This week, I'm working on memorizing the above verses. As these verses are incredibly dense with meaning, I thought it would be a good idea to carefully go through these verses with a scalpel. In the last post, we explored the idea that God's requirements for us are evidence of His love. Deism is wrong, God is active and involved. Today I want to explore the next small piece of this verse, "...to fear the Lord your God."
What Does It Mean To Fear God?
The fear of God is a major theme of the Bible. In Proverbs, it says that "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." Paraphrase: you don't know jack unless you've first learned to fear God. In Luke 12, Jesus tells his followers to not be afraid of those who can merely kill the body, but rather to be afraid of the one who has the authority to cast into hell. Just so we're clear here, that is in reference to God. Not Satan, not your pastor, not your neighbor, but only God is the judge who has the authority to grant eternal life. Fearing God is apparently quite important, but we need to unpack and explore what it truly means. I have outlined below (via numbered list, of course) several of the markers of a healthy fear of God.
1. Awe
When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? - Psalm 8:3-4
Have you ever had one of those experiences where you bumped up against the power of nature and suddenly felt your insignificance and smallness? Like Matt Chandler says, nobody goes up to the Grand Canyon and suddenly feels compelled to brag about their scholastic or career accomplishments. Or have any of you musicians ever seen a really, really good concert and been overwhelmed at how good the players were? Has it ever made you feel pretty puny or like you wanted to quit playing? Part of what it means to fear God is to overwhelmed with awe at His immensity, His greatness, His incredible attributes. We should be awestruck by God.
2. Respect
...but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect. - 1 Peter 3:15
We live in an incredibly rude and disrespectful society. Our entire culture looks like MTV's Real World slogan: "Find out what happens when people stop being polite and start getting real." Rudeness is actually heralded as a virtue because "at least you're just being honest." Even toward earthly rulers - presidents and kings - we have lost any sense of respect for those in rule or authority. You can buy shirts at the mall that say "Bush is a Dumbass." Jon Stewart called President Obama "dude."
Now, I'm not advocating that we should speak to God in King James English or that we have to dress a certain way to show respect to God. The issue isn't about external things like words or clothes or rituals; the issue is the position of our heart. God is the true King over all the other kings, presidents, prime ministers, and rulers. He places rulers in their place of authority and removes them at His discretion. We should reject any treatment of God that is bossy, demanding, childish (not child-like), or disrespectful.
3. Trust & Obedience
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. - Isaiah 55:8-9
I'll be honest: sometimes I just don't get God. It seems like the way He runs the universe is different than I would do it. I suppose that's a good thing, because my own house is not always in order. I have mold growing in my garage. Fearing God means that we mentally give assent to the fact that His ways are better than our ways. This is trust. But trust does not exist in a vacuum. Real trust, real faith means that our actions must match. This is the obedience part. I could say that I trust a bungee cord, I could even believe intellectually in the strength and elasticity of the cord, but if I'm not willing to jump I've just revealed that my heart doesn't really trust it. It is scary to hand over control of my life to someone else, but trust and obedience are two very important aspects of walking in the fear of the Lord.
4. Actual Fear (Like Being Afraid)
But the LORD of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. - Isaiah 8:13
Electricity is a really good thing. It helps our lives immensely and has changed the way we do literally everything. However, when I see linemen working on the power lines near my house, I get a little queasy. While useful, electricity is also incredibly dangerous. The power that electricity represents should give us caution before we just treat it however we want. The same is true with God. His power should cause us to be cautious in how we think, speak and act before a Holy God. If you are willfully behaving sinfully, you should fear. If you are mocking the grace of God, you should fear. We should fully embrace the goodness, grace and mercy of God, but make no mistake: God will not be mocked. (Gal. 6:7).
I love the way that C.S. Lewis writes of Aslan in The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe:
"Is - is he a man?" asked Lucy.
"Aslan a man!" said Mr. Beaver sternly. "Certainly not. I tell you he is the King of the wood and the son of the great Emperor-Beyond-the-Sea. Don't you know who is the King of Beasts? Aslan is a lion, the Lion, the great Lion."
"Ooh," said Susan, "I thought he was a man. Is he - quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion."
"That you will, dearie, abd make no mistake," said Mrs. Beaver; "if there's anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they're either braver than most or else just silly."
"Then he isn't safe?" said Lucy.
"Safe?" said Mr. Beaver; "don't you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the king I tell you."
Conclusion
There is much in the scripture that teaches us about the closeness, the familiarity of God. Jesus teaches us to pray to God as "Abba," the Aramaic equivalent to our children saying "daddy." The Holy Spirit is spoken of as our Comforter. Jesus promised to never leave us or forsake us. The disciple John is said to have been reclining up against Jesus at the table. I get it, I really do. God has revealed Himself to us as being close to us, loving and approachable.
But, without a proper fear of the Lord in place, we can easily swing into self-importance and self-sufficiency. Hebrews 1 says that the entire universe is upheld by the word of His power. Think about that. At this moment, water is still behaving like water because of God. Grass is growing right now because of God. My computer is functioning on electricity right now because of the word of God's power. Not a molecule in the universe is out of God's sight at this very moment. I can't even find my freaking ear buds today. He alone is God. I am not. He is awesome in power and should be rightly feared. A proper understanding of the fear of God makes His invitation to approach Him like a little child all the more unbelievable and scandalous.
Our fear of God should not paralyze us or cause us to shrink away from Him. Rather, we should run with abandon into the arms of the one who is more powerful that we can ever understand and more loving than we could ever comprehend.
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