Let us turn once again to God's Word in the portion we read, Exodus 33, and directing you for our text to the words that we find here in verse 18. Exodus 33, 18, and he, that is Moses, said, I beseech thee, Show me Thy glory. I beseech Thee, show me Thy glory. That is the theme that I want to take up and address with the Lord's help for a while this morning.

The expression, show me Thy glory. It's one of the prayers of Moses and Moses was certainly a man of much prayer and we see that in the book of Exodus repeatedly in this chapter, in previous chapters, in chapters that follow time and again how this man has to turn to the Lord God and request that wisdom that he felt to stand in need of as he would seek to deal with this stiff-necked people who were under the good hand of God being brought out of the bondage which was Egypt.

Back in chapter 32 at verse 11 Wherein Moses besought the Lord his God, and said, Lord, why dost thy wrath wax us against thy people, which thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt, with great power and with a mighty hand? So it continues how the Egyptians will speak that God would do mischief to these people, that God was having to deal with the people who were so wayward. Again we see him there in that chapter at verse 31. He returned unto the Lord and said, All these people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold. Yet know if thou wilt forgive their sin. And if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written.

And so here in the chapter that we were reading, chapter 33, we have these various prayers of the man. Verse 12, Moses says unto the Lord, See thou sayest unto me, Bring up these people, And thou hast not let me know whom thou wilt send with me, yet thou hast said, I know thee by name. And thou hast also found grace in my sight. Therefore I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, show me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight, and consider that this nation is thy people.

Now he prays for them. In spite of all their wicked backslidings, in spite of their many sins, consider that this nation is thy people. And then at verse 15, if thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence, he prays. For wherein shall it be known here that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight? Is it not in that thou goest with us? So shall we be separated, I and my people, from all the people that are upon the face of the earth. He's pleading and not just praying concerning himself but praying for this wicked nation that the Lord God has set him among and then we could go over into chapter 34 and the words that we have there at at Versailles to have Moses before the revelation of God. made haste and bowed his head toward the earth and worshipped him. And he said, If now I have found grace in thy sight, O Lord, let my Lord, I pray thee, go among us, for it is the stiff-necked people, and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for thine inheritance.

He was much given then to prayers, was the man Moses. And of course we have a psalm of Moses, Psalm 19, a prayer of Moses, the man of God is the title of that psalm. Now here we then have this man who knew what real prayer was, what it was to have communion with his God and to come before him, time upon time, upon time.

Well, as we come to consider these words here in verse 18 of chapter 33, for a while this morning, I divide what I'm going to say into some three parts. First of all, to consider the request of Moses. And then secondly, to observe the reply that God gives to him. And then finally to say something with regards to the Rock, the Lord Jesus Christ that he's spoken of in the subsequent verses that close the chapter.

First of all then, to look at the request, the prayer. He addresses God and says, I beseech thee, show me thy glory, show me thy Glory. Now in this prayer we see two things. There's a certain frailty in the prayer and yet also at the same time there's real faith and that should be an encouragement to us. Maybe often we think that our prayers are very weak, feeble things and yet those weak prayers in all their frailty can be so so real and an expression of real dependence upon God.

His request here is sincere, it's upright, and yet it's attended with frailty and weakness, says Dr. Gill, as he makes comment on this particular verse. What is he asking of God? He wants God to show him his glory, And where is that glory to be discerned? It's to be seen surely in the face of God, in a sense. The face is a man's glory. In his face we get a full view of the man, as it were.

But God says there at verse 20, Thou canst not see my face, for there shall no man see me and live. Moses very much desired to see God, in a sense, to be familiar with God. But no man has seen God at any time. Remember the language that we have there in the opening chapter of John, in verse 18? No man. That includes Moses, amongst all the men who have ever lived on the face of the earth, no man has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared.

Moses never did see God's face. And yet, we're told aren't we, back in verse 11, how the Lord spake unto Moses, face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. How can we reconcile that statement with what I've just said about no man ever seeing the face of God? Well, the truth is that God reveals himself verbally. There's that sense, of course, in which we have to recognize that God is a spirit. God doesn't have a body. such as we have. God doesn't have a face. God doesn't have hands and arms. I know this language is often used in the Old Testament as God condescends to speak to us in very human terms. But we have to remember what Christ has said. God is a spirit. Through worshipers they worship the Father in spirit and in truth.

And what we surely recognize is that The emphasis even there in verse 11 is on verbal communication. The Lord spake unto Moses face to face as a man speaketh unto his friend. God's way of revealing himself then is that that is verbal. Faith cometh by hearing. and hearing by the Word of God, the language of Romans 10, 17 and God always speaks, He speaks clearly out of the cloudy fiery pillar, it's verbal the words that we have there at verse 9, it came to pass as Moses entered into the tabernacle the cloudy pillar descended and stood at the door of the tabernacle and the Lord talked with Moses

God is not seen, God is there in the cloudy pillar on this occasion but God is communicating God is communing with his servant Moses and God's Communications with this man were very intimate. We're told quite clearly that there never arose a man like unto Moses whom the Lord knew face to face. There in Deuteronomy 34. God clearly appeared by extraordinary revelation to this man Moses. He's one of the chief men of the Old Testament Scriptures. All the prophets appeal unto Moses and those things that the Lord God had revealed to Moses, to the law and to the testimony. If they speak not according to this word, it is because there's no light in them, says the prophet Isaiah. And it's interesting that the children of Israel also knew God face to face. Not just so with regards to the man Moses, it was true of all the children of Israel. As we see there in Deuteronomy 4 and verse 15. But rather, Deuteronomy 5 and verse 4 I should say. Deuteronomy 5 and verse 4, the Lord talked to you face to face in the mount out of the midst of the fire. And there in that fifth chapter of course Moses goes on to repeat the words, the Ten Commandments that God had given at Mount Sinai. But it was the Lord God who talked with them and talked with them face to face.

But he does say quite clearly Previously there, in that verse that I referred to, chapter 4 and verse 15 of Deuteronomy, you saw no manner of similitude when the Lord spake to you in Horeb. They didn't see anything in the way of a form. They didn't see the face of God, although they knew God face to face. We cannot see God's glory in the sense that we could cast our eye upon God in all the fullness of that glory. We can never find him out by our searchings. He is that God who is altogether incomprehensible to us. And in this world, God's children have to learn what it is to walk by faith and not by sight. That's the way in which God deals with us. It's a matter of faith.

So there is a certain frailty, we might say, in the request that he's making here. When he asks God to show him he's glorious, if it's possible for God to be seen, God cannot be seen. And yet, as I said, whilst there is frailty, weakness, yet at the same time there's faith, real faith. He's so earnest in his desires here. He wants God to demonstrate that he has truly found grace in God's sight.

it's a real prayer without faith we're told it's impossible to please God either come to God must believe that he is and that he's a rewarder of all the diligently seeking and there is a certain determination here in the way in which this man persists in his prayers as I said at the beginning we have so many references in these chapters to the way in which he turns to the Lord God time and time and time and time again the psalmist says when thou sayest seek in my face my heart says thy face Lord will I seek and this is what Moses is doing he's heeding that he's he's one who will really plead the promises of God look at the words that we have in verses 14 and 15 of the chapter.

In verse 14, God says, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest. Verse 15, Moses says, If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence. What do we see here? Well, it's interesting because the word presence is literally the Hebrew word for face. God says, My face shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest. And he said unto him, If thy face go not with me, carry us not up hence. In verse 14 we have the promise of God. God gives His word, and what does Moses do with that word? Well, God says it, He doesn't query it, He doesn't question it, but He presses it. He's bold enough to plead what God just says. If thy presence, if thy face go not with me, carry us not up hence. Oh, surely there's something to learn here. We have to press home the Word of God. That's what prayer is. As the old Puritan says, we thicken our press. With God's words, God speaks, we take hold of what God says and we plead what God says. We are emboldened by the Spirit of God to hold the Lord God Himself true to His promises.

And God granted this man his request. Verse 17, the Lord said unto Moses, I will do this thing also that they were spoken. for thou hast found grace in my sight and I know thee by name

are we as bold as that? it's easy to look at what Moses is saying and to and to pick at his petition as it were and find fault with it and say it's not good theology to imagine that you can really see the glory of God no man can see God but Moses is a man who truly knows his God he's a man who does business with his God and that's what we see in the language of this prayer I beseech thee nor does an earnestness in the way in which he formulates his prayer show me thy glory

One thinks of the language of dear John Newton in the hymn. The best returns for one like me so wretched and so poor is from his gift to draw a plea and ask him still for more. The more God gives, the more we're to ask. The Lord God himself said it's more blessed to give than to receive. It's a season for giving, if nothing else. I know it's highly commercialized. but it's a season for giving and God has given us the best of all gifts the unspeakable gift and having given that will he not also freely give us all things richly to enjoy

how earnest this man is in his prayers, showman and again there's a certain intensity in the verb that he's using there, literally it means cause me to see, make me to see. God must open his eyes. God must cause him to understand, to see these things. And here of course, we have to recognize where that glory is seen. Is it not in the Lord Jesus Christ and only in the Lord Jesus Christ? no man hath seen God at any time the only begotten Son which is in the bosom of the Father he hath declared him no man knoweth the Son but the Father neither knoweth any man the Father save the Son and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him and again there in the Gospel And that verb, to will, that's used at the end of that verse concerning the Lord Jesus, to whom the Son will reveal Him, it's the strongest of verbs. To whom the Son willeth to reveal. No man knoweth the Father save the Son. And he to whom the Son willeth the sovereign will of the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

And we see it, do we not, in the way in which the Lord speaks to Philip. Remember the words that we have there in the 14th of John, as the Lord is speaking of his departing, he's going away and he's going to send a comforter. This whole section, chapters 14, 15, 16 speak of the coming of the Spirit. But there in verse 8 of chapter 14, Philip says, Lord show us the Father and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you? Yet hast thou not known me, Philip? He that hath seen me hath seen the Father. How sayest thou then, Show us the Father? Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? The words that I speak unto you I speak them not of myself, but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.

O show me thy glory, How can we see the glory of God, the glory of the Father? So, the in and through the Lord Jesus Christ, that's what Christ is saying there to Philip. Oh, the wonder of it then.

So, turning from Moses and the request that he's making to consider something of the Lord's reply. How does the Lord reply to the petition, to the prayer, I beseech thee, show me thy glory. Verse 19, and he, that is the Lord God, says, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee, and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.

I like the remark that's made by dear Matthew Henron in his commentary. Simple remark but how true. He says, we know God more by the glory of his mercy than by the glory of his majesty. We know more of God by the glory of his mercy than the glory of his majesty.

What does he do here in answer to this petition? I will proclaim the name of the Lord before them. And then again in the following chapter, chapter 34, where the Lord is really answering in full Verse five, the Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there and proclaimed the name of the Lord. And the Lord passed by before him and proclaimed, the Lord, the Lord God merciful and gracious, long-suffering and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilt visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and upon the children's children unto the third and to the fourth generation.

Oh, there's an emphasis, you see, on what the Lord is doing. He is proclaiming His name, the Lord. The Lord. And we see how repeatedly it's LORD in capital letters. Indicative, of course, that this is the covenant name This is Jehovah, this is the great I am that I am. And this is the... this is the Trinity, this is God, in all the glorious fullness of his triune being, Father, Son and Holy Ghost. The wonder of God. the proclamation of His name. His name is who He is. His name is the declaration of Himself. And we need to mark that. He is that God who is a merciful God and a gracious God.

And what does He say? Well, Doesn't Paul make reference to these things in that great ninth chapter of the epistle to the Romans? Romans 9 and verse 10. He said to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, so that it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. It's of God it's of God that showeth mercy and observe what he says he doesn't say I will be angry with whom I will be angry he says I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy there is a double decree there's the other side of predestination to life there's reprobation But when it comes to reprobation, the first part of reprobation is what they call preteration, God's passing over. He decrees to pass over some, he chooses some but he passes over others. And then when he passes over, Those whom he passes over he will eventually condemn them to everlasting destruction for their sins. How solemn it is though. But the emphasis surely here is very much on God's mercy.

It is all in the Lord Jesus Christ. What is Moses praying here? Show me thy glory. Where is that glory to be seen in Him who is the Saviour of sinners, the Lord Jesus Christ? Oh, the great mystery, the great mystery of God as He reveals Himself in and through the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's where we see God's glory. the words made flesh says John and dwelt among us and we behold his glory the glory is of the only begotten of the father full of grace and truth now remarkable little parenthesis in that verse in John 1. 14 we behold his glory what is his glory? the glory is of the only begotten of the father he is that one who is the son of the Father, in truth and in love. I discovered a verse this week. I don't know if you have experiences like this. We think we know the Bible. We read it, I trust, daily, and yet we come across verses and it's as if we've never seen them before.

And in the course of reading, I came across a verse in the second chapter of 1 Corinthians that just stood out so remarkably. And I don't think I'd ever noticed it before. Verse 7, Paul is dealing with the matter of his own ministry, the things that he preaches. And he says this, he says, We speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the world unto our glory. And what struck me was those words at the end, that God ordained this before the world unto our glory.

Here is Moses praying to God, show me thy glory. And what God has done before the foundation of the world is ordained. that that will be for our glory. And what is it? It all centers in the Lord Jesus Christ, the great mystery of godliness, that God was manifest in the flesh. We speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world, or the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. And it's for our glory, and it It was quite remarkable how it struck me, really.

Moses is praying to God to show something of his glory. That glory can only be seen in the Lord Jesus Christ, in the wonder of his person. The great mystery of godliness, God was manifest in the flesh. In the wonder of his work, he was obedient. And obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

and even here you see when we see how it continues subsequently in the context in the words that follow Moses can only see anything of God as he is placed in the cliff of the rock God says I will make all my goodness pass before thee And I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee, and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. And he said, Thou canst not see my face, for there shall no man see me and live. And the LORD said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock, and it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a cliff of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by and I will take away mine hand and thou shalt see my back part but my face shall not be seen

now here of course they're still they're still at Horeb they're still at the place where God gave the Ten Commandments. We're told back in verse 6, aren't we, the children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments by the Mount Horeb. They're still there.

In fact, we can go right back to chapter 17 in chapter 17 and there in verses 5 and 6 this is where Moses is to smite the rock because the people are complaining that they have no water give us water that we may drink and they chide with Moses Moses again cries to the Lord, what shall I do? They are ready to stone me. And the Lord says to him there at verse 5, Go on before the people, take with thee of the elders of Israel and thy rod, wherewith thou smeltest river, take in thine hand. Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb, and thou shalt smite the rock. And there shall come water out of it that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. And they call the name of it Massah and Meribah. Temptation and chiding or strife.

Now that's at Mount Horeb. It's the rock. It's the very place where God gave them the commandments where God entered into covenant with them and we know what that rock was because we're told, we're told aren't we in 1 Corinthians 10 and verse 4 that rock was Christ the smitten rock was Christ and that was the great sin of Moses later in Numbers chapter 20 when again they're crying out for water and this time Moses is to take the rod in his hand but he's not to smite the rock he's simply to speak to the rock but he's stirred in his own spirit and he strikes the rock and because of that he will not enter into the promised land

you see the the rock which is Christ is only struck once only struck once and that's salvation all he needed to do was to speak to the rock but he's in his own spirit now and the folly of it

but see what God says here concerning this rock Verse 21, there is a place by me, says God. There is a place by me, and they shall stand upon a rock by me. This is equality. This rock is by me. One thinks immediately of the language of Zechariah 13 and verse 7. Awake, O sword against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow. Who is the man that is God's fellow? It's the Lord Jesus Christ. He's equal. He's equal to the Father. Oh, the wonder of it. We can only know God in the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the image of the invisible God. It's in Christ alone that we see the glories of God, the wonder of God, the salvation of God.

The language of Isaac Watts in the hymn, Till God in human flesh I see, My thoughts no comfort find. The holy, just, and sacred three Are terrors to my mind. We have to see God in Christ. And that's what we have here. It's God in Christ. God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness has shined in our hearts to give the light of His glory in the face of Jesus Christ in the person in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ and this is what Moses is so favored to behold he sees Christ here all the law was given by Moses The grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

But what a man was this Moses. Oh, he was a man of prayer and he did not pray in vain. He found grace in the eyes of the Lord. He was there, of course, in the Mount of Transfiguration, was he not? Together with Elijah. And remember how in the account that we have in Luke 9, What was it that Moses and Elijah spoke of with Christ before those three favoured disciples, Peter, James and John? Or they spoke of his decease, which he was going to accomplish in Jerusalem. Christ would accomplish it. No one was able to take his life. He had power to lay that life down, he had power to take it again. That was the commandment he'd received from the Father. And Moses sees these things. This is where we see all the glory of God.

And I said at the beginning, you see, it's not that he sees the face of God. God communicates verbally. The Word. The Word was made flesh. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him. Without Him was not anything made that was made. All the wonder of the Incarnation. And those words you see in 1 Corinthians 2.7, it's all for us. The mystery of it. And it's all in the Lord Jesus Christ. The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld His glory. The glory is of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace. and of truth.

Lord, to pray then with this man, and to pray as this man prayed, how he presses home his prayers time and again. He said, as he addresses the Lord his God, he said, I beseech thee, show me thy glory. And God said, I will make all my goodness pass before and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before them. And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. Let the Lord bless it to us. Amen.