Marvel in Fear

1: one that causes wonder or astonishment 2: intense surprise or interest: ASTONISHMENT
1. wonderful thing: something that inspires awe, amazement, or admiration


I am currently involved in a Bible study with some friends from church. We are studying the book of Romans, which you may recognize as the book that most resonates with my soul. We were discussing the first chapter, where Paul writes about how God was reacting to people who knowingly rejected His message. I mentioned that people who do not have a fear of the Lord will not do well.

A little while after I said this, I was asked to define my meaning of ‘fear.’ She wondered if I meant ‘afraid.’ I said I did not.

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” Proverbs 1.7

Fear means to attempting to comprehend the marvelous Creation He displays. Fear means to tremble at the very fact the He knows your name. Fear means being in awe of his awful (awe-full) patience with those of us who sin. Fear means trying to grasp words like, ‘grace,’ ‘holiness,’ ‘perfect righteousness,’ ‘glory.’

Fear is being able to read the part in Psalm 103 where David is telling us about the Lord’s character, and attempt to grasp where we fit into all of this:

“The Lord is merciful and gracious; slow to anger, and abounding in mercy. He will not always strive with us, nor will He keep His anger forever. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities. For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. As a father pities his children, so the Lord pities those who fear Him. For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust.” (Psalm 103.8-14)

Above all else, I think fear of the Lord is being able to marvel Him for who He is and for His Sovereign Majesty. Well, now what does that mean? For me, the answer is much simpler than the dictionary definitions I looked up for ‘sovereign’ and ‘majesty.’ Honestly, they did not even come close to descriptive terms for God. So, I have a small list of words I believe does the Lord’s Sovereign Majesty a bit more justice.

‘I AM,” “The Ancient of Days,” “The Alpha and the Omega,” “Redeemer,” “Holy,” “The Light of the World,” “Salt,” “Glorious,” and “Marvelous.”

I can go from one end of the Bible to the other and every page screams at me to marvel the Living God.

“Thus says the Lord: ‘Heaven is My throne, and earth is My footstool. Where is the house that you will build Me? and where is the place of My rest? For all those things My hand has made, and all those things exist,’ says the Lord. ‘But on this one I will look; on him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at My word.” –Isaiah 66.1-2

And so, what of the knowledge the Proverb spoke of in the beginning of this entry? Well, concerning God, fear and wisdom are connected. Once we are able to turn over our pathetic attempts at either thinking there is no God, or that we are god, we can begin to adore and worship the Lord for who He is and what He has done. Those who think they are wise on their own, that our lives are our own are indeed the foolish ones. We fear because we are able to marvel at the greatness of our God.

“Honor all people, Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the King.” -1 Peter 2.17

“But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear. – 1 Peter 3.15

When you look upon your relationship with the Lord, I pray that you can sense a healthy fear of Him. Because then, marveling, and worshipping and serving become all the more pure and of His own heart.