NOTES for Isa 6:3

In the Jerusalem temple the prophet Isaiah beholds the heavenly worship in which bodiless beings eternally glorify the holiness of the Lord of Hosts. This angelic praise is the greatest, complete opposite of sin. The life of heaven is concentrated in it because each of those who sees the Lord sees all His beauty. Glorifying this beauty and holiness makes those who praise participants in divine life. It is not that God forces the angels to glorify Him. He does not need this song of praise. On earth, when we see something truly beautiful, we exclaim, "What a wonder! How marvelous!" The song of the seraphim is of this kind: it is born of delight and wonder at the divine perfections.

And it is also worthy of delight and wonder that the seraphim say that the whole earth is full of God's glory. This already has a direct bearing on us, on human beings. As the life of heaven passes in praise, so human life can pass in contemplation of and wonder at the glory of God with which the whole earth is filled. The fact that the human eye mainly sees what is bad, sees the world's imperfection and its damaged state, is the result of our own sin. Our heart is directed not toward seeing what is good and giving thanks for it, but toward making claims. We can be freed from such a way of seeing and look for manifestations of God's glory, and then the world will shine with utterly astonishing colors that we had not even suspected.