I previously wrote about how Jesus took delight in the fear of the Lord. What does that look like in practical terms for us if we would like to enter into the same experience?
One of the first things that comes to my mind is that we must come to a correct view of God. This is the precise point at which the world fails.
“There is no fear of God before their eyes.” -Romans 3:18
The condition of the world is such that humanity walks around on a planet that God created, and yet fails to give Him the glory that is due His name as Creator.
One aspect of the fear of the Lord must certainly be to recognize God as Almighty, the Creator of all things.
It should be immediately apparent that the world we live in was not formed by us. We have no power to create sun, moon or stars. Even our own existence is not because we willed it to be so. Someone will say, “Well, my parents willed it”. Yes, but they had no power to decide who was going to come out of the birth canal! YOU entered the world when your mother gave birth and not someone else. God decided it would be you!
“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb… Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” -Psalm 139
What should this tell us?
That God is infinitely of a different order, and magnitude, and enormity and power than what we are. There is no comparison between God and us. Every time we look at the world around us we should be aware of that. How did I get here? How did the world come into existence? These questions should create a sense of awe, a deep mystery, and the fear of the Lord within us.
The vastness and intricacy of the creation points to the enormity and the wisdom of the Creator.
He is self-existent; I am but dust!
It would seem impossible not to realize this fact, but it is precisely the thing the Apostle Paul addresses when he talks about a world who has lost its fear of God.
“Because what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world his invisible attributes—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, because they are understood through what has been made. So people are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not glorify him as God or give him thanks, but they became futile in their thoughts and their senseless hearts were darkened.” -Romans 1:16-21
It should be an absolute delight to look at the world around us and to consider the fact that God made it. In the creation we see the hand of God in divine power!
The thought is staggering! What must this God be like to have created it all? If we were in our right mind we would definitely fear Him!
And what infinite love that He decided to put us on this globe!
We should be in awe and reverence of God for it all. Every living thing, including ourselves, owes our existence to God. Every heartbeat, every breath, every moment that we have on this planet is because God deemed it so.
I don’t want to skip over this because it’s possible to walk through life completely unaware. But what a wonderful thing it is when God opens our eyes! There are times when I look at the world around me and I’m caught up in the moment. I suddenly see with such vividness, God my Creator! I’m swept up into the tangible reality that I am on a planet in this solar system that God created and I exist solely because He has caused it to be so! I’m a speck compared to His infinity! And yet He decided I would be brought into this world. Should not the very thought strike us with amazement?
“To whom then will you compare me, that I should be like him? says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high and see: who created these? He who brings out their starry host by number, calling them all by name; by the greatness of his might and because he is strong in power, not one is missing.” -Isa 40:25-26
The all-powerful God who spoke the sprawling universes into existence, filling the night sky with planets and stars…
But wait… Here I am in the midst of it all! He made ME! He’s calling ME! In this vast creation of His, I matter to Him.
When Jesus walked the earth He took great delight in all of this! He gloried in the wisdom, love and power of His Father, seeing in the creation, the hand, the heart, and mind of the One who created it all!
This is but one aspect of delighting in the fear of the Lord, but a good one, I think, to start with. Because it is at just this point that the world miserably fails to glorify God.
God as Creator, should be most obvious of all, because His creation is before our eyes every moment of our existence!
It brings me great delight to think of it!
It also humbles me when I compare who He is with who I am.
“Let all the earth fear the LORD; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him!” -Psalm 33:8