Project 119: Heaven and Nature Sing | Isaiah 6

 |  Project 119  |  Dr. Kely Hatley

Reading for Tuesday, December 15: Isaiah 6

At His feet the six-winged seraph;
Cherubim, with sleepless eye,
Veil their faces to the Presence,
As with ceaseless voice they cry,
“Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Lord Most High!”
-"Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence"

“Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence” is one of my favorite Advent carols. The images brought forth from the text fall hand-in-hand with our Scripture for today. Isaiah 6 is a proven and timeless model for public worship. While working on my Master of Music degree in church music, one of my professors taught us to use Isaiah 6 as a model for worship. I will attempt to show how I use this order when planning the traditional worship service.

Phase One: Adoration of God (Verses 1-3)
In these opening verses of the chapter, we are given the description of God’s placement in the temple: on a throne high and lifted up with the train of His robe filling the temple surrounded by the two six-winged angels known as seraphim. These seraphim covered themselves from the Lord and called out praise, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of His glory” (Isaiah 6:3 NIV). In our current worship service, the call to worship and the first hymn fulfill this function as they both seek to point us to God and to help us give Him the praise that is worthy of His holy presence. 

Phase Two: Confession of Personal and Corporate Sin (Verse 5)
When confronted with being in the presence of God, Isaiah realizes that he is unclean and so is the nation in which he lives. In our services, during the pastoral prayer, our pastor often asks the Lord, on our behalf, to forgive us of sins we have committed. This action prompts us to privately confess to the Lord our sins before Him in prayer. Sometimes we will also use corporate confessional prayers to be prayed aloud and together.

Phase Three: Receiving the Forgiveness of Sin (Verses 6-7)
The seraph flies over to Isaiah and, taking a hot coal from the altar, touches Isaiah’s lips with the coal and his sin is forgiven. If we use a corporate confessional prayer, we also follow it with passages of Scripture which remind us of God’s faithfulness to forgive us when we confess to Him.

Phase Four: Revelation of God’s Word (Verse 8a)
God speaks to Isaiah. In our worship today this portion would be the sermon delivered from God’s Word, the Bible.

Phase Five: Response to God’s Revelation (Verse 8b)  
Isaiah’s response to God’s question was to send himself to the people. This response would be our time of response following hearing the sermon in our worship.

Phase Six: Commissioning (verse 9a)  
God hears Isaiah’s response and then responds Himself by telling Isaiah to “Go and tell this people...” (Isaiah 6:9a NIV). We receive a “commissioning” every Sunday when our pastor exhorts us in the benediction, “Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.”

This order can also be used to structure your personal worship time as you study God’s word. Try to use this pattern in the days ahead. Read a psalm of praise to begin. Enter a time of confession of sin asking God to remove any barriers sin has caused between you and God. Read God’s word. Finally, respond to it as you reflect. You will be amazed at how God will speak to you and teach you through this model.