Isaiah lived with a good and faithful king, Uzziah, who perhaps was even a relative. He was his hero… hope… the highest. Late in his life, Uzziah had tried to supersede the ways of God and dealt with sickness and seclusion and then died.

I think it is significant that Isaiah 6:1 says in the YEAR that King Uzziah died… When exactly in the that year? How long did Isaiah deal with the loss, seeking the Lord, looking for answers? We don’t know, but it devasted him for sure, and in that year… I saw the Lord…

The place of our hope, the highest thing in our lives, our hero, must die for us to truly SEE the Lord.

“saw” = ra’ah – to see understand, spy, reveal, look at – NASB says access, appear, become aware

It is amazing how things get in the way of “seeing” the Lord. They could be “good” or “bad”, but things get in the way of us seeing the Lord.

If you get everything you want, what do you have?

This passage of Isaiah’s true awakening to God is one of the most significant in scripture. He saw God in majesty, sovereignty, holiness, and immensity. He saw HIMSELF insignificant, unholy, and he confessed his sin and need for God.

I could spend a long time in 6:1-8, but that’s not for now. Today, my question is “what / who must die for me to see the Lord?”

If you go back to chapter 5, there is a “Song of the Vineyard”. The Lord speaks of his love for his people. It talks of the process and purpose of planting, cultivating, and protecting his people.

V2 says he expected it to yield good grapes… but it yielded worthless grapes.

V4 what more could I have done

V5 I will remove the hedge, tear down the wall… 6 make it a wasteland… 7 expected justice but saw injustice… expected righteousness, but heard cries of despair

As I read this chapter, my mind goes in many directions… but remember the question is “What must DIE for us to SEE the Lord?”

Then notice verses 8-10 and I’ll go back to the question…

V8 … woe to those who add house to house… field to field until there is no room and you are LEFT ALONE in the Land

Sometimes we are so busy building that we “gain” and yet lose everything we wanted. I remember Jesus saying, what does it profit a man to gain the world and lose his soul? What good is it to get the whole neighborhood if no one lives there but me?

V9 houses will become desolate

And then v10 is the reverse of the principles of the harvest. Instead of reaping MORE than you sow, they sow and reap exponentially less.

Let me encourage you to go and read the rest of the Song of the Vineyard in Isaiah 5. Singing of the Lord… Everything we are doing, when we lose sight of the Lord, is failing to produce what we desired and intended.

V20 woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness, substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.

v21 woe to those who consider themselves wise and judge themselves clever…

v24b …they have rejected the instruction of the Lord of Armies… despised the word of the Holy One of Israel

And this song ends as the Lord is calling distant lands to come to his vineyard to desolate them and start over…

And then…

6:1 in the year King Uzziah DIED… I SAW the Lord… high… exalted… on the throne

What needs to die so you can see the Lord? This is a very personal question.

Stop right now and Seek the Lord… Say…

  • “Lord, you are God, Lord of Heaven’s Armies, Holy and Righteous
  • Forgive me for raising other things above you
  • Lord, I lay down everything else, that I may See YOU, see myself as I am, and FOLLOW You”