The Transcendence of God

by Tommy Peeler

"Thus says the LORD, Heaven is My throne and the earth is My footstool, Where then is a house you could build for Me? And where is a place that I may rest? For My hands made all these things, Thus all these things came into being, declares the LORD. But to this one I will look, to him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word" (Isaiah 66:1-2).

The Utter Transcendence of God

His level of existence is far above and beyond anything we are or can imagine. This is a common theme in Isaiah:

• “And the LORD alone will be exalted in that day” (Isaiah 2:11, 17). In context, the LORD is bringing judgment on human pride.
• “In the year King Uzziah’s death I saw the LORD sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of his robe filling the temple” (Isaiah 6:1).
• “Now I will arise, says the LORD, Now I will be exalted, now I will be lifted up” (Isaiah 33:10).
• “Who has measured the waters in the hallow of His hand, and marked off the heaven by the span, and calculated the dust of the earth by the measure and weighed the mountains in a balance and the hills in a pair of scales” (Isaiah 40:12).
• “It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers” (Isaiah 40:22).
• “For thus says the high and exalted One, who lives forever, whose name is Holy, I will dwell on a high and holy place” (Isaiah 57:15).

God's Transcendence Demands a Humble and Contrite Spirit

The word "contrite" is used elsewhere in the Old Testament, specifically about Mephibosheth (II Samuel 4:4; 9:3). Mephibosheth is crippled, and the word for "crippled" is the same word translated as "contrite" here. The word stresses a sense of inability and dependence. The LORD wants us to be broken, to see that the answers are not in man but in God. This helps us understand better (Acts 3:1-10).

We can be led to be humble and contrite by:

• The intensity of our troubles (Psalms 34:18). See Psalms 34:6-7, 17-20.
• The magnitude of our sins (Psalms 51:16-17). See Psalms 51:3-5.
• The overwhelming glory of God (Isaiah 66:1-2).

Trembling Before God’s Word

"And who trembles at My word" (Isaiah 66:2, 5; Ezra 9:4; 10:3). The only other times the word trembling is used are in Judges 7:3 and I Samuel 4:13. These are the ones “who take seriously what He says and obey Him” [Willis, p. 476]. The humble tremble in looking at His instructions “for they realized that He knew them better than they knew themselves” [Beyer, p. 239]. This is in contrast to the dismal present when God speaks, and Israel does not hear or listen (Isaiah 65:12; 66:4). “The transcendent and creative God is fully accessible to the one who is humble, contrite, and respectful of God’s word” [Childs, 540]. See I Samuel 15:22; II Samuel 7:6-7.