In Isaiah 6 we, with Isaiah, are allowed to peak into the throne room of heaven. What we see, if we think about it, is truly terrifying. Isaiah doesn't actually see God he just feels his presence, his holy presence. This presence is surrounded by seraphim who are covering their face in humility and the rest of their body with reverence - all while singing "Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord Almighty; the earth is filled with his glory." The entire room was shaking from their voices as they were proclaiming this; not only was the room shaking, it was filled with smoke - a sign of God's distinctness from humanity, his being set apart, his being Holy.
Isaiah did and said the only thing that any of us would say if we were experiencing this - Woe is me!
When we are presented with God is his holiness the only thing that we recognize is that we are not holy. Not only are we not holy, we are far from holy - we see all the things that we have done which do not measure up to God's perfect standard. I work with a guy who taught himself how to sketch, and he is incredible; when I look at his sketches I am instantly reminded/shown the ways that I cannot draw. I am able to draw a stickman, but when you compare that to his sketches - it just doesn't measure up. The same is true when we come face to face with a Holy God, we realize that we don't measure up.
As Isaiah is saying this though a seraphim flew to him and touched his lips with a burning coal from the altar. The altar was what cleansed the Israelites from their sins - this was symbolic of someone cleansing him. Isaiah did nothing - he didn't ask to be cleansed, or have his guilt pushed aside. Once this happened Isaiah boldly answered the Lord's question of who would he send.
We aren't cleansed by a seraphim; our cleansing is better. We have been cleansed by the blood of the Son of God, Jesus Christ. We did nothing to deserve this grace and mercy. We were separated from God and yet he chose to come down and cleanse us through his death and resurrection.
So if we have been cleansed - how much bolder should we be in following God's call? how much louder should we be singing 'Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord Almighty; the earth is filled with his glory." This is the truest thing that we could ever be saying either through our words or our actions. Praising this holy being who through his mercy and grace brings us into His presence as adopted sons and daughter.
What are you saying?
