The Fear of the Lord
Psalm 34:11-14 Come, O children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord. Which of you desires life, and covets many days to enjoy good? Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking deceit. Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it. (NRSV)
When you hear someone talking about the fear of the Lord, what picture, what image does that conjure up. A positive one, or a negative one? “The Fear of the Lord”. Hmm.
Let’s be honest. Most of us are pretty stubborn and we don’t want to be told what to do and how to live life.
For the first four decades of my life, I did it my way and it turned out to be an unmitigated disaster. I was climbing the ladder of success, as you’re supposed to do, but it took me places that I didn’t want to be. There was something missing.
These days, I look back and I know what it was: the fear of the Lord. Sounds strange, doesn’t it?
A few years back, I received an email from a terrorist in Africa. He’d been killing people for thirteen years. He heard a radio message of mine about the fear of the Lord. It was in that moment that he decided to lay down his gun. This is what he wrote:
I realised that without the fear of the Lord there can be no peace … no peace at all.
Who’d have thought?
Psalm 34:11-14 Come, O children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord. Which of you desires life, and covets many days to enjoy good? Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking deceit. Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it. (NRSV)
What a powerful verse. And it all hinges off “the fear of the Lord”. Putting God first. Respecting Him.
Come, O children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord. Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.
That’s God’s Word. Fresh … for you … today.
Blessed by this devotion?
Share it with a friend!
Respond