Fear of the Lord V: Our Good
This week we’re continuing our series on the fear of the Lord with Chuck Baggett, co-pastor at Christ Church New Albany.
In this episode, we’re talking about how fearing God is for our good.
A healthy fear of God is a filial fear, as a son fears his father. An awe-filled reverence of both His bigness and His goodness.
The fear of God is a blessing to us. There is unexpected happiness in living for this King.
There are real fears in this life. If we are not in Christ, God is One who is to be feared. We ought to be terrified if we stand before Him without a Mediator, a Redeemer for our sins.
Scripture reminds us again and again of the gift and blessing that comes from fearing God:
“How blessed is everyone who fears the LORD, Who walks in His ways” (Psalm 128:1).
“God blesses us, That all the ends of the earth may fear Him” (Psalm 67:7).
“Praise the LORD! How blessed is the man who fears the LORD, Who greatly delights in His commandments” (Psalm 112:1).
“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord
And whose trust is the Lord” (Jeremiah 17:7).
This can also be translated as, “Happy is the man who trusts in the Lord.” The Christian is genuinely happy.
The descriptions in Scripture are “blessings.” It is plural. The believer, one walking with the Lord, reaps blessings upon blessings. God gives good gifts to His children. And He gives them liberally.
“How great is Your goodness which You have stored up for those who fear You” (Psalm 31:19).
1. The fear of the Lord is a gift.
The fear of God is not natural to us. Sin has uprooted our fear of Him. In Romans 3, we read that we are born sinful, guilty. “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
Biblical fear flows out of forgiveness and love. It is a gift from Him.
“They shall be My people, and I will be their God; and I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me always, for their own good and for the good of their children after them. I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; and I will put the fear of Me in their hearts so that they will not turn away from Me. I will rejoice over them to do them good and will faithfully plant them in this land with all My heart and with all My soul” (Jeremiah 32:38-41).
We were held in bondage, but now we’ve been given the spirit of adoption. If we belong to God, this fear is there.
2. God delights in our fear of Him.
He prizes the very gift He’s given to us.
“The Lord said to Satan, ‘Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil’” (Job 1:8).
“We have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God” (Colossians 1:9-10).
This reminder to walk worthy of God means to walk toward what delights Him.
“Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, And a branch from his roots will bear fruit. The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him, The spirit of wisdom and understanding, The spirit of counsel and strength, The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. And He will delight in the fear of the LORD” (Isaiah 11:1–3).
God delights in the Son, who delights in the fear of the Father. We are daily being made in the image of this Son.
God is pleased by our fear of Him. Are you cultivating the fear of God in your heart? Do you prize it in the way God prizes it?
Infinitely great, and infinitely gracious God, Your glory exceeds our utmost thoughts, and Your mercies are over all Your works.
We, Your sinful creatures, have particular reason to admire and adore, not only patience, which bears with us, despite all that we have done against You, but likewise Your never-ceasing bounty, by which our comforts are continued, and our wants are supplied.
We desire to approach You as our kind and merciful Father in Jesus Christ, humbly beseeching You to wash away our sins in His most precious blood, and to give us a sufficient measure of Your grace and Holy Spirit, to enable us to strive and prevail against them. Amen.— Augustus Toplady
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