Words We'll Sing Forever: A 4-Day Devotional ಮಾದರಿ

Ask one hundred different people what the word “glory” means to them, and you’ll probably get a hundred different answers.

For some, they may reference the “glory days” of high school and how good life was back then.

Some may speak to an achievement or victory that felt “glorious.”

Some may say that it’s really what they’re chasing after, a sense of purpose, accomplishment, or “glory.”

I remember as a kid fighting imaginary battles and rescuing imaginary princesses all in the name of glory.

Glory is something we all desire inside. And it’s because glory is something we were all made for.

We were just made to give it away.

When the Bible speaks of the word glory, the word used is either “Kavod,” which means “weight” or “heaviness” (similar to worthy!), or “Doxa”, which means reputation, honor, brilliance, divine radiance.

Moses asks to see God’s glory (Exodus 33), and he’s asking to see His “divine radiance”; for God to give him a glimpse of His brilliance and for Moses to experience the weightiness of God.

The interesting thing about the use of the word glory in Scripture is that the majority of the time it’s used, it’s in the context of us giving it to God (Psalm 29:2). Now, we can’t give something we don’t have, which means that in order to give glory, we must have glory.

As we are created in God’s image and likeness, and so also created for His glory (Isaiah 43:7), we carry glory. We have our own “heaviness.” Our own “honor.” Our own “divine radiance.”

I feel like we all at least subconsciously know this. You see your favorite performer putting on a concert, and can tell “yeah, there’s a radiance or brilliance there.” You see a sports player at his or her peak and can see the “weightiness” of what they’re doing.

But true fulfillment doesn’t come by keeping this glory to ourselves. It comes from giving it all back to God, who is Holy and Worthy of it all.

I love how in Revelation, it says that the elders continually cast their crowns (crowns are a symbol of glory). Why does it happen continually? If I threw my crown down, then wouldn’t that be it and I’d be done casting them?

Well, maybe I throw mine down, and God puts it right back on me. And I see His glory and cast it down again, and He puts it right back on. Glory is something we were made to give, but also something we share in. When we give God the glory, we share in His divine radiance, His brilliance, His honor, His weight (Romans 8:17).

We sing “Glory” because it reminds us of who the glory really belongs to; the One worthy of it all who also loves to bring us in on it.

Reflection Questions:

1. What does God’s glory mean to you? How have you experienced God’s glory in your own life? What was it like?
2. What glory do you carry? What are your gifts and abilities that carry a “divine radiance”? How can you give them back to God?
3. Who are some people you know that are gifted and full of “glory”? How can you encourage them in their gift and point them to God?