What does it mean to fear the Lord? We have all heard the term, but what does it actually mean and how is it lived out in our lives?
And how can a simple parenting principle not only help us in our parenting but, also, help us better understand the fear of the Lord?
Today’s Readings:
1 Chronicles 15 & 16
Psalm 78.12-16
Proverbs 19.22-24
Acts 7.44-60
What Does It Mean to Fear the Lord?
Proverbs 19.22-24:
All the Way, Right Away, with a Happy Heart
Verse 23a says, “The fear of the Lord leads to life.”
The fear of the Lord is not the cowering fear of an abusive God who is just waiting to clobber us because we fall short. It’s worshipful respect.
But it’s, also, knowing that God is God and that He loves us enough to discipline us if we’re determined to go our own way instead of His. He does so because He knows that His way is the way that leads to life no matter how it looks to us.
Living in the fear of the Lord doesn’t just involve our one-on-one relationship with Him. It is how we live our lives every minute of every day. It’s obeying His commands and precepts in all areas of our lives. It’s how we treat others, our attitude toward authority, our motives for all that we do, and much more.
Sometimes when I counsel younger children I teach them a phrase I learned many years ago from Ginger Hubbard, “Obey all the way, right away, with a happy heart!”
That’s good advice for all of us, but what does it mean and what does it have to do with the fear of the Lord? Let me explain why I think it has everything to do with it.
Obey All the Way
In 1 Samuel 15, King Saul was commanded to destroy the Amalekites and all their livestock for their sin against Israel. Instead, he spared King Agag and the best of the animals.
13 Then Samuel went to Saul, and Saul said to him, “Blessed are you of the Lord! I have performed the commandment of the Lord.”
14 But Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?”
15 And Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites; for the people spared the best of the sheep and the oxen, to sacrifice to the Lord your God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.”
Instead of obeying God “all the way” Saul justified doing things his own way. When he was confronted, he blamed the people. And if that wasn’t bad enough, he claimed he did it for God.
16 Then Samuel said to Saul, “Be quiet! And I will tell you what the Lord said to me last night.”
18 Now the Lord sent you on a mission, and said, ‘Go, and utterly destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.’ 19 Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord? Why did you swoop down on the spoil, and do evil in the sight of the Lord?”
20 And Saul said to Samuel, “But I have obeyed the voice of the Lord, and gone on the mission on which the Lord sent me, and brought back Agag king of Amalek; I have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. 21 But the people took of the plunder, sheep and oxen, the best of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal.”
Obedience is Better Than Sacrifice
22 So Samuel said:
“Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,
As in obeying the voice of the Lord?
Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,
And to heed than the fat of rams.
23 For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft,
And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.
Because you have rejected the word of the Lord,
He also has rejected you from being king.”
In his own mind, Saul looked pretty good. He had mostly done what God commanded. But God is not looking at what people see. He is looking at the heart.
Saul’s failure to obey “all the way” cost him the kingdom. But more importantly, it demonstrated that he did not truly fear the Lord. He didn’t see the need to obey. He thought his way was good enough.
What about you and me? Are we sold out to obey God completely? Or do we compare ourselves to other people and think, “Well, I’m pretty good. At least I don’t do such and such,” while we hold back our complete obedience?
Right Away
Earlier in the year, we read about Abraham and his twenty-five-year wait for the promised son. And then this:
¹ Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!”
And he said, “Here I am.”
2 Then He said, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”
Can you even imagine? I can’t! But look at Abraham’s response:
3 So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. 4 Then on the third day Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off. 5 And Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you.”
He didn’t try to talk himself or God out of it. He “rose early in the morning.” He didn’t just obey, he obeyed “right away” because he trusted God.
Again, it begs the question, “What about us?” Do we obey right away or sometimes drag our feet hoping to find a loophole?
With a Happy Heart
As I said, God is always looking at the heart (1 Sam. 16.7). He’s not impressed with our religious activity (Is. 29.13), our attempts to look good to others (Acts 5.1-10), or our begrudging obedience (2 Cor. 9.7).
When you and I are convicted by the Word but obedience is inconvenient or difficult, what is our heart attitude? Are we able to obey joyfully? Are we quick to obey? Do we obey completely or try to get by doing as little as possible? Are we living in the genuine fear of the Lord that helps us “obey all the way, right away, with a happy heart”?
The only way that is possible is if we grow in our understanding of all that the gospel means. It comes as we get to know God’s character and trust in His love and sovereign control of all the circumstances of our lives. And it comes as we fall more deeply in love with Jesus through the pages of His Word and by spending time with Him in prayer.
But we must also realize that He alone is God. He is the Creator of all things and, as such, He has the authority to rule over His creation, including us. He is not only our God, our Savior, and our Father, He is the Righteous Judge. One day He will judge all sin and evil but, even now, He disciplines His rebellious children for our good and His glory.
Understanding all the aspects of His character and acting accordingly is to walk in the fear of the Lord.
Today’s Other Readings
1 Chronicles 15 & 16:
By the Way … Bless Me
If you remember, David’s first attempt to bring the stolen Ark of the Covenant back to Jerusalem hadn’t gone well (2 Sam. 6.6-8; 1 Chron. 13.1-10). But here in 1 Chronicles 15, we find David once again preparing to bring the Ark back. This time he does it in a way that is honoring to God (1 Chron. 15.1-15). Whether he spent time reading the scrolls or talking to the priests, he had learned the importance of following God’s specific instructions for moving it.
2 Then David said, “No one may carry the ark of God but the Levites, for the Lord has chosen them to carry the ark of God and to minister before Him forever.”
11 And David called for Zadok and Abiathar the priests, and for the Levites: for Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel, and Amminadab. 12 He said to them, “You are the heads of the fathers’ houses of the Levites; sanctify yourselves, you and your brethren, that you may bring up the ark of the Lord God of Israel to the place I have prepared for it. 13 For because you did not do it the first time, the Lord our God broke out against us, because we did not consult Him about the proper order.”
14 So the priests and the Levites sanctified themselves to bring up the ark of the Lord God of Israel. 15 And the children of the Levites bore the ark of God on their shoulders, by its poles, as Moses had commanded according to the word of the Lord.
Sometimes we, too, have a heart to do something for God, but we jump out there and do it without really seeking to understand if it’s the way He wants it done or if it’s His will. Instead of prayerfully seeking Him, we go do our own thing and then ask God to bless our plan.
In Spirit and Truth
Everything the Israelites did in regard to the ark was part of their worship. It represented the presence of God with them.
When it comes to worship, we can be thankful that we have a new and better covenant as the book of Hebrews tells us (Heb. 8.6). We are no longer under the ceremonial law with all of its restrictions and prohibitions (like “don’t touch the ark, unless you’re a Levite”). But the Old Testament laws were given so that we might better understand who God is.
In this case, we’re to realize that He is a holy God and should be honored as such. In the New Testament Jesus said, “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth” (Jn. 4.24).
Worship is to come from the heart, in sincerity. The word “sincere” means “without wax.” In ancient times if pottery was of poor quality, it would get small cracks. To cover them up, unscrupulous merchants would fill the cracks with wax. When we worship Him in sincerity—”without wax”—we do it without hypocrisy, openly, with pure hearts, honestly confessing our sins to Him, because, while we may be able to fool others by covering the cracks, we cannot fool God.
But we’re also to worship Him in truth by following His commands and precepts. And by worshiping Him for who He is and not coming up with a God of our own design as so many do today.
Psalm 78.12-16 & 1 Chronicles 16.8-36:
The Sweet Psalmist of Israel
In this portion of Psalm 78 the psalmist continued to extol the works of God which I talked about yesterday in “Do Your Kids Know Your Testimony? … & Why They Should”. So instead of commenting further on those verses, I’d like to talk about David’s psalm in our Chronicles reading (1 Chron. 16.8-36).
David is called “the sweet psalmist of Israel.” What a beautiful example we see here. Especially note the verbs and what they show us about how to praise and worship God, such as: give thanks, call, sing, talk, glory, seek, remember, proclaim, declare, give, bring, tremble, and say.
As you worship God in the days to come, it might be good to look back at this psalm and incorporate some of those ideas into your worship, if you don’t already.
Acts 7.44-60:
Stephen’s Martyrdom
Stephen’s testimony before the Sanhedrin was so powerful and so convicting that rather than allow their hearts to be convicted by the truth, they flew into a rage and stoned an innocent man. Verses 54-59:
54 When the members of the Sanhedrin heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him. 55 But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56 “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”
57 At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, 58 dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul.
59 While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep.
In contrast to their rage, Stephen “looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.”
Would I Have the Courage?
In the classic book Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, Foxe wrote about men and women who were willing to die rather than deny Christ. I’m always amazed at their peace and trust in God. It’s tempting to wonder, “Would I have the courage to do that?”
I trust that I would, not because of any bravery on my part, but because of the promises of God. Hebrews 13.5 says:
… “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” 6 So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?”
And Hebrews 4 gives us the key:
14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. 16 Let us then 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.
“… mercy and grace to help us in our time of need.” We don’t have the grace and courage to be martyred for our faith … because we don’t need it right now. But if God ever allowed us to be in that situation, He would give us the grace we need to bring Him glory in the midst of it!
What about You? Questions to Ponder or Journal:
How do you respond when the Word convicts your heart? Do you get mad, reject it, or get defensive? Do you put it on the back burner thinking you will deal with it later? Or do you respond with humility, repentance, and obedience? Do you obey all the way, right away, with a happy heart?
Coming Up:
In the coming days, we’ll talk about the importance of godly friends, how history is “His-story,” Christians and alcohol, the foolishness of arguing, and how to find true peace and contentment.
I hope you’ll sign up so you don’t miss any of them. You might also like to check out our new sister site Joyful Marriage Ministries. While you’re there, click the “events” tab for information on our upcoming events and ministries, like our Marriage ICU© for couples who are experiencing problems that require one-on-one help.
If this post spoke to you, I would so appreciate it if you would share it on your favorite social media platform.
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Blessings as you grow in Christ,
Donna ♥
Note about this post:
I began blogging through the Bible in 2012 and have done so every year since then. These posts are the product of many edits and additions throughout those years. Some days I make major changes, other days fewer.
I recently read Jen Wilkin’s book None Like Him about the attributes of God. One is His incomprehensibility. In it, she says, “God is incomprehensible. This does not mean that he is unknowable, but that he is unable to be fully known.”
I have found that to be true each year as I’ve gone back through the Bible. Sometimes I find myself feeling as if a passage just appeared there for the first time. I’m reminded that no matter how many times we read through the Bible, we have only scratched the surface. I hope you feel the same.
Indeed these are the mere edges of His ways,
And how small a whisper we hear of Him!
But the thunder of His power who can understand?” (Job 26.14)
I sometimes LINKUP with these blogs.
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