I have heard with my ears, but now I've seen with my eyes

Sometimes you can read something and think to yourself 'that's really good' and you make a mental note to get back to it sometime in order to give it more thought...but all too often 'sometime' never comes....However, when the same thing crops up three times in a week from different sources, you knw that 'sometime' has arrived!

Firstly, in the 'Unqenchable Worshipper' I read 'Lord, my ears had heard of You but now my eyes have seen You' . Then, in my bible reading I read the section of Job (42:5) where that particular line is written and then, today, while worshipping at City Church in Newcastle we sang a worship song - Worthy, You are Worthy (Redman), which I personally have never sung before and which contained the lines (see bold below)

Worthy, You are worthy

Much more worthy than I know
I cannot imagine
Just how glorious You are
And I cannot begin to tell
How deep a love You bring

O Lord my ears have heard of You
But now my eyes have seen

You're worthy
You're worthy
You're worthy


You're worthy to be praised
Forever and a day
Glory, I give glory


To the One who saved my soul
You found me and You freed me
From the shame that was my own
And I cannot begin to tell
How merciful You've been

O Lord, my ears had heard of You
But now my eyes have seen

We'll sing an anthem of the highest praise
We'll sound an anthem of Your glorious name

And there they were again - this time reminding me forcefully that 'sometime' really had arrived.......
 
Have you ever noticed how you can have hear a 'worship' song many times but only when you actually sing it in worship does it impact you? This one is on Facedown, which I have listened to and heard many times - but I had never 'seen' this song it until this morning.
 
I know that the Lord is 'deconstructing' me in a number of areas and 'remoulding' me because we can so easily get knocked out of shape, or remould ourselves, and become someone who does not resemble the son or daughter that He knows we can be. One of these areas, for me, is about the nature of worship and what it is to be a worshipper. 
 
As I read, heard and sung this line from God's word I 'saw' Him in a real and decisive way.As I did so I was really made aware of two 'levels' of heart experience which have a direct relationship to us as worshippers. We can have 'heard about' God, heard words from God, heard God's word spoken - all of which are important and all of which form a critical part of our worship journey BUT, there is so much more than 'just that'.
In a previous blog post I wrote about how struck I was by the concept of being a 'presence driven people' . People who are driven by knowing, experiencing and 'seeing' the presence of God, as well as hearing the words.People for whom 'spirit and truth' is more than just 3 words, people who are organising their world around the pursuit of His presence......which in turn drives us closer to Him and where He wants us to be.
'Seeing' God, particularly in the context of worship and our devotional life, is the most important element in the remoulding and rebuilding process that He is engaged in with each one of us, but more important still, we glimpse His Glory, we acknowledge His Worth and we bow before His Holiness.
 

O Lord, my ears had heard of You

But now my eyes have seen