Text: “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.
Good morning, God-fearing Christian! Fearing the
Living Lord God Almighty, and bowing the knee in full subjection to Him, as
both our Saviour and Lord - we should fear no other. Being Jehovah’s
willing subjects, in Christ Jesus, we are assured of all His protection, power,
and Sovereign grace. Hallelujah! In Christ, we have total Victory!
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;
but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” (Proverbs 1:7)
When we regenerate Christians say that we ‘fear’ God,
we do not mean that we think of God as a Divine tyrant, sitting in Heaven,
holding a big stick with which to beat us continually in order that we might follow
His instructions or fulfil His Holy and Sovereign will. Never! We
do not ‘fear’ the Lord God of our Salvation in this manner. He is our Father
which art in Heaven, and thereby, we have no such terror or fear of Him.
No, we who are ‘born again’ of God’s Spirit, adopted
into the Spiritual family of God, the true church of Christ Jesus, show ‘fear’
in the way we totally reverence Him; the way we subject ourselves, now
willingly, to His Sovereign will; the manner in which we truly adore Him, and
sing continual praise to Him, for all He is, and for all He had done, does, and
will do for us ‘His people’. Hallelujah! We fear Thy Holy Name,
Lord God Almighty.
If we Christians experience the first aspect of ’fear’
of God, then it is for one reason only - because we have committed wilful sin
against His Holiness; because we have dared to eat of the ’forbidden fruit’ of
sin in our daily lives; and therefore KNOW we are out of close fellowship with
Him. Personal sin brings dreadful fear to the soul that has been redeemed
by the precious Blood of the sinless Lamb, Christ Jesus.
“If I regard iniquity (rebellious sin, sinful
practice, trespass against God’s revealed law and will.) in my heart, the Lord
will not hear me.” (Psalm 66:18)
“…Your iniquities have separated between you and your
God, and your sins have hid His face from you, that He will not hear…
None calleth for justice, nor any pleadeth for truth; they trust in vanity, and
speak lies; they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity.” (Isaiah
59:2-3)
Being in such a fallen or back-slidden state as these
verses from Isaiah depict, the soul of the sinner will surely feel grave dread
and fearful distress, for they are living under the fearful wrath of a thrice
Holy Lord God Almighty who cannot abide the hint of sin.
“Wherefore we receiving a Kingdom which cannot be
moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence
and godly fear: for our God is a consuming fire.” (Hebrews
12:28-29)
Verse 12. “What man is
he that feareth the Lord? The man or woman that truly ‘feareth the Lord’( feareth, meaning fears
and continually fears (reverences) the Lord.) has nothing else to fear.
Placing ourselves in complete subjection to the Almighty Lord God Jehovah -
what force, temporal or spiritual, will dare to harm a subject of the King of
all kings? Fearing the Lord God should encourage us to be fearless
Christians.
Verse 12. “He that
feareth the Lord. Present
fear begetteth Eternal security; fear God, which above all, and no need to fear
man at all.” (Augustine 354-430)
Verse 12. “…Him shall He
teach in the way in the way that He shall chose. Those whose hearts are right shall not err for want of
Heavenly direction. Where God sanctifies the heart, He enlightens the
head. We all wish to chose our way; but what a mercy it is when the Lord
directs that choice and makes free-will to be good-will! If we make our
will God’s will, God will let us have our will. God does not violate our
will, but leaves much to our choice; nevertheless, He instructs our wills, and
so we choose that which is well pleasing in His sight. The will should be
subject to Law; there is a way which we should choose, but so ignorant are we
that we need to be taught and so wilful that none but God Himself can teach us
effectively.” (C.H. Spurgeon, Treasury of David, page 128)
Verse 13. “His soul
shall dwell at ease…” “He who
fears God has nothing else to fear. “His soul shall dwell at
ease.” He shall lodge in the chamber of content. One may
sleep as soundly in the little bed in the corner as in the Great Bed of Ware;
it is not abundance but content that gives true ease.” (C.H. Spurgeon,
Treasury of David, page 128)
The Lord God Jehovah giveth His beloved sleep.
While He is continually watching over us, who or what can give us cause for
concern? Our Lord God is ‘Governor over the whole earth’. ’The Lord
is my light and my Salvation, whom shall I fear?’ Amen.
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