Why does it take getting older to finally begin to see the big picture?  Not trying to say that I am anywhere near “WISE” with these years of mine, but it is such a joy when the Lord gives you answers to some of the questions.  I do remember plainly my grandmother (jokingly with her wink and wide grin) saying something like this: “Well, girls, when I was young, I thought I had all the answers. Now I’m old and I know I do, but there ain’t nobody a-askin’ me the questions!” 

Our study these next few weeks presents scriptures that explore and explain the “fear” of God.  We will look at a Psalm, a favorite chapter in Romans, passages from three of the four gospel writers and a song-filled word from the minor prophet Zephaniah. 

To elaborate on the aforementioned personal nugget of wisdom, let me explain.  With the trails and trials of my life journey, I have learned to spell “fear” with a play on each letter of the word:  

Facing

Everything

At

Rest. 

To know God is to love Him, to trust Him, to stand in awe of Him, to reverence Him and to serve Him with all your being.  That could literally be a never-ending sentence containing a long, continuous, unbroken string of allegiances to the Creator of the universe.  The “fear” of God has always been a stirring thought.  As we go, I pray this will become more clear than fear. 

God is our breath giver, sustaining life.  God is also the One who takes our breath away…not in the sense of death…but as we are stopped in our tracks, stunned and breathless by His glory and majesty…and all other things amazing! 

We do not know the human author of Psalm 33.  God is the Author of every word of The Word.  Not all the Psalms were written by David.  Psalm 90 was written by Moses, the man of God.  Whoever this writer might be, the Psalm begins with singing and shouting and the giving of thanks and the playing of stringed instruments. I have drawn a guitar in the margin at this spot in my Bible.  We are to use whatever instrument is available to us to praise the Lord. 

WHY?

We are given reasons to “fear” the Lord in this Psalm.  His word is upright.  His work is done in faithfulness.  He loves righteousness and justice.  We are surrounded and enveloped by His myriad loving kindnesses and blessings.  We stand amazed at creation.  The heavens were made by His spoken word, the hosts of heaven by the breath of His mouth. He is in charge of the oceans.  We have landed astronauts on the moon but have not yet explored the ultimate depths of the seas.  God measured them out drop by drop and set them in place, revealing dry land. 

Our first clue about “fear” is revealed in verse 8:  God spoke.  It was done.  God commanded.  It stood fast.  This Psalm writer declares that the whole earth should fear the Lord and stand in awe of Him.  We surely must stand in breath-less, awe-struck, reverent fear as we observe the majesty of creation.  Creation points to The Creator.  His power and authority are visible and invincible.  Everything and everyone that exists was made by Him.  This news should not scare us.  It should give us rest. 

We should fear and stand in awe of the one and only God Who is over all nations, even those that do not acknowledge Him at all.  They may even refuse to look His way, but He sees every move they make.  From generation to generation, He is God.  Those who do fear and reverence and stand in awe of Him are blessed by Him.  He fashioned each heart to need Him.  His eye is on those who see Him for Who He is to provide for their needs even through famine and great need.  He will deliver their souls from death. 

In the closing words of this Psalm, we find a revelation of what it means to fear God.  Our soul WAITS for the Lord.  Our heart REJOICES in the Lord.  We TRUST in His holy name.  When we look around, we see His power.  When we look inward, we see our weakness.  When we look up, we rest in the peace of fear.