Psalms 2:11 (ESV)
Serve the LORD with fear,
and rejoice with trembling.
For those New Testament believers who love God and see God as ONLY a God of love, the Old Testament warnings, like the above, to serve the LORD in fear, must cause great pause in their worship. Notice what one commentary stated about Psalm 2 as a whole:
(Understanding the Bible Commentary Series) There is no avoiding the fact that Psalm 2 threatens the use of force, which may not be a popular notion today. But we must be clear that Yahweh uses force only when provoked in the face of defiance. And we must be clear what is at stake: not merely the status of one ethnic nation but the rule of “the One enthroned in heaven” expressed through his appointed earthly agent.
Psalm 2 contains both blessings and, as the above, warnings to those who “serve” the LORD. This little song is quoted almost 20 times in the New Testament (verse 7 by itself is quoted ten times). The writer is not mentioned but because of the mention of kingdoms and kings, it was probably a worship song that was sung to remind the nation of the path before them for obedience and/or disobedience. This theme of the “fear of the LORD” was a popular theme of King Solomon:
Proverbs 8:13 (ESV)
The fear of the LORD is hatred of evil.
Pride and arrogance and the way of evil
and perverted speech I hate.
Proverbs 14:27 (ESV)
The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life,
that one may turn away from the snares of death.
Proverbs 16:6 (ESV)
By steadfast love and faithfulness iniquity is atoned for,
and by the fear of the LORD one turns away from evil.
It is by the fear of the LORD that we turn from the evilness in our hearts. Today’s comfortable believer does not realize the power of being in awe of God and living in “fear” of His power and presence. In one of the six “warning passages” in the book of Hebrews in the New Testament, note what the writer warned the early church who was tempted to drift away from Christ:
Hebrews 12:28-29 (ESV)
Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.
And ...
Philippians 2:12-13
Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, WORK OUT your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who WORKS IN you, both to WILL and to WORK for his good pleasure.
That is not how we think in the Church-age. But, that is how we should think. We tend to believe our sins of indiscretion do not matter. Yet, we believe that the “wages of sin is death.” And we believe that “whatever we sow we reap.” This law of “sowing and reaping” cannot be avoided. We might not see the death (separation from something) when we sin and we may not see the reaping from the seeds of sin we sow, but it is never-the-less alive and impacting our day-to-day world. As this little psalm warns the worshiper of Yahweh, we are to fear the LORD and rejoice in Him with “trembling.” We are not to take lightly our walk with God. He is holy and those who walk with Him fear His holiness:
Isaiah 6:3-5 (ESV)
And one called to another and said:
“Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory!”
And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!”
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