I’m sure everyone remembers the song El Shaddai, by Amy Grant…
El shaddai, el shaddai, El-elyon na adonia, Age to age you're still the same, By the power of the name.
There are many Hebrew names for God and El Shaddai is most likely among the best known.
Literally, this name means “God Almighty,” and it is among the most frequent names for God in the Bible. As I was preparing my devotion, I read that - a better foundational meaning of El Shaddai may be “the overpowerer,” which emphasizes God’s power to achieve all His purposes.
As Ex. 15:6; declares, “Your right hand, O Lord, is majestic in power, Your right hand, O Lord, shatters the enemy.
Thinking of His power in this way may be helpful to us, as the Bible never suggests God can do everything and anything.
One thing He cannot do is violate who He is; for example, He cannot tempt anyone with evil - as we are told in James 1:13.
Nevertheless, the Lord’s strength is absolutely perfect and cannot be increased or diminished. Ultimately, it is impossible for anyone or anything to keep Him from accomplishing His sovereign decrees [as Ps. 115:3 tells us, “But our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases.”]
The book of Job happens to use the name El Shaddai more than any other book in the bible.
And if you think about it this makes sense, for God gives Job a remarkably clear and awe-inspiring description and display of His power in Job chapters 38 through 42. Job has questioned God’s purposes, but the Lord’s display of His wisdom and power silences him.
I want you to carefully listen to this conversation as it reads in Job 40: 1-5, “And the Lord said to Job: ‘Shall a faultfinder contend with the Almighty? Let him who reproves God answer it.” (vss. 1–2).
“Then Job answered the Lord: “Behold, I am insignificant; what can I reply to You? I lay my hand on my mouth. “Once I have spoken, and I will not answer; Even twice, and I will add nothing more.” (vs. 3–5).
Some translations say – Lord, I am unworthy; or I am vile…
My point is, that as the Bible shows us; that an encounter with the holiness of God is a traumatic experience.
The Scriptures record events when men were allowed to see something of the holiness of God, and their response was always despair because they were forced to see their own sinfulness.
Like in the Old Testament story of Isaiah… In chapter 6, Isaiah has a confrontation with God. He heard the voice of two seraphim crying, "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of His glory"(Isaiah 6:3).
We don’t find Isaiah running out to tell his friends, "Hey, guys, let me tell you all about my experience,"
No! Isaiah cried, "Woe to me! I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty" (Isaiah 6:5).
You see, God's holiness made Isaiah recognize his own personal sinfulness. Yet God didn't condemn Isaiah for his failure nor did He allow him to live with condemnation.
Instead one of the angels took a live coal from the altar of heaven and touched his lips as a symbol of the forgiveness which God extended. "See," said the angel, "this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for" (Isaiah 6:7).
As the result of this encounter with God Holiness, Isaiah responded by moving his life into the will of God. And his response was, "Here am I. Send me!"
You see, real worship always stems from an encounter with a holy, living God.
Three times the Bible admonishes us to, "Worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness" (I Chronicles 16:29, Psalm 29:2, and Psalm 96:6, KJV).
The beauty of holiness is that God hasn't withdrawn and turned His back on our failures, but rather He reaches us and touches our lives with His divine power.
It’s through His Son, who came to reveal the Father, that God has shown us something of the depth of His holiness.
God revealed both the depth of His sorrow and the strength of His love, by allowing Christ to die in our place. And that, is the beauty of holiness.
I hope you enjoyed this devotion and that it has is some way blessed your heart. Because when we experience the trauma of God’s holiness, this is a positive thing. Because it helps us to understand more adequately who God is… and causes us to realize that our standing before Him… is based on His grace rather than our own merit.
Let’s be ever-mindful, as King David was, of our sin nature and our propensity to sin before a holy God. May we also be truly repentant and broken when we do sin, and may we pray as David prayed in Psalm 86:5: “For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you.”
And all who know the greatness of God will also share in this response.
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