Worship with Love and Fear
I have heard it said that a repentance born of fear is no repentance at all. However, I can’t help but wonder how a person cannot fear our Awesome God. Deuteronomy 5:29 records God being moved by the Israelites’ attitude of fear and awe towards Him. He spoke to Moses and said, “Oh that they had such a mind as this always, to fear me and to keep all my commandments, that it might go well with them and with their children forever!” The Hebrew word for fear used in this verse is “yare” which means afraid, terrible, dreadful, reverence, and fear. Notice that ‘reverence’ is smack dab in the middle of uncomfortable words. Our culture is not a very reverent culture (especially here in the United States). The word ‘reverent’ isn’t used very much, but if we look up the meaning of the word, we are told it means “deep solemn respect”. If we look up synonyms, we find words like: respect, worship, groveling, humility, and awe. Our culture has separated worship from fear. The ancient Hebrews didn’t have a separate word for reverence. Fear of the Lord meant all of those things. It meant a deep solemn respect mingled with dread and fear. To them, the two could not be separated. Perhaps, we would be wise to remember that our worship is incomplete without fear.
The book of Ecclesiastes ends by saying this: “Fear God, and keep His commandments; for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.” (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14) How arrogant the man who fears not the One who can cast his soul into eternal damnation. In today’s reading we have a call to repentance. This call comes on the heels of a description of the calamity that has befallen the Israelite people. To say they were afraid would be a very accurate statement. In fact, one could easily say that fear of “the Day of the Lord” mentioned in verse 11 directly leads to the call for repentance in verse 12. Matthew Henry commented that repentance was the reason for the calamity itself. He said, “God brings us into straits, that He may bring us to repentance and so bring us to Himself.” The two go hand in hand. Fear often leads us to repentance.
Should we fear the mighty hand of God? Jesus said, “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear Him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matthew 10:28). Psalm 111:10 tells us, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; a good understanding have all those who practice it. His praise endures forever!” Love and fear do not need to be at odds with one another. I love the Lord. I run to Him with every injury and worry. I cling to Him as my Savior and Father. As much as I adore my Maker, I never want to diminish the reality of His power and authority. As Natalie Grant sings, “How could I make you so small when you’re the One who holds it all? When did I forget that you’ve always been the King of the World?” It is time we add reverence back into our worship.
(Written by Keegan Harkins.)
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