This phrase “beauty of holiness” is found in Psalm 29:2, and Psalm 96:9. The history of the Ark returning to Jerusalem and being placed in the Sanctuary of the Tabernacle seems to have been the context in which these words were composed. (I Chron. 16:29, cf. I Chron. 15 & 16). In the previous history it was clear that the Ark – representing the presence of the Lord with His people – was a holy thing. No one but properly appointed, anointed and sanctified Levites would dare touch the Ark – Uzza had touched it and “there he died before God.” (1 Chron.13:10). David had to take careful precautions as he moved the Ark. But when finally the Ark rested in Jerusalem he was so filled with joy that he became almost ecstatic and danced before the Lord, in the streets. We must realize that the holy things God instituted, such as the assemblies, elements of worship and its instituted means of grace (preaching and sacraments), must be respected and handled only as God has ordained. This rightly stirs a sense of respect and awe regarding the place and means of worship. The LORD is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him. (Hab. 2:20) Yet, there is also an appealing “beauty” about the place and means of God’s communion with His people. As we gather in His name, His promised presence gives us a joyful expectation that these very holy ordinances will be graciously used to humble us in conviction, bring us to new confessions of our sin, drawing us anew to flee to the Fountain of cleansing. Worship thus also confirms our love for Christ and revives a resolution to live grateful lives depending on His sufficient and empowering grace. That conveys to our hearts a sense of the beauty of the Lord’s house and stirs us with humble joy. He is willing to come and fellowship with unworthy people, because of the blood of the cross. There, especially in our glimpse of Christ crucified, we see the beauty of his holiness. Holiness and mercy meet, “righteousness and peace” meet in a most beautiful way. Amazing love! That is what we adore in His house. Worshipping is to adore holy beauty because of what Christ is and has done. One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD...” (Psalm 27:4)