The law of the LORD is perfect reviving the soul. The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple. The precepts of the LORD are right, giving joy to the heart.. The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring for ever. The ordinances of the LORD are sure and altogether righteous. They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb. By them you servant is warned; in keeping them there is great reward.
Psalm 19.7-11
Do I have a right view of God? That is a question that all of us would do well to consider for if our view of God is not that which his word sets before us then we will simply not be the people we should be and we shall not give him the reverence that is his due.
It is important therefore that we search the Scriptures in order to know God as he has revealed himself. It is a huge subject and we will only know him fully when we see him face to face in heaven when we shall know as we are fully known. 1 Corinthians 13.12
As we grow in our knowledge of him we surely cannot do other than delight in him as David did as we share the understanding that drew from him the wonder and worship of this Psalm which has been the focus of our attention this week.
Today we come to the ‘fear of the LORD’. Because of our immediate understanding of the word fear rather than what it means in its particular usage here it is all too easy to wonder what the Psalmist is saying when he describes the fear of the LORD as pure and lasting for ever.
So just some brief reflections today on what it is in the fear of the LORD that so delights him and has eternal significance.
The fear of the LORD is pure. It is pure because he is pure in every sense of that word. It is a beautiful word
‘Pure (adjective) not mixed’ is how one online dictionary puts it and I think that is helpful. There is nothing in the fear of the LORD that in any way dilutes or compromises the Godhead.
To fear the LORD is to have a deep respect, reverence and awe for God’s power and authority. His very being is perfect. Paul writes of him in this way:
God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honour and might forever. Amen. 1 Timothy 6.15-16.
The state of the world in which we live brings us back again and again to wonder where all the messiness and brokenness will end up. So it is incumbent upon God’s people to acknowledge that ultimately he is ‘the only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords’ and call people to fear him. How do we do this? By living lives of purity! Lives which stand out from the way of the world. Lives which in the words of our Church Verse for the year ‘in all your ways acknowledge him.
May the world see that doing that makes a profound difference to the way we live. May the world daily see ‘the beauty of Jesus’ in us. Jesus the one who is the image of the invisible God Colossians 1.15 in whom we have eternal hope.
As I reflected thus this morning these words came to mind.
Restore, O Lord,
The honour of Your name,
In works of sovereign power
Come shake the earth again;
That all may see
And come with reverent fear
To the living God,
Whose kingdom shall outlast the years.