I was five years old and on vacation with my parents. It was an after dinner show and we sat near the front as the singer on stage performed. And he kept looking at me, smiling, catching my eye.
Even at that age, I sensed this man was huge compared to me. I was a small child in the audience, one person among many, and so young at that. But he was paying attention to me. Honestly, I can't remember much from age five, it is 65 plus years ago now, but I vividly remember this. It had that much of an impact on me.
As I continue to focus on the fear of the Lord, I ponder this feeling, of me at age five, gaining the sustained attention of the performer, the man on the stage. In a small way, it should summon the awe struck feeling I should experience as I approach the throne of God.
I confess I have gotten too familiar Him. I need to recall how Awesome He is.
I have spent most of this summer at our beach cottage, 500 square feet with two tiny bed rooms and one bath, a minimalist experience especially when filled with our family. But outside, there is an enormous ocean and expansive sky that makes it clear how small we are.
Fear of God is not "run away and hide" fear. It is the realization of our place in the universe. God is HUGE. God is Awesome. And we are small.
The fact He notices us at all is Amazing!
In 2 Samuel 6, King David desired to bring to Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem. Good idea, but not so good an execution. David was careless. He didn't read the Law that explained how the Ark was to be transported from one place to another and a man died for that carelessness. The result?
David was afraid of the Lord that day; (2 Samuel 6:9)
The Torah had instructed all kings to make their own copy of the Law and to read it each day, but David must not have done that. David then regrouped and found out how to move the Ark in the prescribed manner and did it with extraordinary care.
Fear of the Lord should make us careful. It should make us feel humble. It should make us thankful that a God so mighty would care for us, would notice us, would listen to us. It should motivate us to discover His ways and His Law and to obey it. It should prompt us to come to Him in prayer each day with reverence. To bring every care, every decision, every trial to Him first, before our girlfriend, mother or Google.
Likewise, we need to keep our eyes on God through His Word and in prayer. To stay safe, to keep peace with Him and others. In this life, we will have trouble, but when we keep our eyes on Him, He will be our banner and our shield.
After all, He is keeping His eyes on us.
Father, cultivate in me a healthy fear of You. That fear will encourage me to seek You first; not be impatient, self-centered, or prideful. Instead it will give me the gifts of self-control, kindness, humility and generosity.
... You shall surely set a king over you whom the Lord your God chooses... It shall be, when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write for himself a copy of this law in a book, from the one before the priests, the Levites. And it shall be with him, and he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God and be careful to observe all the words of this law and these statutes, that his heart may not be lifted above his brethren, that he may not turn aside from the commandment to the right hand or to the left, and that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he and his children in the midst of Israel. (Deuteronomy 17:15, 18-21)
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