses the phrase ‘beauty of holiness’.  The other three instruct to worship therein.  This is the only one that instructs to praise the beauty of holiness.  This is significant.  The other three regard the condition of the one who offers worship.  Beauty of holiness is the condition of the saint as well as the condition in which he finds himself.  More than likely, the temple or tabernacle.  Yet above, we see the instruction to admire and praise the condition of holiness.  The first has to do with our preparation toward and appreciation of the holiness of God.  The latter is more of an observance of the quality of holiness.  It is this idea that we would like to consider.

There are several ways in which we can admire the beauty of something.  We can go to an art museum and admire the work of very talented people.  We can gaze upon the masterpieces and stand in wonder how any human being could create such a thing.  Being an artist in my high school years, I certainly appreciated the talent it took to be very good at it.  I am reminded of the Museum of Science and Industry in the city of Chicago.  The clock exhibit is one of my favorite exhibits.  Hanging on the walls and standing on the floor are clocks of all sorts.  From clocks so small that looking at every part requires magnification to clocks so large they take up a room.  There are clocks that are so accurate, the inaccuracy of them cannot be discerned without serious computing.  There are clocks that run on all sorts of types of power.  There are spring-run clocks, electric clocks, clocks that run on moving water, and there are even clocks run by gravity.  There is one that is run by the rotation of the earth.  We can admire their beauty.  We can praise their master’s hand that made them.  Yet, what we cannot do is take them home with us.  The master’s artwork stays in the museum.  The engineer’s timepiece remains on display.  This is not the type of praise to which our writer is speaking.

The praise of which he is speaking is admiration of the holiness of God to the point that one seeks to possess it.  It is not merely admirable because of its quality.  It is praised because it can be attained.  The desire for it can be met with a striving after it.  Praise is mere lip service if we don’t also see the advantage of owning it.  The highest form of praise it attaining that which we find admirable.  This is the point here.  We don’t praise the holiness of God because we really don’t want it.  Sin is far more attractive.  This is not what God intended.  He intended for us to see the beauty of holiness and strive after it.  If we walked into an art museum and the curator told is, we may walk out with one work, it would take us a while to choose the one we liked the best.  We would examine them all.  We would list the advantages of each.  We would narrow it down to a few.  We would think about it.  We would weigh our options.  When the choice was made, we would be assured it was the best available.  The holiness of God should hold an even greater place in our minds.  The holiness of God cannot be compared to anything else.  If it were an artwork on display, it would stand alone, and apart; far and above anything else in the halls.  To praise the holiness of God is to possess the holiness of God at any cost!