When we see the LORD for Who He is, one of the first reactions is that we see who we are in comparison.  In a small group setting recently, we explored this, and John Hafner reminded us of Isaiah 6:5; it says, "Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips:  for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts."  Exactly what had Isaiah seen?  The first four verses of chapter 6 tell us:  "In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.  Above it stood the seraphims:  each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.  And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts:  the whole earth is full of his glory.  And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke."  Isaiah was so awed by what he saw that his first reaction was how filthy he and his companions were. 

Then I came across the "Selah" moment in Psalm 39.  Verse 5 says, "Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth; and mine age is as nothing before thee:  verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity.  Selah."  Every man at his BEST STATE is ALTOGETHER vanity, or a vapor.  The psalmist says it again a few verses later from a different angle.  "When thou with rebukes dost correct man for iniquity, thou makest his beauty to consume away like a moth:  surely every man is vanity. Selah." (Psalm 39:11)  We should stop and think about that.  Our best state and our beauty are a vapor, completely!  We think we are "all that," but the LORD really IS "all that!!" 

Isaiah compares us with the LORD in a few other categories:  our ways, our thoughts, and our righteousness.  Isaiah 55:9 says, "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts."  Isaiah 64:6 says, "But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away."

There are a few reasons why it is important for us to know how lowly we are compared to the LORD:  so we can keep our sins confessed and repented of, because "Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall" (Proverbs 16:18), and so we can praise God for Who He really is!!!  He is so deserving of our praise!! 

The flip side of this is even though we are nothing compared to the LORD, we are everything to Him.  The Father sent His only Son to die for us, that we might live with Him for eternity!   Each of us is but a vapor, a dot on this huge Earth; which is a dot in our solar system; which is a dot in our galaxy, The Milky Way; which is a dot in the known universe; but He thinks we are pretty special, creating us in His very image, and caring about the things that matter to us. 

So, when you pray, see Him as the Word describes Him, and give Him the praise and reverence He deserves!!!

(Thanks to Jeff Lawson for helping me get the order right for the Milky Way thing!!)