Our God Is An Awesome God Series

Everett Fullam was in Libera in 1969 when the two

Americans, Armstrong and Aldin walked on the moon. He told

the Gheo tribe chief this was happening, and the old man looked

up to the moon and said, "There's nobody up there." He sounded

angry and added, "Besides, that is not big enough for two people

to stand on." He had no conception of the size of the moon. The

result is, he could not feel the awe of those who knew the wonder

of what was taking place.

If you have a small view of reality, you will have a small view

of the God who created it. That is why the Psalms are so full of

the marvel and wonder of creation. The heavens declare the

glory of God and the firmament showeth His handiwork. David

gazes into the vast wonder of the universe and asks, "What is

puny man that you are mindful of him? The more you grasp the

magnitude of creation, the more you will gasp at the majesty of

the God who made it.

Astronomy is one of the greatest aids to worship, and when we

study it in the Bible we will see why it is that most astronomers

are people who believe in God. Awe is an aid to faith. It is hard

for an astronomer to think small and believe something so vast

and orderly can be an accident with no mind behind it. This

Psalm we are looking at doesn't even soar into space. It stops

earth bound, and still it deals with a God who is truly awesome.

He is awesome, not because of His creation and what He has done,

but because of His character, and what He is. He is, says David in

this unique song, Holy, Holy, Holy. This is called the Holy, Holy,

Holy Psalm because God's Holiness is the chorus that concludes

each of the three divisions of this Psalm.

Verse 3 ends, He is holy.

Verse 5 ends, He is holy.

Verse 9 ends, our God is holy.

This is the only Psalm where God is called holy three times.

Keil & Delitzch, the great Old Testament scholars, call it Song

And Praise Of The Thrice Holy One. There is no other attribute

of God that is used like His holiness. In Isa. 6:3 the Seraphs

around the throne of God call out, "Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord

Almighty." In Rev. 4:8 the Living Creatures never stop saying

these words around the throne of God: Holy, Holy, Holy is the

Lord God Almighty." In both the Old and the New Testaments

we have this triune chant.

God is love, but you never find it anywhere as a chant

like-love, love, love is the Lord God Almighty. God is light, but

no where is there such a song as-light, light, light is the Lord God

Almighty. You will look in vain to find any other of the attributes

of God used in this triune way. God is an awesome God, and

nothing makes this more clear than His holiness.

Many of you have seen the movie Raiders Of The Lost Ark.

You saw in the conclusion a marvelous manifestation of the

holiness of God. When the German soldiers dared to open the

ark of the Lord-that ark that sat in the holy of holies for centuries,

and where no man but the high priest dared enter but

once a year-the light of God's awesome presence came out of that

ark and melted them like a laser beam would melt and ice cream

cone. Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty would have

been an appropriate song to sing after that film.

God's holiness means He is separated from all He has made.

He is elevated above all that is finite and imperfect. He is in a

different category of reality, and unless He wills it not to happen,

anything or anyone that comes into His presence will be

disintegrated, for anything that is not holy cannot exist in the

presence of His holiness. God is a consuming fire, and your

chances of getting to the center of the sun are greater than getting

into the literal presence of the holiness of God. Heb. 12:14 says,

"Without holiness no one will see the Lord." That is why you will

find words like tremble and shake in the context of dealing with

the holiness of God.

This Psalm has many good points. I came up with a great

outline for a six point sermon:

1. The Affirmation of His Reign.

2. The Adoration of His Fame.

3. The Accomplishment of His Aim.

4. The Authenticity of His Claim.

5. The Authority of His Blame.

But I am going to take just one point for our focus, and that is: