23 January 2011

Verse:
Should you not fear me?” declares the LORD. “Should you not tremble in my presence? Jer 5:22
Thought:
We understand fear of God as, having great reverence to the Lord. If the Holy Spirit used the word fear then it is more than reverence. Fear is fear, and respect is respect. Could not God have used the right word? Why did Jeremiah, Isaiah , etc., use “fear” when there were perfectly good words for respect, honor, and reverence? Are we wiser than the Holy Spirit, or just resisting the truth?
No one can know the true grace of God who has not first known the fear of God. Whence then does the true fear of God arise? From the knowledge of our own sinfulness and a sense of the presence of God. Isaiah had an acute experience both of his personal uncleanness and of the awesome presence of Jehovah: the two were more than he could stand. On his face he cried out a confession of his own sinfulness, make all the more intolerable because his eyes had seen the King, even the Lord of Hosts. We should not fear that God will let us down, or that He is not faithful, or just, or forgiving. In fact, His intense determination to make us holy (so that we can be with Him forever) is cause for the right kind of godly fear: that He will NOT quit sanctifying us when, in our opinion, we are good enough.
Prayer:
For great is the LORD and highly to be praised, to be feared (Psalms 96:4). Amen,