God’s definition of the Beauty of Holiness

Beloved of God, recall that the Old Testament is ALL about Jesus Christ and our salvation in Him? We see this in Christ's conversation with the two disciples on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24.) The accounts of the Old Testament are faith pictures or typologies whose reality or substance is found in Jesus Christ our salvation. For every demand, He is the Supply. 

Now consider Psalm 96:9 which is all about Jesus Christ and Him crucified for our sake—

“Oh, worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness! Tremble before Him, all the earth.” Psalm 96:9

The word “beauty” above is translated from the Hebrew word “Hadara” which means “adornment” or “apparel worn at solemn festivals.” In essence, Psalm 96:5 is telling us what we are to be DRESSED IN to worship the Lord. Some Bible versions such as the New English Translation are more expressive of the original Hebrew text— 

“Worship the Lord in holy attire! Tremble before him, all the earth!”

Also The Passion Translation— “Come worship the Lord God wearing the splendor of holiness. Let everyone wait in wonder as they tremble in awe before Him.”

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The “beauty of holiness” is the holy attire that suffices for us to enter into God’s presence to worship Him—

“Oh, worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness! Tremble before Him, all the earth.”

Before we can be dressed in this God-worship holy attire called “the beauty of holiness”, we have to know what it is. Understand that it is definitely NOT dressing up in men’s righteous deeds and good works which Isaiah 64:6 describes thus—

“We are all like one who is unclean, all our so-called righteous acts are like a menstrual rag in Your sight…”

No, friend. Nicodemus was dressed in such garb of men’s obedience and good works at the point of his meeting with Jesus in John 3 yet he was still “the world.” Recall that he was the first recipient of Christ’s words to us:

“For God so loved the world…” 

None of us can obey or do righteous deeds like Nicodemus who was still worldly despite his efforts. But we tend to think of “worldly people” as people who commit sins with reckless abandon. Not so, beloved. “The world” aka “the wicked” is simply anyone who rejects God’s gift of righteousness to us in Christ and is trying to be good (be like God the Righteous) by human effort and through the use of the knowledge of good and evil— like Adam and Eve and like Nicodemus before he was saved.

To wear “the beauty of holiness” does NOT entail man trying to be “holy” in terms of his own warped definition of the word which is, at best, doing one’s best to not commit sins and generally be good in order to get into God’s good graces. That way is death, beloved. 

So what is the beauty of holiness and how do we get clothed with it so that we can worship the Lord in the way that pleases Him? Beloved, no one better to interpret the word than the Word Himself. We find God’s interpretation of “the beauty of holiness” in 2 Chronicles 20 where Jehoshaphat king of Israel appointed singers "who should praise the beauty of holiness" to go before the army as Israel went to battle against its enemies. So let's see how God's word describes “the beauty of holiness”—

A great multitude was about to attack Israel. Jehoshaphat turned to the Lord and prayed that famous prayer that ends with--

"O our God, will You not judge them? For we have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon You.” 2 Chronicles 20:12.

Notice that the enemies of Israel were physical enemies? Recall that the Old Testament comprises types/typologies of Christ and our salvation in Him? For us, our enemies are not physical enemies—

“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood..." 

The physical enemies of Israel (the children of Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir) are a type of the issues or troubles of life that oppress or put fear and worries in believers' hearts today, e.g. demonic oppression, unemployment, poor academic performance, lack, distractions, poverty, stupid mistakes at work, sickness, depression, worry, every earthly ill. Our victory comes from taking the same stance as Jehoshaphat and the children of Israel— helpless in God’s Help. Careless in God’s Care—

"O our God, will You not judge them? For we have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon You.” 2 Chronicles 20:12.

Jehoshaphat prayed this prayer to the Lord God and the Lord promised Israel victory through the prophesying of Jahaziel, a Levite of the sons of Asaph. The Lord told King Jehoshaphat--

"Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God’s. 16 Tomorrow go down against them. They will surely come up by the Ascent of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the brook before the Wilderness of Jeruel. 17 You will not need to fight in this battle. Position yourselves, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, who is with you, O Judah and Jerusalem!’ Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them, for the Lord is with you.”

So much to say about this passage. All the names in — Ziz, Wilderness, Jeruel and much more — they are types and shadows of God’s salvation. 

To digress a bit, beloved, God's response to "this great multitude" that threatened the peace of Israel is the same response that He has for we His children in Christ Jesus concerning all of the issues that threaten our peace today--

"....stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, who is with you,..."

 But churchgoers do not want to "stand still." Thanks to the teaching of antichrist pastors, many are indulging in a flurry of human effort/arm of flesh-driven activities done to nudge God into helping one - fast for 80 days, sow seed, go to a mountain to neglect the body and all sorts of "fighting" -- all in a bid to have victory over  enemies of sickness, demonic oppression, unemployment, lack, etc, as if Christ demanded these things or anything at all from anyone whom He healed, saved and delivered when He walked the earth as man. None of them was even born-again, child of God! He gave FREELY. Something is horribly wrong when your pastor is telling you to go and fast for 70 days or bring something or tender your file of tithe and obedience before your own heavenly Father who gave His Son to die for you will help you in your time of need. Not against the tithe, by the way. Anti-Grace preachers are always saying that we Grace children don’t want to pay tithe. How will workers salaries, maintenance costs, etc be paid? Why would anyone want to get out of giving? In Christ, we don’t HAVE TO tithe: we GET TO. But that is a story for another day. 

The arm of flesh (human effort) will fail. Only through Christ's shed blood which makes us righteous in God's sight do we have victory over all the power of the enemy and escape the wrath/punishment which all of mankind deserved--

"And there is still much more to say of His unfailing love for us! For through the blood of Jesus we have heard the powerful declaration, “You are now righteous in My sight.” And because of the sacrifice of Jesus, you will never experience the wrath of God." Romans 5:9.

Recall that “the beauty of holiness” is the holy attire for our worship of the Lord—

“Oh, worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness! Tremble before Him, all the earth.”

So Jehoshaphat heard the word of the Lord through the prophesying of Jahaziel and did something that explains to us what “the beauty of holiness” is all about. He appointed people to praise this same “the beauty of holiness.” We see this in the same 2 Chronicles 20--

"21 And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed those who should sing to the Lord, and who should PRAISE THE BEAUTY OF HOLINESS, as they went out before the army and were saying:

“Praise the Lord,

For His mercy endures forever.”"

The above is how the beauty of holiness is praised! The word "mercy" above is translated from the Hebrew word "Chesed" which is so rich in meaning that it is impossible to capture it in one single English word; in the Old Testament, this Hebrew word “Chesed" is translated into—

• Lovingkindness
• Faithfulness
• Goodness
• Kindness
• Favour
• Love
• Mercy
• Steadfast love
• GRACE. 

The Complete Jewish Bible version of 2 Chronicles 20:21 says:

"After consulting with the people, he appointed those who would sing to Adonai and praise the splendor (beauty) of His holiness as they went out ahead of the army, saying, “Give thanks to Adonai, for His GRACE continues forever.”

God’s Grace (undeserved, unearned, unmerited favour) is the beauty of holiness, beloved.

Everywhere "Grace" appears in our English New Testament, the Hebrew New Testament translates the word as "Chesed." The same word used for MERCY. Jehoshaphat appointed people to PRAISE THE BEAUTY OF  HOLINESS thus—

“Praise the Lord,

For His mercy endures forever.”"

Beloved, the beauty of holiness is God’s everlasting GRACE (undeserved, unearned, unmerited favour) towards we His children who look to Christ for salvation from sin and death. GRACE is the only attire that suffices for us to enter into God’s presence to worship Him—

“Oh, worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness! Tremble before Him, all the earth.” Psalm 95:9.

And this God’s Grace is no “attire” that we can manufacture by human effort at obedience or doing righteous deeds, beloved. God so loved us that He Himself GAVE us His own beloved Grace as our covering for true worship. He is a Person. His name is Jesus Christ. Titus 2:11 says of Him: 

"God’s marvelous grace has manifested in person, bringing salvation for everyone."

And in Him, we cannot continue to wallow in sins because this is what Grace came to do according to verse 14 of the same Titus 2:  

"He gave His life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us His very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds."

Beloved, recall that “beauty” is translated from the Hebrew word “Hadara” which means —

• — Adornment
• — Ornament
• — Apparel worn at solemn festivals

Believer in Christ, you whom God delights in, see the prophet Isaiah prophesying about this same apparel of worship who is Jesus Christ whom God Himself has provided for you and I; we are CLOTHED (adorned, ornamented) in the beauty of holiness aka Grace who is Christ Himself—

“I will greatly rejoice in the Lord,

My soul shall be joyful in my God;

For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation (Yeshua),

He has covered me with the robe of righteousness,

As a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments,

And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.”

Our attire is “the garments of salvation,” beloved— Yeshua (Jesus in English) is Hebrew for the word “Salvation.” We are clothed in Grace Himself. 

Our covering is the robe of righteousness beloved— our Righteousness is Christ Himself of whom Jeremiah prophesied:

“In His days Judah will be saved, And Israel will dwell safely; Now this is His name by which He will be called: THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.” Jeremiah 23:6

We are living in His days, beloved— made righteous by the obedience of Christ and not our useless efforts at obedience which are like a menstrual rag in God’s sight. By His Grace, let us worship the Lord (clothed in) "the beauty of holiness" - God's Grace that continues forever - just as the Israelites did after they heard Jahaziel's prophecy which is God's word to we who are in Christ today:

 “Give thanks to Adonai, for His GRACE continues forever.”

The beauty of Holiness is God’s Grace (undeserved, unearned, unmerited favour) which or rather, WHO continues forever. He suffered and died that we might freely receive—

• Mercy for every failure
• Strength for every weakness
• Healing for every sickness
• Provision for every need

Grace is undeserved, unearned, unmerited favour. He is LIMITLESS. Believer, we cannot "out-sin" God's Grace or go on sinning sprees because of Grace as antichrist pastors who deceive the flock into trusting in the arm of flesh for the attainment of righteousness/godliness as Satan did to Eve love to imply. You know why? It is because GRACE (undeserved, unearned, unmerited favour) is the demonstration of God's Holiness. Recall when God brought out water in abundance from the Rock for the undeserving Israelites? He was angry with Moses and Aaron —

"But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust me to demonstrate my holiness in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this assembly into the land I have given them.”" Numbers 20:12.

Moses presented God as angry to the children of Israel- as a God who, in the Light of Christ the Rock, demands man's fulfilment of laws or terms and conditions before freely saving and blessing His people. He did not present God as the Loving Father who tenderly provides for His clueless and hapless people. Moses did not present God as Holy. He did not allow the people to see God through the lens of His Grace. He disobeyed God, beloved. 

Recall Christ showing us (through His conversation with Saul on the road to Damascus) that beating/persecuting the flock means beating Him? With his own rod which was not even the rod that the Lord asked him to take, Moses struck the Rock who is Christ twice, disobeying God. Pastors and leaders who are still wielding the rod of the law — beating the flock with the demands of the law — that is dangerous ground, the way to have the candlestick of your ministry removed, and the way to have the flock in your care handed over to Joshua (Yeshua) — a preacher who preaches only Jesus Christ and Him crucified, for only such can lead the flock into the promised land— a typology for Christ’s Rest. So ask for Grace to see, beloved of God. 

One last thing— recall that the Scriptures (Old Testament) is filled with typologies of Christ and out salvation in Him? Now imagine that you lived in the days when Solomon’s Temple was still standing. If anyone asked you what country is holiest in the world at the time, you would say “Israel.” You would concur that the holiest place in Israel is Jerusalem; the holiest place in Jerusalem is the Temple Mount where the Temple was built and that the holiest place in the Temple is the Holy of Holies. 

In the Holy of Holies is where the Ark of the Covenant was resident— covered by the Mercy Seat aka the holiest item in the Holy of Holies. Blood sprinkled on the Mercy Seat was what made the difference between life and death for the Israelites, beloved. Not their obedience. Not their works. Only the blood on the Mercy Seat. And that Mercy Seat is a typology for Jesus Christ who gave His life for you and I to free us from sin and death—

““Jesus’ God-given destiny was to be the sacrifice to take away sins, and now He is our mercy seat because of His death on the cross. We come to him for mercy, for God has made a provision for us to be forgiven by faith in the sacred blood of Jesus. This is the perfect demonstration of God’s justice, because until now, He had been so patient—holding back His justice out of His tolerance for us. So He covered over the sins of those who lived prior to Jesus’ sacrifice.” Romans‬ ‭3:25‬ ‭

The Beauty of Holiness is God’s Mercy shown towards us beloved. His “Chesed.” His Grace. We who are “holy” are we who have been separated into His undeserved, unearned, unmerited favour— Jesus Christ Himself who is Grace-personified.

God's Grace is sufficient for us, beloved. Trying to infuse elements of human striving at being godly into His finished work is akin to polluting sparkling and refreshing streams of water with sewage—

“A righteous person who yields to the wicked is like a muddied spring or a polluted well.” Proverbs‬ ‭25:26‬ ‭

Recall that in God’s estimation, the ONLY DIFFERENCE between “the righteous” and “the wicked” is found in Romans 5:9–

"And there is still much more to say of His unfailing love for us! For through the blood of Jesus we have heard the powerful declaration, “You are now righteous in My sight.” And because of the sacrifice of Jesus, you will never experience the wrath of God."

Anyone who thinks that he has as much as an atom of good in him to produce even a smidgen of good (be like God) is “the wicked.” Such reject God’s gift of righteousness to us in Christ and cling to their own way, refusing God’s way—

“Dear brothers and sisters, the longing of my heart and my prayer to God is for the people of Israel to be saved. 2 I know what enthusiasm they have for God, but it is misdirected zeal. 3 For they don’t understand God’s way of making people right with Himself. Refusing to accept God’s way, they cling to their own way of getting right with God by trying to keep the law. 4 For Christ has already accomplished the purpose for which the law was given. As a result, all who believe in Him are made right with God.” Romans‬ ‭10:1-4‬. 

Beloved, Isaiah 64:6 tells us the outcome of clinging of one’s way of believing that Satan’s doctrine of doing righteousness in order to be righteous; how God sees such “righteous” acts of man—

“We are all like one who is unclean, all our so-called righteous acts are like a menstrual rag in Your sight."

Like Jehoshaphat beloved, never trust yourself or those useless works such as 80 days fast which some preachers who are yet to understand the beauty of God’s holiness ask you to present to your own Heavenly Father in Christ in exchange for His freely-given blessings. Trust in Grace who is Christ Himself. Ask our heavenly Father now to open your eyes to see Grace in whom we are made partakers of His holiness. 

If you have sins, you cannot perfect yourself. Only Christ saves from sins and earthly ills. This is why He gave His life for you and I—

“He gave His life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us His very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds."

To save us from those sins and imperfections with which antichrist pastors who levy the flock with demands for godliness whack the flock and threaten with God’s wrath which God’s word says no believer will ever experience.

Phew! The Lord is really with you if you have read this far:) 

The opposite of holiness is not sin. The opposite of holiness is “common.” The word “holy” which many erroneously interpret as doing one’s best to not sin, it is translated from the Hebrew word “qodesh” which means “set apart” or “consecrated (to God.)” Kids who grew up in the 70s and 80s will remember how their moms or grand-moms used to have this glass cabinet thingy where they kept dishes and cutlery that were brought out for use only on very special occasions. The regular or “common” dishes were exposed in a dish rack in the kitchen where anyone could use them for anything, even put such “common” bowls to use in a toilet or other abnormal use in times of desperation or when one is under pressure. But you dare not use the dishes in that glass cabinet thingy for such things. 

Christ paid the price for we who believe in Him to be called “holy” before God — uncommon, set apart — like the fine china in that glass cabinet thing that our mothers had. He is our holiness; and the more we know about Him and His sacrifice for us, the more we see our state of being set-apart in Him and so stop behaving like those “common” dishes that can be used for anything by any Tom, Dick and Harry.

In conclusion, let’s take a final look at the verse under consideration— 

“Oh, worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness! Tremble before Him, all the earth.” Psalm 96:9

The NET version puts it thus— “Worship the Lord in holy attire! Tremble before him, all the earth!”

Also The Passion Translation— ““Come worship the Lord God wearing the splendor of holiness. Let everyone wait in wonder as they tremble in awe before Him.”

And the beauty of holiness is Grace- Christ Himself. Undeserved, unearned, unmerited favour. Psalm 95:9 and indeed the entire Old Testament and the New too— it’s all about our Saviour and Lover Jesus Christ. Apart from “wearing” Him and Him alone, utterly trusting in Him as our Righteousness and Strength, none can draw near to worship the Father. Little wonder Paul wrote in Hebrews‬ ‭12:28‬—

“Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have GRACE, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.”

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Only through GRACE is our worship acceptable to the Lord, and if an atom of that mindset of being able to do anything by human effort is involved, it is no longer Grace—

“And if by grace, then it cannot be based on works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.”Romans‬ ‭11:6‬.

Also see how God is honoured in His word— not by human striving at obedience but thus—

‭ 23 “The life that pleases Me is a life lived in the gratitude of grace,

    always choosing to walk with Me in what is right.

    This is the sacrifice I desire from you.

    If you do this, more of My salvation will unfold for you.”

Recall the right Way or how to walk with God in what is right from Romans 10:1-4? Not striving for our own righteousness but trusting in Christ as our righteousness.

“None of self; all of Christ” is the Good News, beloved. Only in the Beloved are we accepted. 

When your believing is right, right living will follow.