In R.C. Sproul’s The Holiness of God, he brings attention to Isaiah’s commissioning in Isaiah 6:1-5
“I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple… the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. 5And I said: "Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!"
Sproul shares an insight that is important for us not to miss when we read about Isaiah here. He says:
If ever there was a man of integrity, it was Isaiah ben Amoz. He was a whole man, a together type of a fellow. He was considered by his contemporaries as the most righteous man in the nation. He was respected as a paragon of virtue. Then he caught one sudden glimpse of a holy God. In that single moment, all of his self-esteem was shattered. In a brief second he was exposed, made naked beneath the gaze of the absolute standard of holiness. As long as Isaiah could compare himself to other mortals, he was able to sustain a lofty opinion of his own character. The instant he measured himself by the ultimate standard, he was destroyed- morally and spiritually annihilated. He was undone. He came apart. His sense of integrity collapsed.
Interestingly enough, when we have a “lofty” opinion or our own character, we not only set ourselves up for an awfully painful humbling, but we also deprive ourselves of honest joy. We have to measure ourselves rightly by the standard of God’s holiness in order to truly appreciate the work of Jesus on the cross.
