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Wonder, Awe & Fear of the Lord

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“True religion, in great part, consists in holy affections”
– Jonathan Edwards

We checked out joy and thanksgiving last week. Now, let’s turn to Psalm 19 to consider others: wonder, awe, and fear of the Lord.

Psalm 19

The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
Day to day pours out speech,
and night to night reveals knowledge.
There is no speech, nor are there words,
whose voice is not heard.
Their voice goes out through all the earth,
and their words to the end of the world.
In them he has set a tent for the sun,
which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber,
and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy.
Its rising is from the end of the heavens,
and its circuit to the end of them,
and there is nothing hidden from its heat.

The law of the Lord is perfect,
reviving the soul;
the testimony of the Lord is sure,
making wise the simple;
the precepts of the Lord are right,
rejoicing the heart;
the commandment of the Lord is pure,
enlightening the eyes;
the fear of the Lord is clean,
enduring forever;
the rules of the Lord are true,
and righteous altogether.
More to be desired are they than gold,
even much fine gold;
sweeter also than honey
and drippings of the honeycomb.
Moreover, by them is your servant warned;
in keeping them there is great reward.

Who can discern his errors?
Declare me innocent from hidden faults.
Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins;
let them not have dominion over me!
Then I shall be blameless,
and innocent of great transgression.

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable in your sight,
O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

What are the big takeaways from this Psalm?

The Psalmist teaches us two important points concerning the affections of wonder, awe, and fear of the Lord.

1. Wonder and awe flow from reflecting upon God’s works and words.

The first two-thirds of the Psalm list praise after praise after praise. The writer is meditating upon all the ways in which God amazes him. It’s as if he was standing in front of the Grand Canyon one second in awe-struck wonder, then the next is whisked away to Mt. Everest, then to the rainforest of northeast Australia, and so on. To an even greater degree, he can barely catch his breath as he reflects upon the beauty and greatness of God. It’s in turning from one work of God to the next as well as one aspect of His Word to the next, that he finds himself in wonder and awe. Far too often we are underwhelmed by God, and that’s primarily because we’ve fit God into a neat little box that we can wrap our minds around. We must dwell on his greatness, or praise and satisfaction in Him will cease to be found.

2. Reverent fear of the Lord fuels humility and faithfulness.

The wonder that the writer feels toward God as he considers God’s works and the fear of the Lord that he experiences as he dwells on His Word, both contribute to the humility and desire for faithfulness that is expressed in the final three verses. When we feel like we have everything figured out or we’re better than those around us (Let’s be real, we’ve all been there)—when that happens, our pride swells. We have a screwed up perspective. We begin to think that we’ve somehow been slighted when others don’t praise us or treat us as we expect, or we begin to assume that authority over our lives. We belittle others, get angry at our family, friends, or coworkers, and rebel against authority in our lives.

But when we have a proper perspective—fearing God for His ultimate greatness and authority—then we begin to produce the humility and faithfulness of Christ. It’s as we keep God high and lifted up in our mind’s eye that we begin to walk in a way that honors God and loves mankind.

Jesus’ Ascension: Why Does It Matter?

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We often skip right over the next major event in Jesus’ life after the resurrection: his ascension. We don’t really get why it matters, so we just move right past it. But Jesus explained that it’s better for us if He ascends to the Father than stays physically with us (John 16:7). Why is that?

There are actually a host of reasons: Jesus’ rule and reign over all things has been established (Philippians 2:9-11), His sending of the Holy Spirit as a result (John 16:7-15), His intercession for us before the Father (Hebrews 7:25), etc.

But one of the greatest benefits is…

Our Access to God in Prayer

Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
-Hebrews 4:14-16

Jesus ascended, “passing through the heavens,” in order that we might go to God through Him. Specifically, the author of Hebrews encourages us to pray in full confidence that God will hear us and help us in our time of need.

We don’t have to pray in a certain direction, at a certain time of day, or with a certain person. Instead, the good news of Jesus’ ascension is that we simply go to God through Jesus who sits in heaven with the Father.

God will hear our prayers because of Jesus’ work and righteousness as he intercedes for us.

So let’s listen to the author of Hebrews and go confidently and regularly to God in prayer.

The Living Dead

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We’re turning toward how we are called to sacrificially invest through strategic mission in evangelism—sharing the gospel. And we are beginning by considering just what that Gospel is. So we’re turning to one of the richest passages in Scripture to meditate upon that Gospel message.

The Living Dead (vv.1-3)
Zombies are in. From The Walking Dead to World War Z, we are obsessed with zombies. The idea of the living dead is not new to our society. Zombie movies have been made for decades now, but spiritually, this concept actually reflects a truth that is as old as the Scriptures.
What we find in Ephesians 2:1-10 is that we really are in one sense living dead. In our sin, that is rebellion against God’s good intentions, we are living and breathing and acting in this world, but we are spiritually, relationally, and emotionally broken, more than that, truly dead.

The Disease
It’s not Ebola, nor is it some other virus or biological weapon of most zombie movies, but the disease we are infected with is sin, a rebellion against God and a brokenness in our humanity.
Because of this sin, we don’t flourish as God intends. Instead, we follow the “passions of our flesh.” We are “carrying out the desires of the body and the mind.” Rather than God’s beautiful desires for abundant life, we pursue base, sinful subhuman desires, and we continue in that path as long as we are left on our own.

The Consequences
So, Paul says, we’re children of wrath, which means we have a coming inheritance of wrath from God. As a result of choosing sin and evil, we deserve just punishment from a righteous God. We deserve justice and death.

Again, we’re dead men walking. We are stuck in this pattern apart from intervention. We won’t suddenly snap out of it. We can’t suddenly revive ourselves and avoid the just punishment from our righteous God. We are in desperate need of an outside intervention. And in verse 4, “But God” signifies the beginning of that intervention. The human condition is dire, BUT there is more to the story of the Gospel.

God Gave True Life (vv. 4-9)
Immeasurable Grace
God has intervened because the richness of his mercy and “the great love with which he loved us.” He did not leave us without hope in our horrid condition. Through Jesus, he shows “the immeasurable riches of his grace.” The work of Jesus that this passage refers to is the death he experienced on the cross. He took our disease—our sin—and death—our consequence—upon himself. He made us a way to exchange our inheritance of wrath for his inheritance: abundant, eternal life.

 Through faith not works
Paul makes it really clear that this life we receive has no connection to our works. It’s totally a gift by the work of Jesus. We simply receive this immeasurable grace and life by trusting (having faith) in God and his ability to bring new life.

We’re Alive for a Purpose (v. 10)
Glorifying God by Doing Good
The good news of the Gospel doesn’t just end once we are rescued from death by God’s immeasurable love and grace. In fact, it leads us and empowers us to live truly human lives. God saves us glorify Him by doing good works. This is what we were created for, and now we are freed from the disease of sin to actually live our God intended purpose: experiencing and spreading true abundant life.

Have you trusted in God for true, abundant life, or are you still trusting in yourself and settling for a life far from God’s beautiful intention? Trust Him today. (If you have questions, feel free to message me about any of this.)

Have you been trusting in Him but not enjoying the full riches of this new life because you’ve missed that God saved you for a purpose? Consider how God is calling you to use your freedom and life in Christ to glorifying Him by doing good in the world.

Intentional Discipleship: An Essential for Renewal

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Many people think of making disciples as the end game of a healthy church. In reality, though, renewal only comes as disciples are made.

John 1:35-51 makes this reality clear.

In all of John 1, Jesus is the source of abundant life and renewal. In verses 35-51, discipleship is connected with experiencing this abundant life through Jesus.

In the passage, you find that through discipleship, Jesus provides abundant life. This isn’t because people are following a particular program or some religious ritual that we call discipleship. Instead, it’s because discipleship is primarily seeing and showing Jesus: the source of abundant life.

Nineteen times in this passage, terms concerning “seeing” or “beholding” are utilized. Jesus’ call to follow Him as a disciple is a call to “Behold Him.”

Just as individuals cannot find life and revitalization apart from beholding Jesus in discipleship, neither can a church. Churches must pursue intentional discipleship now in order to experience the renewal that only comes from beholding Jesus.

May we not wait to see disciples made, but let us make disciples here and now.