Who Said It
John Ortberg

John Ortberg is a teaching pastor at Menlo Park Presbyterian Church in Menlo Park, California. His teaching brings Scripture alive and invariably includes practical applications and warm humor.

John has written several books. The latest is When the Game Is Over, It All Goes Back in the Box. He and his wife, Nancy, have three teenage children.

What He Said
When God Shows Up

Nobody went up to Moses after the thunder, lightning, and loud trumpet blast at the foot of Mount Sinai and said, "How come we're using trumpets now? What happened to Miriam and that tambourine song we used to sing crossing the Red Sea? I liked that song—it was peppy. This thunder and trumpet stuff is too heavy."

Nobody came up to Solomon after the ark had been brought to the temple when it was surrounded by the cloud of glory and said, "This cloud of glory is keeping the priests from getting their job done. Nobody told us that there would be fog involved if we contributed to the capital campaign for the new temple."

In Scripture, when God shows up, people get blown away. They fall to the ground, hide their face, get radiant like light bulbs, and beg for mercy: "Oh, Lord, please leave me—I'm too much of a sinner to be around you." They "stood at a distance, trembling with fear. And they said to Moses, 'You tell us what God says, and we will listen. But don't let God speak directly to us or we will die!'"

Adapted from The Dangerous Act of Worship (InterVarsity, 2007) by permission.

Prayer for the Week

Keep me, God, from a presumptuous stance in Your majestic presence, but grant me a humble confidence based on Your sacrificial love.

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