Everlasting fear!!!

Psalms 19:9a-The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever.

 

What a sudden change in the terminology. In the previous verses, David described God’s Word as the law, statutes, precepts, commands all within the legal framework of an executive order. Here David depicts God’s Word as “the fear of the Lord”. The implications of this phrase seems to induce punishment and judgement for irreverential handling of the legal framework. Sounds more serious than the previous annotations. 

Honestly I never saw God’s Word in this manner until now. It only goes to show there are so many nuggets in the Word that we can unearth as we diligently take time to ponder and mediate on it.

 

But what does this nomenclature - fear of the Lord - in this context mean? 

 

Very often when we talk about fear, it always connotes anxiety, horror, distress, trepidation or fright. Many times this is the depiction of God that we have in our minds. He is so holy, sin cannot stand in His presence. The Old Testament episode of the hight priest falling dead in God’s presence if there was some uncleanliness found in him, Ananias and Saphira falling dead because of a lie in the New Testament are some of the fear inducing captivations that race through our minds. 

 

I am in no way undermining the Holiness of God. We must come into His presence with “fear and trembling”. God never compromises with sin and sin will always have consequences, even if they are forgiven. The Bible has never changed its uncompromising stance on sin, even though many churches have done so.

 

The Hebrew Word for fear also means reverence, awesomeness and majesty. I believe that David used fear in this sense when describing God’s Word. Many times when we read the Bible, we tend to forget this this is the Word of the Lord. All scriptures are Spirit breathed.

 

This appreciation for God’s Word is seen very vividly in Nehemiah 8. Ezra began to read the scriptures from daybreak till noon (Neh 8:3). And how did the men and woman respond? All the people listened attentively to the Book of the Law (Neh 8:3), the all stood up (Neh 8:5), lifted their hands and responded, “Amen! Amen!” Then they bowed down and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground (Neh 8:6)

 

You can sense the reverence, the majesty and awe the people had for the reading of God’s Word. 

 

Today we live in the era of grace and have the availability of the scriptures readily in our phones and devices. We don't live "under the law". We live in a time where we “approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need”. 

 

But let’s not forget that the Holy Spirit inspired the Word and this reverence and awe should not be temporary but everlasting. It endures forever. 

 

Anyone who reads, hears and meditates on the word of God, encountering God in His word, will and must have a corresponding appreciation of God’s awe and majesty – the fear of the LORD.

John Wesley offered the following advice on effective Bible reading:

 

*“It might also be of use, if while we read, we were frequently to pause and examine ourselves by what we read, both with regard to our hears and lives. This would furnish us with matter of praise, where we found God had enabled us to conform to his blessed will, and matter of humiliation and prayer, where we were conscious of having fallen short.”

 

*Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament – John Wesley