Fear leads to Blessing
Psa 128:1-6 “Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, Who walks in His ways. When you eat the labour of your hands, You shall be happy, and it shall be well with you. Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine In the very heart of your house, Your children like olive plants all around your table. Behold, thus shall the man be blessed who fears the Lord. The Lord bless you out of Zion, And may you see the good of Jerusalem all the days of your life. Yes, may you see your children’s children.”
Don’t be fooled by the title. I’m not speaking about the fear that grips so many in this modern, fast-paced modern world. Today I draw our attention to the blessings which flow from the fear of the Lord.
To fear the Lord is to hold Him in the place of highest honour, reverence and respect and to give Him our undivided attention. It is a concept largely forgotten or disregarded today, sadly even in some parts of the Church. It is interesting to note however, ‘fear the Lord’ occurs around 680 times in the Bible so clearly it is a fundamental principle of living in God’s kingdom.
Many people have an ‘unhealthy’ fear of God often flowing from a poor relationship or experiences with their natural Father or incorrect teaching about the nature and character of God. They view Him as an angry person just waiting to strike them when they set a foot wrong. Nothing could be further from the truth!
Which Father would sacrifice His Son to a brutal and undeserved death in order to pave the way for the entire population of the planet to come back into a loving, protecting, nurturing relationship with Him?
This Psalm speaks to the blessings which flow to so many areas of life when we have a reverential fear of the Lord.
This morning in our time of worship (before we open to the public) we sang a song by Brooke Ligertwood, Cody Carnes and Michael Brandon Lake simply titled ‘Bless God’. Let these lyrics sink into your heart.
“Blessed are those who run to Him
Who place their hope and confidence in Jesus
He won't forsake them
Blessed are those who seek His face
Who bend their knee and fix their gaze on Jesus
They won't be shaken.
(Chorus) Come on and praise the Lord with me
Sing if you love His name
Come on and lift your voice with me
He's worthy of all our praise
Blessed are those who walk with Him
Whose hearts are set on pilgrimage with Jesus
They'll see His glory
Blessed are those who die to live
Whose joy it is to give it all for Jesus
And for Him only, oh, Jesus, all for Your glory…” (Emphasis added)
It is an important reminder of the safety and protection we have when we are on a pilgrimage with Jesus. It could be said we are all on some sort of pilgrimage or another but the blessing flows to those who are in relationship with Him. I was reminded yet again this morning as we worshipped, just how wonderful it is to know He never leaves or forsakes us.
The Apostle Paul writes in his letter to the Ephesians…“I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know…His incomparably great power for us who believe… that power is the same as when He raised Christ from the dead” (Eph 1:18-20).
I believe one of the first steps to experiencing His mighty power and the blessings which flow as a result, is to have the fear of the Lord operating as a ‘bedrock’ foundation in our lives.
So may I encourage you to build the fear of the Lord into your life and remember His ways and thoughts are higher (and far better) than ours. He has a perfect plan for each of our lives so we can rest in that assurance.
Let’s be people of honour and go against the modern trend to pull down and dishonour. Let us choose to build up and honour those in our lives.