The Fear of God

I once heard Francis Chan give an amazing message about God in His throne room. There was a certain awe, wonder and yes, fear of God in the crowd that night. Many we’re moved to tears and we’re desperate for more of God—despite the fear that we all felt.

Many seem to want to preach that there should be no fear of God for He’s a loving, graceful, merciful Father. Now this is absolutely true, and I say that every single message I preach and blog post I write, but that doesn’t necessarily mean we should be exempt from having some fear of God. For He is also an amazing, almighty, powerful Creator and Judge.

There’s a certain balance to this and it’s easy to get caught up focusing on just one aspect of God.

Some dwell too much on the fear of God and therefore have a hard time trusting Him or drawing close to Him. They end up keeping their distance out of their fear.

Some, on the other hand, dwell too much on God’s love and then find themselves careless in life, living how they want because It doesn’t matter. Universalism is perhaps the extremist theology behind this aspect of God.

But fear is healthy and important in relation to a master. My wife and I got a dog recently and he’s kind of crazy.

He gets jealous if we lock him out of any room for a few minutes or even if we hug each other. I mentioned this on my radio show this morning and got a call from a professional dog trainer after. One of the things she said that really stuck out to me was that the dog needed to understand that I love Him, but also that I am in charge.

So many of us want to soak in the love that God gives us (which is great and absolutely necessary to our lives and faith), but we don’t want to have a healthy fear of God. Again, some people have an unhealthy fear of God, but then some have no fear at all. It’s no wonder we lack obedience and discipline. If we have nothing to fear, why would we do the hard things God asks of us?

This all just came to mind after reading the hymn Give Glory to God, All You Heavenly Creatures by Calvin Seerveld in Psalms for All Seasons: A Complete Psalter for Worship.

Give glory to the Lord all you heavenly creatures
All glory and power belong to the Lord
So drop to your knees and respect what is holy
Be quiet and listen to the voice of the Lord

The voice of the Lord rolls out over the waters
It thunders and echoes his glory abroad
The voice of the Lord is majestic and mighty
Its power resounds and His creatures are awed

The voice of The Lord is breaking the cedars
He shatters the trees while Mount Lebanon quakes
God speaks: all the hills jump like antelopes startled
The voice of the Lord makes us creatures to shake

The voice of the Lord whips out lightning-like flashes
The voice of the Lord makes the desert to reel
The voice of the Lord sets the oak tree awhirling
God strips forests bare by the force of His gale

The creatures now worship the God of all power
All creatures respond, “May God’s glory increase.”
The Lord gives His people their strength and all blessing
The Lord shall encircle His people with peace

I think this guy gets the balance. That’s the only way you can get from the first four verses to the fifth one.