Introduction:
Last week we were in Psalm 103 verses 1-6 and I talked about being contagious for the things of God. This week we are looking at the subject of fearing God.
Psalm 103
7
He made known his ways to Moses,
his deeds to the people of Israel:
8
The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.
9
He will not always accuse,
nor will he harbor his anger forever;
10
he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.
11
For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him;
12
as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
13
As a father has compassion on his children,
so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;
Prayer
Have you ever been afraid?
What is your greatest
Is it sickness, money trouble, an accident, growing old, death,
losing your good looks, spiders or big spiders?
2 Timothy 1:7 (NKJV)
7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
Everybody knows about FEAR
BUT, do we fear the right things?
Verses 11 and 13 in out text:
11
For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him;
13
As a father has compassion on his children,
so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;
1 John 4:18 (NIV)
18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
So how do we marry this dichotomy?
How can we fear God while he expels all fear?
Scripture is full of examples of how fearing God is a positive rather than a negative thing.
For example in Genesis 42:18, Joseph wins his brothers’ trust
when he declares he is a God-fearing man. It was because the midwives feared God that they obeyed him instead of the authorities by sparing the Hebrew babies (Exodus 1:17).
Pharaoh brought disaster on his nation because he did not fear God (Exodus 9:29-31).
Moses chose leaders to help him on the basis that they feared God and wouldn’t take bribes (Exodus 18:21) and told the Hebrews that God met with them in a terrifying display of his power so that they wouldn’t sin (Exodus 20:20).
The Mosaic Law cites fear of God as a reason to treat the disabled and elderly well (Leviticus 19:14, 32).
And lest you think this is only an Old Testament idea, note that Jesus states this stronger than anyone when he says,
Matthew 10:28 (NIV)
28 Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
2 Corinthians 7:1 (NIV)
7 Therefore, since we have these promises, dear friends, let us
purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.
Illustration: FEAR OF THE LORD
In The Chronicles of Narnia, an allegory by C.S. Lewis,
“Ooh,” said Susan, “I though he was a man. Is he quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion.” “That you will, dearie.” said Mrs. Beaver. “And make no mistake, if there’s anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knee’s knocking, they’re either braver than most or else just silly.”
“Then isn’t he safe?” said Lucy. “Safe?” said Mr. Beaver. “Don’t you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? Of course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the king, I tell you!”
Romans 3:10-18 (NIV)
10 As it is written:
“There is no one righteous, not even one; 11 there is no one who understands;
there is no one who seeks God. 12 All have turned away,
they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good,
not even one.”
13 “Their throats are open graves;
their tongues practice deceit.”
“The poison of vipers is on their lips.”
14 “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.” 15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16 ruin and misery mark their ways,
17 and the way of peace they do not know.”
18
“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
Closing:
Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, but love from the Lord is its completion.