Woe Is Me!

“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. 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.” Isaiah 6:1-5

Isaiah was a prophet who ministered during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah in Jerusalem. He was a good man and had been used by God to pen the first five chapters of Isaiah before the events recorded here at the beginning of chapter six. But when Isaiah saw this vision of God upon His throne, he said, “Woe is me!” Isaiah probably was respected by the people around him. He probably thought he was doing well and that he was a pretty good person, but when he saw the Lord, he realized how sorely lacking he really was. Isaiah decried himself as being “undone” and “a man of unclean lips.” We have a tendency to focus on building our reputation and trying to be sure that everyone knows how good we are, but what we really need is to catch a glimpse of the holiness of God.