(ii)
(ii) Eric C.Burr
The hymn that we sang brought to my mind the other hymn that is rather like it, which begins: We're waiting for thee Lord, thy beauty to see. I was thinking about beauty and what our beloved brother has just said runs with the thought that was in my mind as to Psalm 27, because he has asked us what our objective is when we come together. The objective in verse 4 of Psalm 27 is to see the beauty of the Lord. Our brother used the word 'motive'. There is a very powerful motive for coming together, that in the company of the saints you can see the beauty of the Lord. I find that very attractive. We may look on one another and we know a good deal about each other, sometimes you are inclined to feel we know too much about each other, nevertheless, we do know each other. I was talking to another brother last week and we were saying that amongst us in the city there is a general attitude of regard and respect for one another. In that you see the beauty of the Lord. The blessedness of that is very attractive. We generally speak of some manifestation of Jesus in the breaking of bread and we continue that meeting in the light of the impression He makes upon us as we come together. We are often a bit doctrinal about it. We have been taught what proceeds in that meeting and we go from one thing to another, a bit according to the book, but the beauty of the Lord has been there. What impression has that made? The beauty of the Lord is a fresh thought, because when He was here, the people to whom He came said He has no beauty that we should desire Him. In a quick reflection on the gospels, I do not think there are references to beauty in regard to Jesus at all. In fact He was despised and left alone of men, a Man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief, One from whom men hide their faces (see Isa 53: 3). People do not hide their face from one in whom they see beauty. But the beauty of the Lord is in the company of His people as they come together. I venture to give the expression, "the house of Jehovah" a wider bearing, because the house of God in the New Testament has a wider bearing than just a meeting. The house of God has in view that whole area in which the Spirit of God acts, the habitation of God in the Spirit, and therefore as part of the house of God in that sense, we may all be contemplating the beauty of the Lord at any time, and you might even say all the time.
It reminds one of 2 Corinthians 3, "we all looking on the glory of the Lord with unveiled face, are changed according to the same image from glory to glory". That is the beauty of the Lord. It was the motive of David in going there. We can recall from the books of Samuel and Chronicles, David's desire in relation to the building of a house. When the chronicler is going over that history in those two books, he does not refer to the beauty of the Lord. But David's motive was to go in and see the beauty of the Lord.
These things are very attractive. We do not see Jesus, as Mr Darby says, with mortal eye, but by the Spirit we are given already some impression of what He will be like when we are with Him, and it will be beauty, the beauty of the Lord. We may reflect on what it is. In one sense the idea of beauty can be applied in environments which re not positive or attractive. It is attributed to the king of Tyre in Ezekiel, it is attributed to Absalom, but an impression of the reality of what the beauty of Jesus is is enough to make us have a judgment of things whose beauty is not according to Himself. These things are very attractive, very simple. If the Lord came in what would we do? It has been said that if the Lord came in we would be at His feet. But the impression that He would make on us is the beauty of a Man whom God has glorified. He would come in and make Himself known to us. I refer to Psalm 90 because of Moses' desire there that the beauty of God might be upon us - "the beauty of Jehovah our God be upon us". We do not often think about beauty in relation to God. No doubt since every attribute of what is right and positive and gracious is there, we would see beauty in God. We see Him in Jesus, and the beauty of God ministered to us and upon us, the people of God. Think of the desire of Moses. The reason I read the previous verse is that the objective of service is to be that the beauty of Jehovah might be upon us. It says "Let thy work appear unto thy servants, and thy majesty unto their sons", but the effect of that work is that "the beauty of Jehovah our God be upon us".
These things are very simple. You do not have to worry too much about whether you can define beauty. I do not think anybody can define beauty, but you know it when you see it. The motive in coming together is to see the beauty of Jehovah. It would apply at the breaking of bread, it would apply in a reading - the verse goes on to speaking of enquiring in His temple - it would certainly apply in the preaching of the gospel, that those who are present, would have some fresh impression of the beauty of the Man that was here, the Man that was crucified, the Man that was raised, and the, Man who is now glorified. Even in the care meeting; the beauty of Jehovah might be there. I remain with the word that our brother used, our motive to come together is to see the beauty of Jehovah. If that is our motive, we would be careful not to do anything that marred it, not to do anything that spoilt it, not to do anything that distracted the brethren from some fresh apprehension of seeing the beauty of Jehovah even as we enquire of Him in His temple.
If we went on with the thought, we would apprehend that there is a beautiful city (Ps 48: 9) "beautiful in elevation as the joy of the whole earth is mount Zion", no doubt prefiguring in some sense the church, and there is a land of beauty (Dan 11: 41), God's inheritance in the saints.
I just draw attention to these things because they are very positive and very attractive and what has been said connected with the thought that I had in mind when thinking of a different hymn from what was given out, that we are waiting "thy beauty to see". I just add that you do not have to wait until you are with Him, you can see it now.