Redeeming Beauty Itself

Scotty Smith:  A Prayer in Praise of Jesus’ Beauty

     One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple. Psalm 27:4

     Gracious Jesus, I’m still reeling in the sheer beauty of the day you gave us yesterday in middle Tennessee—not just a foretaste of the coming spring, but also of the life we’ll forever enjoy in the new heaven and new earth. Yesterday’s environmental splash of beauty invaded my distracted, ugly thinking at just the right time. You always seem to deliver the hope and perspective of the gospel when I need it the most. Thank you that beauty will ultimately trump all ugly, including my ugly. What a kind, loving and present Redeemer you are.
    Indeed, there is no Redeemer like you, Jesus, and you are faithfully at work redeeming all things, including beauty itself.  For you are the fountain of all beauty and quintessential beauty itself. I remember how it felt when you first opened my eyes to your beauty in the gospel. The scales of my unbelief came off; the blinders of religion and self-righteousness were removed; the rosy-tinted glasses of make-believe were crushed. I had my first genuine sighting of your glory and grace, and King David’s song became my song, “Lord, just let me gaze upon your beauty all the days of my life!”
     For in seeing your loveliness, Jesus, I learned to see all things by the light of your loveliness. I began to find beauty in unexpected places and unsuspecting people. I began to realize how sin had blinded me to true beauty, even sabotaging the very category and holding it hostage to illusions and counterfeits.
     But as with our natural eyes, so with our spiritual eyes, the clarity of vision fades. Jesus, please lay your hands on the eyes of our hearts and remove the cataracts and heal the myopia. We don’t just want to regain lost sight, but to see you in ways we’ve never seen you before. How we long for the Day when we will finally see you as you are and we will be made like you… hasten the day, hasten that Day (1 John 3:1-3).
     Until then, reveal more and more of your beauty to us, Jesus. Let us gaze upon your grandeur, gape at your grace, linger in your loveliness, savor your splendor, and marinate in your majesty. So very “Amen!” we pray, in your merciful and mighty name.