He hath not dealt with us after our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities. For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward them that fear Him. As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. Like a father pities his children, so the Lord pities THOSE WHO FEAR Him. For He knows our frame. He remembers that we are dust. As for man, his days are like grass; as the flower of the fields, so he flourishes. For the wind passes over it and it is gone and its place remembers it no more. But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him. Psalm 103:1-17
Several years ago, I went with one of my sisters to the Voice of Healing and Prophetic Conference at Christ for the Nations. One of the evening speakers was Nathan Morris from Shake the Nations Ministries, he preached with such authority and power that there was a Spirit of holy awe and conviction that I have not felt in a long time. The intensity of his message stirred up a Fear of the Lord, I had not felt in years. I felt an urgency to find an alter and to search my life and heart for any unconfessed sin that I had allowed to take root in me. I remember feeling this kind of Holy Spirit empowered conviction when I was growing up. tr is hard to find this power and conviction in the Modern Church. The message of the church for the last 30 years or so has been on the love of God. Even the songs we sing talk about being a friend of God and do not teach that to be the friend of God we must obey Jesus’ commandments. Yes, God is absolutely full of love and goodness, but he is also to be feared. We all like to quote the scripture in Psalm 103 where God removes our sins from us as far as the east is from the west, but too often we fail to tell people that that the mercy of God is for those who Fear the Lord. It seems like there is a pendulum that swings and we lose sight of the fullness of God and we just focus on one attribute of God. Years ago, many of the churches preached on the Fear of the Lord. We were taught that when we die, we still stand before God and give an account for all the things we have done in our life. If we have accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior and we are abiding in Him, our sins will be covered with His blood, but we will still give an account for how we managed the gifts and blessings we have been given. That is a sobering thought, there are plenty of things and thoughts that I do not want anyone else to witness my failures and shame. Growing up, I knew my Dad loved me, but I had a healthy fear of him. One time when I was about 12, my parents thought I was old enough to sit with the other teenagers. Our Pastor’s daughter was 3 years older than I was and she began talking to another girl I was sitting next to when her dad stopped preaching to get on to her and tell her to be quiet during service. I looked across the church at my dad and he was motioning for me to go over where he was. I got up and headed out the church to obey him, and he met me in the vestibule, because I had a healthy fear of my dad, this sick feeling just came all over me. He told me he had been watching and he knew I was not the one talking, but he wanted to get me out of that situation before I got in trouble. I saw the goodness and love of my dad, yet I still had a healthy fear of him, I knew not to disobey him. We should have the same fear of the Lord, we should be watching for His reactions and quick to obey Him when He moves or speaks. My Dad had rules and set boundaries, and I knew not to push the limits or there would be consequences, I grew up in an era when spankings were still used for discipline and grounding was very effective for me. Maybe you feel confused, the Bible does teach us not to be afraid and know I am telling you to have a healthy fear of the Lord. When the Bible talks about fearing the Lord, it means to have a deep respect, reverence and awe of God’s power and authority. Proverb 8:13 “The fear of the Lord is to hate evil. Pride and arrogance and he evil way and perverse mouth I hate. “The fear of the Lord should not cause you to be afraid of God but it will lead you to love Him more than ever before. The Israelites saw the awesome way God provided for them, protected them and even disciplined them in the wilderness and they had great respect for God, they feared Him. God opened the Red Sea and allowed them to walk across on dry land and then drowned all the enemy army that pursued them. When Miriam disrespected Moses, God caused leprosy to form on her hands. God defended Moses and Aaron by opening up the earth and swallowing the people who tried to rebel against their leadership. When they complained in the wilderness, God sent serpents to bit them and when they looked upon the serpent on the cross, they were healed. The congregation of Israel saw the fire and the smoke when God met them on the mountain. Many of them had a healthy fear of the Lord. They saw His awesome power and knew not to cross His commandments.
Proverbs 19:23, “The fear of the Lord leads to life, and he who has it will abide in satisfaction. He will not be visited with evil.” The fear of the Lord will lead us to make wise decisions, because we understand, His laws are for our safety and our well-being, He is not withholding good things from us to be a mean controlling God. Proverbs 16'6 “In mercy and truth atonement is provided and by the fear of the Lord, one departs from evil.” “Praise the Lord! Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who delights in His commandments.” The fear of God brings about obedience. Psalms 128:1 “Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in His ways.” God’s laws and God’s ways brings safety and joy. “The fear of the Lord is the instruction of wisdom.” Proverbs 15:33. Proverbs 1:7 “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” Proverbs 9:10' The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” The fear of the Lord will lead us to seek Him and to learn His commandments so we do not stray and get involved in things that will cause us heartache and destruction. The fear of my Dad kept me from doing things that would have hurt me and caused me pain. Deuteronomy 17:9 admonishes us “And it shall be with him, and he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn the fear of the Lord his god and be careful to observe all the words of the law.” It is so very important that we know God’s word and we chose to obey it. Just before Joshua died, he told the Israelites “Now therefore, fear the Lord, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the river and in Egypt. Serve the Lord.” It is time for us as Christians and as a nation to put away all the gods our fathers have served and walk in the fear of the Lord.
The modern church has allowed sin to flourish in the house of God. People who claim to be Christians have no regard for the commandments and teachings of God, they want to live anyway that pleases them and fits into their agenda, not regarding if it is offensive to God and contrary to the Bible. A good parent will correct a child’s bad behavior and even use discipline to train the child to make good choses. Hebrews 12:6 “For whom the Lord loves, He chastens and scourges every son whom He receives.” Proverbs 3:11 “My son. Despise not the chastening of the LORD” neither be weary of His corrections.” God is not a vengeful conniving deity that takes great pleasure in controlling and punishing mankind. God is a good Father and when we respect and Fear Him there are so many blessings! Psalm 25:13-14 “He himself shall dwell in prosperity. And his descendants shall inherit the earth. The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him and He will show them His covenant.” Proverbs10:27 “The fear of the Lord prolongs days.” Proverbs 14:26 “In the fear of the Lord, there is strong confidence and His children will have a place of refuge.
The modern church has lost the fear of the Lord and they have lost their power. I have been asking God why we are not seeing the signs and the wonders the New Testament church experienced and one of the reasons is that we have lost the fear of the Lord. Go back and read Acts and pay attention to0 how they feared the Lord and there were great signs and wonders. Acts 9:31 “The Church Prospers. Then the churches throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and were edified. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, they were multiplied.” God is calling the modern church (not the government or politicians) back to repentance and to walk in the fear of the Lord. To walk in the fear of the Lord, we must hate evil and cling to what is good. It is imperative that we spend more and more time in the Word and obeying His commandments. Jesus said “If you abide in Me and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire and it shall be done for you.” The modern church would do great things like the New Testament church if we would walk in the fear