What Is Glory? -The Second Definition

The second definition of glory has to do with honor or reputation. This is the definition used in Psalm 19:1, where we are told “The heavens declare the glory of God.” Throughout the Bible we are told that God does certain things for his glory. We are commanded to do all things to the glory of God. When things are done for God’s glory, or to glorify him, it is God’s honor or reputation that is in mind.

This sense of glory is not exclusive to God. The Bible speaks of people having this sort of glory, and the same word is some times translated as wealth, honor, or status:

Now Jacob heard that the sons of Laban were saying, "Jacob has taken all that was our father’s, and from what was our father’s he has gained all this wealth."

Genesis 45:13

You must tell my father of all my honor in Egypt, and of all that you have seen. Hurry and bring my father down here.

Job 19:9

He has stripped from me my glory and taken the crown from my head.

Psalm 49:16-17

Be not afraid when a man becomes rich, when the glory of his house increases. For when he dies he will carry nothing away; his glory will not go down after him.

We can see in these last couple of verses that this type of glory is not necessarily the sort of glory esteemed by God. A worthy man, by God’s standard, is judged by his character. The world considers glory to be found in other things, such as wealth or social status.

It is this second sort of glory that is in view when we speak of giving God glory or glorifying him. While these two types of glory are distinct, they are at times used together, such that God’s glory is both his perfection and his reputation. We see this in the passage from Isaiah that is our text for this portion of the sermon.

[re-read Isaiah 48:9-11]

We see that God is obviously concerned with protecting his reputation when he says “how should my name be profaned?” Each time he says he does something for his name sake, he is concerned with being known as the God of glory. This is not the first time we see God’s concern for his reputation.

In Numbers 14, following a rebellion by the Hebrews, God threatened to wipe out his people and make a nation of Moses. But Moses interceded on the peoples’ behalf, arguing that if God killed the people the surrounding nations would say it was because God could not bring them into the land he had promised. God relented, and though punishment still occurred, he maintained his glorious reputation by not wiping out the people.

But I do not believe that God’s reputation is the only sense of glory in mind in Isaiah 48. Remember that the other sense of glory is the perfection of his attributes. Were God to not be omnipotent or omniscient, he would not be glorious in this sense. Included also is His holiness, love, justice and righteousness. If God were to act against any of these qualities, he would no longer be glorious.

So when God says that he restrained his anger by not cutting Israel off, he was not only protecting his reputation, but he was also maintaining his promises to Israel and therefore maintaining his glory. God could not break his promises and still be glorious. Here we see what God meant by not giving his glory to another: Though Israel failed in its covenant with God, God would not fail in his covenant to his people. Though Israel did not glorify God, God maintained his glory by fulfilling his promises in holiness and in righteousness. So too, when we fail to glorify God, he is still in glory as he fulfills his promise to save and sanctify the people he has effectually called.

John Calvin put it this way, stating that God will not suffer his glory to be diminished, which it would be, if he were found to be false or fickle in his promises. God “therefore declares that he will abide by his promises, because he wishes to vindicate his glory and preserve it entire, that it may not be in any respect diminished.”