How Do We Live in the Fear of the Lord?
Having understood the definition of the fear of the Lord and having embraced who God is as shown in the context of Psalm 33, we can now consider a personal response (If you missed the first two devotionals in this 4-part series, check out https://blog.ficm.org/blog).
What I have found striking recently, and a bit worrisome at first, is how easily I randomly become emotionally overwhelmed at God’s beauty. We have a weekly prayer time at church. When I came to read the final blessing, I could barely make it through. What I was reading was Jesus’ purpose for coming to earth from Luke 4:18-19. It reads:
“‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, and to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.’”
Why might this move us to tears? It may be because we have seen how beautiful God is, and the work that he is doing in us and through us. What? God is using me? This could be what the Psalmist sensed when he wrote these words in Psalm 33:1-3:
“Shout for joy in the Lord, O you righteous! Praise befits the upright. Give thanks to the Lord with the lyre; make melody to him with the harp of ten strings! Sing to him a new song; play skillfully on the strings with loud shouts.
Clearly the Psalmist is deeply moved by the beauty he sees in God. He cannot contain it, and he is moved to shout it out.
Deeper into the Psalm a new perspective arises. God is at work for us in all that happens no matter how crazy it may look. A magazine I received recently had this as the cover article: “The Globalists: The Rise and Demise of the Elites who would Rule the World” (WORLD Magazine, January 27, 2024). We need the wisdom and perspective of Psalm 33:10. “The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; he frustrates the plans of the people. The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of his heart to all generations.”
The leaders of ungodly nations and institutions believe that in themselves they can control the world and all of history. But they miss entirely the invisible hand of the Almighty who frustrates their plans and keeps all of His. For His plans stand forever. This is the view of God we can embrace as we learn more clearly to embrace the fear of the Lord. God really does know what He is doing. There are not mistakes. There is no misunderstanding. There are no surprises in the God’s head. For He knows it all, and He understands it all. For “The Lord looks down from heaven; he sees all the children...He observes all their deeds” (verses 13 & 15 b).
Notice again how the fear of the Lord is intertwined with hope, steadfast love, gladness, deliverance, and rescue in the Psalm’s last verses.
“Behold the eye of the Lord in on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love, that he may deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine. Our soul waits for the Lord; he is our help and shield. For our heart is glad in him, because we trust in his holy name. Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us even as we hope in you” (Psalm 33:18-23).
The fear of the Lord is powerful, magnificent, overwhelming, comforting, and saturated with love. Are we motivated to please him? Yes. Are we motivated to abandon the foolishness and chaos of sin to more fully enjoy His steadfast love? Yes. He is not a tame God and so we need to treat him with the utmost respect. But He is forever a good and loving God who always has our best in view. He knows what He is doing. Nothing is invisible to him. He has His loving eye upon us.
The fear of the Lord gives us a reason to do what is best for us. It motivates us to align ourselves with what and who God originally created us to be. It calls us into a deep relationship with and worship of Him. He is a God to be loved and feared simultaneously. He is our hallowed Father in heaven.