Fear/Respect

April 30, 2008

Psalms 103:11-13 KJV
(11) For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him.
(12) As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.
(13) Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him.

God has a deep love for us. He is willing to forgive our sins if we ask Him to. He removes our sins from us as far as the east is from the west (or as one current Christian song puts it, from one nail scared hand to the other).

But he does that, at least by most translations, for those that fear him. Not really a good choice of words as far as I can tell. Fear is something that frightens you. My daughter has a fear of any spider that may be in the house. Like the good dad that I am I take care of them and she loves me for it. I am supposed to be an example of God to her aren't I. So if she loves me, how can she fear me like she fears the spiders? The answer is that she can not.

Fear here would better be translated respect. To give you an example. Fire is wonderful. I can cook with it as well as heat my home. But fire can harm me as well. Burns from flames are painful. Should I fear the fire because it can hurt me? No. I should learn how to use it though. I have to respect what the fire can do as damage as well as how it benefits me.

I also should not fear God. I should have a healthy respect for Him though. And like my daughter who loves me has learned, when I raise my voice a little to get her attention she had better listen. When God raises His voice a little, we need to listen also. Or we may need to fear Him.




Read through the Bible in one year in Historical order
Today
Psalms 102:1-28, Psalms 103:1-22, Psalms 104:1-35
Tomorrow
2 Samuel 5:1-10, 1 Chronicles 11:1-12:40
http://tinyurl.com/24beby for a daily reading tool