Watching Teckla worship has always lifted my soul into God’s presence. Having her as my worship leader for many years was a blessing and joy. Sunday night Teckla and I went with Dylan, Ari, and Leah to a night of worship and prayer at church. It was wonderful time of refreshing and adoration of Jesus. Teckla stood next me with her arms and her face lifted to God singing, “Holy, holy, holy are you, Lord God most high”. The sweetness and luminosity of her face filled me with peace, and I surrendered to the presence and work of the Holy Spirit. As she abandoned herself to worship, I cut loose and drifted on the tides of the Spirit.
We sang several other songs that celebrated the holiness of God. A spectator might have objected to the repetitive nature of the songs that declare God is holy, holy, and also, holy. This is, however, the repetition of the four living creatures mentioned in Revelation 5:8 who day and night say, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come.” Of course, if we see worship as merely declaring theologically accurate propositions about the character of God, once would be enough.
Each time I declared God to be holy, I felt some grime and darkness scoured from my soul. To declare God is holy, is to declare Him perfect in all His ways. Although I have not doubted His goodness, I have not always felt it. Even when we are wise enough not to doubt God’s holiness, it is easy for our spirit to sour, for our joy to die, and for our outlook to darken.
Teckla is one of the most selfless people I know. Almost all her prayers have been for others. The only prayer I have heard her ask for herself has been, “Please, God, don’t let me have dementia.” When she had the very first signs of memory loss, she would grab my hand and put on her head and ask me to pray for her not to have dementia. She prayed, I prayed, and thus far that prayer has not been answered. No other unanswered prayer has wounded me as deeply.
Yet, in the face of her disappointment and worsening memory loss, Teckla sang with abandon, “Holy, holy, holy.” With every declaration of God’s holiness we sang, I let go of more resentment over unanswered prayers. Every complaint of my heart against God slipped away. My soul was scoured of doubts about God’s faithfulness, goodness, and love. Teckla’s example led me to a place of where God’s Spirit could cleanse me.
This does not mean I no longer have questions; it only means that certainty about God’s holy character is the ground and starting place of all my questions. The declaration that God is holy kills the lie spoken by the serpent in Eden. Satan’s lie implied that God was not good and that He was withholding something good from Eve and Adam by forbidding them to eat of tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Few things are as good for us and as bad for our enemy as the heart-felt declaration that God is holy. This declaration of trust in the face of affliction, disappointments, and unanswered prayers shatters the kingdom of darkness. The scouring of soul by the holiness of God not only frustrates the schemes of our enemy, but it sets us free to fully enjoy God’s love in the face of all we do not know or understand.
Because this has been and still is a period of great loss, it is easy for me to stumble through my days numb and dazed. But the unchanging, unshakeable, and unfading holiness of God can open my eyes to the joy possible in the present moment.
A broken heart scoured by His holiness reflects His glory.
