Exodus 24:9-10
“Moses and Aaron…went up and saw the God of Israel. Under his feet was something like a pavement made of sapphire, clear as the sky itself.”

Isaiah 54:11-12
“O afflicted city, lashed by storms and not comforted, I will build you with stones of turquoise, your foundations with sapphires. I will make your battlements of rubies, your gates of sparkling jewels, and all your walls of precious stones. ”

Ephesians 2:21-22
“In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.”

Majestic King, your royal city is inlaid with the gems of your glory, and no earthly jewel can compete with your radiance.

In love you reach down and gather up our flinty hearts, transforming our dusty souls into diamonds.  By merciful alchemy you take our worthlessness and make us precious.

May we reflect the grace in our lives by crowning others with love as rich as rubies, compassion as sparkling as sapphires.  Construct a beautiful dwelling for your Spirit through our unity, so that we might see our earthly cities paved with your righteousness.

This we ask in the name of Jesus, who paid the costliest price of all—his very life—to purchase us and make us priceless.

Listen to ‘Arise O God and Shine’  featuring Matthew Smith