“To glorify God is to acknowledge Him, praise Him, and to make Him known unto others with love, joy, and reverence, in response to beholding His perfections.
The glorification of God flows forth from beholding His perfections. The knowledge of God is in consequence of faith or as a result of beholding. The apostle distinguishes between these two in 2 Corinthians 5:7.
Faith acknowledges God to be as He has revealed Himself in His Word. In the Word of God the perfections of God are described as they manifest themselves in the works of nature, and particularly as they shine forth in the face of Jesus Christ—that is, in the great work of redemption.
“But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord” (2 Cor. 3:18). Faith takes notice of all that the Word expresses about God, and particularly as He made Himself known to Moses.
“The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth” (Exo. 34:6). Faith establishes these as certain truths and acknowledges God to be thus. Such faith causes man to conduct himself toward such a God as He is worthy of and is appropriate for him. Yes, to believe is to glorify God.
“He (Abraham) … was strong in faith, giving glory to God” (Rom. 4:20). Even if a believer had nothing beyond faith that God is such a God in Christ and such a God for him, and did not perceive the sensible manifestation of this within himself, he must proceed on that basis, rejoice, and in love and joy acknowledge, magnify, and praise Him as such.
This is the error of many gracious souls—they do neither sufficiently esteem the view of faith, nor accustom themselves to glorify God thereby.
Even though the Lord has reserved this immediate beholding for heaven, He nevertheless grants His children some measure of this according to His promise. “I … will manifest Myself to him” (John 14:21).
Although all believers are not placed with Moses in the cleft of the rock when the Lord proclaimed His Name, are not all taken along to the mountain where Jesus was glorified, and are not all drawn to the third heaven with Paul, the Lord occasionally gives His children a superior view of Himself by faith and a clearer view of His perfections.
Faith, and this clear view of God, is the fountain from which the glorification of God proceeds.
This view of God begets love to the glory of His Name. He who beholds the perfections of God will immediately be ignited in love—not only to be personally united with the Beloved One, but to exalt and praise all the attributes of God, and also to make them known to others, so that the Lord may be glorified by many.
“Let such as love Thy salvation say continually, Let God be magnified” (Psa. 70:4). Out of this knowledge and love issues forth joy, and a delightful acquiescence that God is such a glorious and blessed God. “The humble shall see this, and be glad” (Psa. 69:32); “Rejoice in the LORD, ye righteous; and give thanks at the remembrance of His holiness” (Psa. 97:12).
Such a person having been rendered capable through knowledge, love, and joy, makes the glory of God his ultimate objective. Motivated by love, he does whatever he can to promote that objective, relates everything to that objective, and ends in that from which his activity originated. Many psalms begin and end with hallelujah.
“For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever” (Rom. 11:36). This is the command: “Do all to the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10:31); “… that God in all things may be glorified” (1 Pet. 4:11).”
–Wilhelmus à Brakel, The Christian’s Reasonable Service, ed. Joel R. Beeke, trans. Bartel Elshout, vol. 3: The Law, Christian Graces, and the Lord’s Prayer (Grand Rapids, MI: Reformation Heritage Books, 1995), 3: 245–247.
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