Charles Spurgeon Commentary Isaiah 6

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.

Isaiah was awe-stricken by this vision of the glory of the Lord. It was a sight such as few eyes have ever seen. Isaiah was never actually in the holy place, for he was no priest, and therefore he could not stand there; but it was in vision that he saw all this glory, and it was a vision that must have remained upon his memory through the rest of his life. The holiness and the glory of God struck him at once.

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.

There was, indeed, enough to make him say, Woe is me! A sinful preacher, an imperfect preacher, among a sinful and imperfect people, he felt as if the society in which he moved was the reverse of the society in which God dwells. Pure seraphim cry, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts; but as for us, our very talk is unholy: a people of unclean lips.

In the year that King Uzziah died

You remember him, that leprous king, that king who had thrust himself into the priests' office, and was stricken with leprosy, and shut up in a separate house during the rest of his life. In the year that he died Isaiah saw a greater King, whom no defilement can ever touch, a King that reigns and lives forever, though Uzziah dies.

I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.

Whenever you read in the Old Testament that any man saw the Lord, understand that it refers to the Second Person of the Divine Trinity, the Lord Jesus Christ. He makes himself, as we have said, visible to men, and God in him.

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.

These are the spirits that dwell in the presence of God, nearest to Him. And as He is a consuming fire, they come to be like Him, for the seraphims are burning ones, consumers, burning and shining lights, who wait upon God, who is the light of life. Notice how humble they are in that presence; they cover themselves before that Infinite Majesty.

And one cried upon 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.

And if even the voice of a seraph moved the very foundations of the temple, what will the voice of God do when he speaks once more? According to that word, he shall shake not only earth, but also heaven. What awe and trembling should be on us when we wait on God, if even the posts of the door move! Then said I, Woe is me! All God's saints do this when they get a view of him.

There was never a boastful thought in any man's mind in the presence of God. Those who talk of their own purity have not known God, nor seen him. How could they! This is the cry of all the purified when they come into the presence of God: Woe is me, for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips.

What made him think of lips, but the voice of the seraphim as they cried responsively to one another, Holy, holy, holy? Then he thought of his own lips. Oh! brothers and sisters, what impurity comes out of our lips! Perhaps it is there, more than anywhere else, that the impurity of the heart is discovered in our idle words, our evil words.