Who is the man that fears the Lord? Him shall He teach in the way He chooses. He himself shall dwell in prosperity, and his descendants shall inherit the earth. (Psalm 25:12-13)
In Hebrew, the word translated as “the man” is האיש ha’ish thus hinting that David might have been speaking of a specific person rather than just men in general. Some Jewish commentators identify that man as Abraham who was referred to as ha’ish (Genesis 20:7) and who, by God’s own account, feared the LORD — “Now I know that you fear God” (Genesis 22:12). Assuming Abraham was on David’s mind when he wrote this, let us consider how Abraham’s testimony lines up with what David has written in these two verses.
Abraham was called by God to leave Ur and everything else behind; he complied. Abraham was commanded to offer his son Isaac as a burnt offering; he complied with that as well. In short, He was challenged by God to die to everything and to “walk before Me and be perfect” (Genesis 17:1). Why did he do all these things? Because, as God testified of him, he feared the Almighty above all. Some people fear God’s punishment because they are looking to protect themselves. Others, like Abraham, fear God Himself because they realize their own tiny and weak existence is nothing compared to His eternal greatness. In humble servanthood, those that fear God, are motivated to refrain from sin and instead walk in the way that has been ordained for them. And as David reminds us, the path that God directs us to follow is the way of life, blessing and prosperity.
In the end, God fearers such as Abraham can go to their rest knowing that His promises do not end with them — it is propagated to their descendants. Abraham was given such a promise even though he did not live to see it come to pass. But as the writer of Hebrew says, he and others like him “were assured of them and embraced them having seen them afar off” (Hebrews 11:13). All of this is to bring us to this conclusion: in Messiah we are regarded as the seed of Abraham and heirs according to the promise (Galatians 3:29). That means that, like Abraham, we can enjoy blessing, prosperity and the promise that our descendants will inherit the land. But it also means that we must, like Abraham and so many others, learn to serve the LORD with fear because, as it is written: “By humility and the fear of the Lord are riches and honor and life” (Proverbs 22:4).
Blessings and Shalom,
Bill
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