Glory and Confession

In reading The Glory of the Lord, volume VI by Hans Urs Von Balthasar, I have been struck by how often the "situation" of confession arises in discussing God's glory.

p.13
The glory of the God who discloses himself always reveals his holiness as well, and thus it also discloses the full unholiness of the person beholding the glory: 'Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips [Isaiah 6.5]. 'When Simon Peter saw that, he fell down at Jesus' knees saying, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord"' [Luke 5.8]. For Paul, the voice comes out immediately from the blinding light: 'Why do you persecute me? It hurts you to kick against the goads' [Acts 26.14]. Ezekiel sees the glory already in the colours of judgment, and Daniel likewise [Daniel 7.9f], and the glorified Son of Man seen by John also has the figure of a judge [Revelations 1.13-16].

It is not possible to enjoy a reposeful aesthetic contemplation of the divine glory, a contemplation that would consider God in himself and thus could dispense with the opposition between God's holiness and the unholiness of the world [which includes the contemplator].

Glory is the intruding lordliness of him who comes to confront the world, both judging it and gracing it. It is this that distinguishes the biblical reality from the epiphanies of gods outside the Bible.