Shekinah

5 min read

10 When the priests withdrew from the Holy Place, the cloud filled the temple of the LORD. 11 And the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled his temple.
— 1 Kings 8:10-11

This cloud in the temple is one manifestation of the shekinah glory of God in the Old Testament. The word shekinah has to do with the dwelling or presence of God among His people. In fact, this shekinah glory is one of the main themes of the Gospel of John—that is, Jesus is the ultimate shekinah glory of God.

14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
— John 1:14

What this means for us is that we, the people of God, are also the shekinah glory of God, because Christ lives in us (Galatians 2:20).

The glory of God with us and the glory of God in us is what matters most in our lives. We are all created to worship God, and so worshipping God is the ultimate purpose of our lives. The formal worship services that we conduct (Sunday services, Easter and Christmas services, prayer services, etc.) are all good, but only if the glory of God is there in us.

Worship services in and of themselves don’t mean anything, but they mean everything when the glory of God is there in us.

And so when the shekinah glory of God filled the temple, that was what mattered—not so much the specific services that the priests were conducting in the temple.

But us human beings are so prone to idolatry. We fall in love with the specific service items that we conduct in the congregation. We love a song and it’s skillful performance, we love a message and its skillful delivery, we love a well-conducted, smooth-flowing service.

And it’s not that any of those things are bad. They are good! But they have nothing to do with the glory of God—even if we are calling on the name of our Lord (Matthew 7:21-23).

So where do we see the glory of God? When is the glory of God in us? God has told us:

15 For this is what the high and exalted One says—
he who lives forever, whose name is holy:
“I live in a high and holy place,
but also with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit,
to revive the spirit of the lowly
and to revive the heart of the contrite.
— Isaiah 57:15

Father, I confess that I do not naturally operate with a contrite heart and a lowly spirit. Yet, every day, I know I sin against you. Above all else, I desire that Your presence would be with me—be in me. Teach me to have a contrite heart and a lowly spirit, LORD, so that Your glory may be manifest in me. In Jesus’s name. Amen.