Praise
the LORD! How blessed is the man
who fears the LORD, Who greatly
delights in His commandments. Psalm
112:1
How blessed is
everyone who fears the LORD, Who
walks in His ways. Psalm 128:1
Behold, for
thus shall the man be blessed Who fears the LORD.
Psalm 128:4
The fear of God—these words characterize the religion of the Old
Testament, and the foundation which it laid for the more abundant life of the
New. "The gift of holy fear" is ever still the great desire of the
child of God, and an essential part of a life that is to make a real impression
on the world around. It is one of the great promises of the new covenant in
Jeremiah: "I will make an everlasting covenant with them ; and I will put
My fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from Me."
We find the perfect combination of the two in the Acts (ix. 31).
"The churches had peace, being edified, and walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, were multiplied." And Paul more than once gives fear a high place in the Christian life. "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God that works in you." "Perfecting holiness in the fear of God" (.2 Cor. vii. 1).
It has often been said that the lack of the fear of God is one of the things in which our modern times cannot compare favorably with the times of the Puritans and the Covenanters. No wonder then that there is so much cause of complaint in regard to the reading of God's Word, of the worship of His House, and the absence of that spirit of continuous prayer which marked the early Church. We need that texts like the one at the head of this reading should be expounded, and the young converts fully instructed in the need and the blessedness of a deep tear of God, leading to an unceasing prayerfulness as one of the essential elements of the life of faith.
We find the perfect combination of the two in the Acts (ix. 31).
"The churches had peace, being edified, and walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, were multiplied." And Paul more than once gives fear a high place in the Christian life. "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God that works in you." "Perfecting holiness in the fear of God" (.2 Cor. vii. 1).
It has often been said that the lack of the fear of God is one of the things in which our modern times cannot compare favorably with the times of the Puritans and the Covenanters. No wonder then that there is so much cause of complaint in regard to the reading of God's Word, of the worship of His House, and the absence of that spirit of continuous prayer which marked the early Church. We need that texts like the one at the head of this reading should be expounded, and the young converts fully instructed in the need and the blessedness of a deep tear of God, leading to an unceasing prayerfulness as one of the essential elements of the life of faith.
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