God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be held in reverence by all those around Him. (Psalm 89:7)
Have you ever been told that you have to face your fears in order to conquer them? When we tell this to someone or hear it for ourselves, those things we are compelled to face and overcome aren’t truly worthy of our fear and dread, actually. In fact, I would say that the point of facing them is to realize that we should have never feared them. Whether they be men, institutions or the imaginary boogeyman lurking in the dark, they are created things; created either by man or by God.
Throughout time, heathen peoples have worshiped the planets and stars and regarded them as something to be feared, even though their own myths acknowledge that the celestial bodies were created by something greater. In today’s world, men venerate luxuries, ideologies and institutions — products of our own making — and in some cases we have grown to fear some of those very same things (think IRS or AI). Why are we so hesitant to acknowledge that, anything we have created can disappear overnight and, therefore, is unworthy of our dread? More importantly, why do we stubbornly refuse to acknowledge that all other forces in this world were fashioned by a Creator, and consequently, He alone is worthy of our fear and dread?
That is precisely the point made in the verses above. We should not live in fear and dread of created things; we should fear the One who created all things. In Isaiah it is written that if we are to fear anything or anyone, we should fear God; “Let Him be your fear, and let Him be your dread” (Isaiah 8:13). Though we like to think of Him as Daddy, we must remember that He is also King, and it behooves us to show the appropriate reverence. He is the One who has all power and authority; He has the ability to cast both soul and body in torment and, therefore, should be honored as the Supreme Judge. When we hold Him in proper esteem, the result is we do not have to live in fear of man. As David said, “The Lord is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid?” (Psalm 27:1).
Blessings and Shalom,
Bill
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