Today's reading in my devotional series by Andrew Murray, The Secret Series, was a great blessing to me today. Truly the church of Jesus Christ needs more of the fear of God!
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[b]The Fear of God[/b]
Blessed is the man who feareth the Lord, who delighteth greatly in His commandments.Ps. 112:1, 128:1, 4
The fear of Godthese words characterize the religion of the Old Testament and the foundation which it laid for the more abundant life of the New. The gift of holy fear is ever still the great desire of the child of God, and needs to be an essential part of any life that is to make a real impression on the world around it. It is one of the great promises of the new covenant in Jeremiah: I will make an everlasting covenant with them; [i]and I will put My fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from Me.[/i]
We find the perfect combination of two seeming opposites in Acts 9:31: The churches had peace, being edified, and [i]walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit,[/i] were multiplied. And Paul more than once gives fear a high place in the Christian life. Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who worketh in you (Phil. 2:12-13). Perfecting holiness in the fear of God (2 Cor. 7:1).
It has often been said that a lack of the fear of God is one of the things in which our modern times cannot compare favorably with the times of the Puritans and the Covenanters. No wonder, then, that there is so much cause for complaint in regard to the reading of Gods Word, regular worship in His house, and the spirit of continuous prayerall of which marked the early Church. It is essential that texts like the one at the head of this reading should be expounded and young converts fully instructed in the need and the blessing of a deep fear of God, leading to unceasing prayerfulness as one of the essential elements of the life of faith.
Let us in the inner chamber earnestly cultivate this grace. Let us hear the word coming out of the very heavens:
Who shall not fear Thee, O Lord, and glorify Thy name? For Thou only art holy.
Let us have grace whereby we may serve God acceptably [i]with reverence and godly fear[/i].
When we take the word Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord into our hearts and believe that here is one of the deepest secrets of blessedness, we shall truly seek, in every approach to God, in reverential fear to worship towards His holy temple.
Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling.
The Secret of Adoration, Day 19, by Andrew Murray
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