Day Twelve
Friday, December 8
Psalm 33
“Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him! For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm.”
Psalm 33:8-9
Psalm 33:8-9
Beginning at Alpine this past summer I began to notice the commandment to “fear the Lord” in many of the passages I was reading and I began to wonder what was meant. Today fear is often a response to something we see as dangerous but I don't believe that is what they mean when the Bible commands us to “fear the Lord.”
It is kind of fitting that I was given this passage because I think that it answers many of the questions that I had about this commandment. It’s not that we should fear the Lord like we fear a bear or a loud noise, things that we fear because we see them as a threat to our safety and we feel that we should get away from them. Rather in the line after we are instructed to “fear the Lord,” the writer seems to restate what is meant by fearing the lord saying that we should “stand in awe of him.”
I think many people, especially young people like myself and including myself tend to forget the power of God and attempt to handle things ourselves instead of putting our trust in God. We forget that God is powerful and will handle things for us which often causes unnecessary stress in our lives. But only when we fear the Lord and trust in his power can we truly give these stresses to him and experience a peaceful life.
It is kind of fitting that I was given this passage because I think that it answers many of the questions that I had about this commandment. It’s not that we should fear the Lord like we fear a bear or a loud noise, things that we fear because we see them as a threat to our safety and we feel that we should get away from them. Rather in the line after we are instructed to “fear the Lord,” the writer seems to restate what is meant by fearing the lord saying that we should “stand in awe of him.”
I think many people, especially young people like myself and including myself tend to forget the power of God and attempt to handle things ourselves instead of putting our trust in God. We forget that God is powerful and will handle things for us which often causes unnecessary stress in our lives. But only when we fear the Lord and trust in his power can we truly give these stresses to him and experience a peaceful life.
Isaac Schmidt is a high school student who enjoys rock climbing and amateur radio and is currently applying for colleges with the goal of becoming an engineer.