Bible Reading: Psa. 2; 1 Pet. 3:15-22
“Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling.” -Psalm 2:11 KJV
The word translated “fear” in many versions of the Bible comes from the Hebrew word yirah which has a range of meaning in the Scriptures. Sometimes it refers to the fear we feel in anticipation of some danger or pain, but it can also mean “awe” or “reverence.” In this latter sense, yirah includes the idea of wonder, amazement, mystery, astonishment, gratitude, admiration, and even worship. The “fear of the LORD” therefore includes an overwhelming sense of the glory, worth, and beauty of the One True God.
Some of the sages link the word yirah with the word for seeing. When we really see life as it is, we will be filled with wonder and awe over the glory of it all. Every bush will be aflame with the Presence of God and the ground we walk upon shall suddenly be perceived as holy (Exod. 3:2-5). Nothing will seem small, trivial, or insignificant. In this sense, “fear and trembling” before the LORD is a description of the inner awareness of the sanctity of life itself (Psalm 2:11, Phil. 2:12).
Abraham Heschel wrote, “Awe is an intuition for the dignity of all things, a realization that things not only are what they are but also stand, however remotely, for something supreme. Awe is a sense of transcendence, for the mystery beyond all things. It enables us to perceive in the world intimations of the divine, to sense the ultimate in the common and the simple: to feel in the rush of the passing the stillness of the eternal. What we cannot comprehend by analysis, we become aware of in awe” (Heschel: God in Search of Man). He continued by quoting, “The awe of God is the beginning of wisdom” (Psalm 111:10) and noted that such awe is not the goal of wisdom, but rather its means. We start with awe and that leads us to wisdom. For the Christian, this wisdom ultimately is revealed in the love of God as demonstrated in the sacrificial death of His Son. The awesome love of God for us is the end or goal of the word of God. We were both created and redeemed in order to know, love, and worship God forever.
So we are expected to do as in Psalm 2:11 KJV: “Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling.”
Prayer: Father, fill me with the awe of you in Jesus name.
Bro. Biodun Oyapero