Feminine Inspiration No. 3
Feminine Inspiration No. 3
If of thy mortal goods thou art bereft
And from thy slender store two loaves alone to thee are left,
Sell one, and with the dole,
Buy hyacinths to feed thy soul.
This ancient poem recognizes an urgent truth: We hunger for beauty in the same way that we hunger for food, and we are nourished by one as by the other. The Lord Jehovah has given you that craving, and it can be satisfied only by the God of beauty, Beauty Himself.
Are you enjoying a daily diet of beauty, or have you been neglecting this aspect of your being? Do you stop to notice and give thanks for the countless jewels the Lord has strewn throughout your life? To truly value beauty you must truly value the beauty’s God.
Do you commune daily with your Father in heaven? Four times the Scriptures refer to the worshipping the Lord in the “beauty of holiness.”
Give unto the LORD the glory [due] unto his name: bring an offering, and come before him: worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness. First Chronicles 16:29
... He appointed singers unto the LORD, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the LORD; for his mercy [endureth] forever, Second Chronicles 20:21
Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness. Psalm 29:2
O worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness: fear before him all the earth. Psalm 96:9
Do you long to dwell in His Holy Place? Do you crave time with the Lord?
One [thing] I have desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple. Psalm 27:4
Do you make Jehovah the Lord your life? Is your heart a pure and beautiful temple dedicated to His sole glory?
Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined. Psalm 50:2
Honour and majesty [are] before him: strength and beauty [are] in his sanctuary. Psalm 96:6
God is Beauty, and He longs to form us into His likeness. Throughout the Scriptures He promises to deck his bride, the Church, with precious jewels and linens.
I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh [himself] with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth [herself] with her jewels.
Isaiah 61:10
He himself will be our crown of beauty: In that day shall the LORD of hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty, unto the residue of his people. Isaiah 28:5 He will replace our sorrow with His beauty: ...beauty of ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified. Isaiah 61:3.
Once you love the God of Beauty, He will open your eyes to the beauty He has lavishly spread throughout His creation. You will find pleasure in flowers, music, art, nature, even the play of light and breeze. We are opened to the joys afforded by the gifts of our senses: smell, hearing, taste, sight, touch. He can also use us to create beauty as the Psalmist prays in one of my favorite verses, Psalm 90:7:
And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us: and establish thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish thou it.
Title Photograph: Hyacinth Flower Close-Up. Copyright Information.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008