Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him,
on those who hope in his steadfast love,
that he may deliver their soul from death
and keep them alive in famine. Psalm 33.18-19
Two Christian virtues that are not well understood these days are fearing God and hoping in His love. Both are included in this part of the Psalm and neither is complicated. Today, I'll offer a few thoughts on the fear of God and next time hoping in Him.
Fearing God is simply the recognition that He is dangerous. He is not a safe God. Some will be put off by that, but that is probably because they are not sufficiently well-read in their Bibles. Read about what happened to Nadab and Abihu (Leviticus 10) and Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5), and you can easily understand what I mean when I say that He is dangerous. But be careful! 'Dangerous' does not mean capricious or tyrannical or hot-tempered. A high voltage power line is none of those things, but it is still dangerous. Those who understand this danger and respond wisely to it are kept safe. Likewise, God is dangerous.
The danger of God is all about His character. One aspect of His character is that He is holy God. He despises anything that isn't holy. Psalm 5 uses the language of 'abhor' and 'hate' in describing God's response to the unholy. This is not a common notion associated with God these days, but it is a true notion. God is holy and abhors anything or anyone who isn't. As a result, it is His intention to obliterate any who are not holy. He is dangerous.
Now, what is a wise response to this dangerous God? For the unholy like us there is only one wise response. Come to Jesus as Savior and Lord. At the Cross Jesus faced the dangerous God. He was obliterated on that Cross. That happened because of our unholiness which was placed on Him. Because of the Cross Jesus provides safety so that we can approach God. This much is commonly known among evangelical Christians. What is often neglected, however, is the fact that this God is still dangerous because He is still holy. And so, His expectation is that we Christians will now work at becoming holy as He is holy. He fully recognizes how bad a job we will do at this. Jesus' sacrifice covers these failing attempts of ours. But that does not mean we no longer need to be careful around that high voltage line. God is still dangerous. And so, while Jesus' Cross covers our inability to make much progress in this holiness thing, it does not excuse any laziness on our part. In fact, not a few foolish Christians have been seriously zapped with some pretty high voltage as a consequence of their refusal to work at holy living. They were not being careful around the dangerous God. These first zaps are intended to alert these Christians to their lackadaisical attitude when it comes to their pursuit of holiness. The zaps are warnings. The hope is that there will be more care in the future. But if they are ignored, these zaps become stronger, more painful, until, if there is still a refusal to be careful, there is a fatal consequence. God is dangerous. Because of that He is to be feared.
The next 'Musing' will look at that other Christian virtue: hoping in God's love.