The Fear of The Lord Pt. 3

Sin distorts everything.

We’ve seen so far how “The Fear of The Lord” is a phrase found all through the Scriptures and given significant emphasis:

Christians know this as axiomatic. We can see it everywhere - most in ourselves and the loss of the clear image of God reflected back.

God’s natural state is one of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

Last time we began to look at this topic of “The Fear of The Lord.” A phrase found all through the Scriptures and given significant emphasis in places like:

But humankind - created in that image, now often distorts love into lust and blind indulgence; joy into mere temporal happinesses; peace into chemically induced oblivion; patience into blind indifference; kindness into insipid acquiescence; goodness into cultural morality; faithfulness into agreements of convenience; gentleness into spinelessness and self-control into - well, that’s just off the radar screen.

We see it in art - meant to elevate the soul and lift us up to the appreciation of beauty, purity and noble things - degenerate into depictions of chaos, ugliness, the profane and even the pornographic.

Music, given as a gift of God to cheer the soul and draw us into joy and beauty and inspiration is used instead to incite hatred, violence and expressions of animalistic emotions and desires.

The physical intimacy of marriage which is meant to unify, comfort and delight in giving and receiving in the tenderest and most sacred and private of ways has been twisted into raw lust without regard for love, marriage, safety or sacredness. It has been made exploitative, public, harsh and cruel and rooted in self-gratification.

Tragically this distortive tendency creeps into the best of all of God’s gifts to us. And no less so in the great truths and doctrines of the Bible as well.

Think for a minute of the marvelous doctrine of election.

What the Bible unfolds as a revelation of God’s goodness in securing salvation for some when all deserve eternal condemnation, and then working in us to bring us to Himself when our natural, fallen disposition is to reject Him - that is turned by some into a notion of God who creates only to condemn - and thus make election out as a curse instead of a blessing.

The very truth designed to give assurance to those who have come to Him that He has loved them always, is made abhorrent in our distortion of it.

Or think of the doctrine of God’s sovereignty over all things.

While we are meant to take supreme comfort in His loving superintendence over all circumstances and events for our good and His glory - this gets distorted either into some form of heartless and cruel fatalism or an attack upon individual freedom and will.

It seems that in the Fall, nothing God has done in goodness and grace has been left undistorted in the human mind - until the Spirit begins to open our eyes afresh to read and understand God’s revelation of Himself in His Word more accurately.

And nowhere is this more evident than it is in examining a doctrine like the fear of the Lord.

In our fallenness and sin-distorted reasoning, we look at those words “the fear of the Lord” and import into them notions of ruthlessness, implacability, perpetual irritation, pettiness, unpredictability, volatility and harshness.

Not a God to be awed at in His glory and wonder but cowered before.

So that God must be approached as though surrounded by a cosmic minefield and that we had better be constantly careful that we don’t tick Him off lest He explode at us in inexplicable rage.

And that, by keeping an endless list of revealed and even worse - secret and irrational rules regulations.

We all know what the Mona Lisa by Da Vinci looks like.

So when we see something like Botero’s “Fat Mona Lisa” - we recognize the distortion instantly.

And we would never fall for one as messed up as this.

But if we had never seen the original - we would easily take a distortion - no matter how bizarre - as accurate.

And it is just this way both with concepts of God, AND certain Biblical truths like the fear of the Lord.

If we do not grasp them, if we do not see the World and truth through the lens of the Bible - from God’s revelation of them - but instead through the lenses of myths, our own imaginations, lies or other distortions - no wonder people at times recoil from some Biblical truths.

As a side note here I’ll put in a quick pitch for an excellent book on this topic: Misreading the Scripture with Western Eyes by Richards and O’Brien. Well worth your time and money.

I hope by now in our study we’ve begun to disabuse you of some of the distortions that often accompany the doctrine of the fear of the Lord, if, you have suffered from them.

As cataloged above from , the winsomeness and sweetness of God ought to inform us just as much as His power, greatness, glory and holiness. In fact they are as necessary a part of His holiness as His righteousness, justice, sovereignty etc. We dare not lose any of His attributes.

This was manifested for us so wonderfully in the life of Jesus.

How He received sinners to Himself so readily and graciously, yet never sinned nor excused sin. How He was easily approached and loved by children. How He never stretched out His hand in divine judgment upon those around Him during His incarnation. How He was exposed to opposition, misunderstanding, resistance, foolishness and sin of all kinds on every hand - and yet from the very cross of His murder could exclaim “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

The fear of the Lord we are after is reverential awe of this Redeeming Savior - NOT the irrational terror of a quick tempered monster.

As we have emphasized in our previous two visits to this topic - the fear of the Lord is primarily located in the idea of: Reverential awe.

That the more we discover of Him in Creation, the Word and the Incarnation; the more we are taken by His immensity, eternality, power, wisdom, knowledge, administration of all things, holiness, love, mercy and yes - and even His judgment - the more we are overawed at the vision of it all.

When I was in High School, I had a science teacher who just loved his module on exposing us to liquid nitrogen.

ESV“And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments and statutes of the Lord, which I am commanding you today for your good?

And then, that this God of all creation would come to this little planet in the middle of nowhere, take on the likeness of sinful humankind and die at our hands for our salvation!

Reverential awe is the ONLY fitting response.

As John Flavel would write: Behold the admirable condescension of Christ, that he would come into the heart of the vilest sinner, and not disdain to take his abode in that soul which hath been the seat of Satan, where he hath ruled, and every unclean lust hath been harboured!

There are two things wherein the admirable condescension of Christ appears. (1.) In taking union with our nature after sin had blasted the beauty of it. This was a marvellous stoop indeed. But (2.) that Christ should also take union with our persons, and take his habitation and abode in our hearts, after Satan and sin had so long inhabited and defiled them; that he should accept those members as instruments of his service; that very tongue to praise him that had blasphemed him, &c. yet so he is willing to do, and commands us to deliver them up to him, .

John Flavel, The Whole Works of the Reverend John Flavel, vol. 4 (London; Edinburgh; Dublin: W. Baynes and Son; Waugh and Innes; M. Keene, 1820), 160–161.

In fact, where we will end up today is by locating the fear of the Lord in a most unsuspected place.

At first blush, fearing God seems counterintuitive to loving Him and being loved by Him. But as we began to see, there is no disparity between the reverential awe that is brought on by contemplating God in His greatness, attributes, nature and acts, and loving Him. In fact, the more we see Him as He really is, the more awed we are at Him AND, the more we come to love Him. Because what is revealed about Him makes Him the most lovable of all objects and beings in the universe. But we cannot get to that place without looking beyond the glory of His immensity, genius and power in Creation - to the glory of His self-revelation in His Word, and His acts. So you’ll recall that we are following this outline:The Fear of the Lord: 1 - Why Should I Care? 2 - What it isn’t. 3 - What it is. 4 - How it is obtained.5 - What are its benefits? We dealt with #1, #2 & #3 last time, and suggesting a boiled down definition of “the fear of the Lord” to 2 words: Reverential Awe. Then moving on to #4 we began to explore how a reverential awe is birthed in us when we rightly explore how it is obtained. Gaining the Fear of The Lorda. Creationb. The Wordc. His ActsAll 3 of which confront us with God’s nature such that a speechless, reverential awe is all we are left with. One which then ought to fill our hearts and minds so as to govern all of life. And as I mentioned last time, Scripture informs us this fear of the Lord must be intentionally sought. It does not come automatically. This becomes very clear in

ESVMy son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you, making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding; yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.

Psalm 130:4 ESV

But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared.

So here is where see how God’s Word is that 2nd means of encountering and fostering the fear of the Lord. Note this text: Receiving God’s Word, storing up His commands, being attentive to His wisdom, turning our hearts to understanding, calling out (i.e. -praying for discernment and understanding), seeking it like precious metal and hidden treasure. THEN - you will understand how to fear the Lord. You will gain knowledge of Him that brings the soul into reverential awe. It is clear then that we need more revelation than Creation alone can give us. As Paul tells us, a certain amount can be known about God in Creation: , says we can grasp something of His genius, rationality, power and transcendence in how Creation manifests His immensity, timelessness, symmetry and order and its design to bless and sustain human life. But what we cannot know from creation is our relationship to Him, the nature of sin and redemption and His plan of salvation. For these we need some special revelation - a revelation which we receive above all in His Word.His Word explains Creation and the God behind it. And so some Biblical passages especially lend themselves to fostering this reverential awe in unique ways. One thinks of for instance and the testimony of the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar after his recovery from the madness God visited with to humble him:

I’ll come to that shortly, but let me remind you of the path we’ve been taking:

ESVAt the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who lives forever, for his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation; all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, “What have you done?”

Gaining the Fear of The Lord

This is a profound revelation of God’s sovereign rule over mankind and the affairs of mankind. Not so as to obliterate human responsibility, but so as to demonstrate how God still works and rules within this sphere to bring about His sovereign plan even while man acts out of his own fallen will. In fact, a prominent feature of New Testament preaching from the Day of Pentecost on was to point to God’s active rule over human affairs, even as humanity acts according to its will, and the Enemy of our souls does as well: But God rules over all. Or think of or where we not only read of God creating all things but of his active role in the affairs of men. But there is one passage which in appealing to 3 attributes of God stands out as a particularly useful means of creating the right and reverential awe of God - and it is the 139th Psalm.It is laid out in this wonderful pattern:a. vss. 1-6 / God's Omniscience.b. vss. 7-12 / God’s Omnipresence.c. vss. 13-16 / God’s Omnipotence.d. vss. 17-24 / 3 Applications. a. vss. 1-6 / God's Omniscience.If you are not familiar with it, OMNISCIENCE is just a fancy word for saying God knows EVERYTHING. And the text bears out the nature of this “everything” by bringing it down to a very personal level. And we need to grasp the contrast here: The God who we looked at last time, who spoke this vast universe into existence in all of its unfathomable immensity, complexity and wonder - and who continues to operate and sustain it all - is the same God who knows us individually on an unimaginably intimate and minute scale. Something God Himself testifies to regarding EVERY single creature in .So what does David, a single man say about how God “knows” him?

a. Creation

English Standard Version Psalm 139O Lord, you have searched me and known me!

b. The Word

Listen to this. David testifies that this God of creation doesn’t just know OF David - but KNOWS David - and has even “searched” him. Scrutinized him. Examined him. And just how extensively will be brought out as we go. 2.

c. His Acts

English Standard Version Psalm 139You know when I sit down and when I rise up;

Our first look was at the wonder, expanse, order, beauty, symmetry and perhaps even the impossibility of the Creation in order to draw on the vastness, power and eternality of God.

One would think such a massive God would have no time or inclination to note such things but here is the testimony. He knows every time I sit down and every time I get up. The most mundane, repetitive and ordinary of things. Nothing, nothing - escapes His all-seeing eye and notice.3.

Then we visited in gaining a look at His being: All powerful, All knowing, and Everywhere present at once.

English Standard Version Psalm 139you discern my thoughts from afar.

And so this morning we want to briefly rehearse some of His acts which ought to inspire this reverential awe - culminating in the Cross.

Imagine this! How he drills down even deeper. Now some interpret this phrase to mean that God, being far off in Heaven, still detects even our thoughts. But I tend to consider this as Spurgeon did when he wrote: “Before it is my own it is foreknown and comprehended by thee. Though as yet I be not myself cognizant of the shape my thought is assuming, yet thou perceivest its nature, its source, its drift, its result.”God knows our every thought even before it is fully formed in our own minds. And He is aware of us all on this level - everyone of us, all at once.4.

Now when I speak of God’s acts, I think it is useful to break them down into a few categories:

English Standard Version Psalm 1393 You search out my path and my lying down

a. Acts of Power

b. Acts of Judgment

c. Acts of Mercy

I won’t spend much time on Acts of Power since we already saw so much of that in Creation.

You search out where in life I am going, and even where and how I take my rest. 5.

I would only call your attention to some additional acts along the same lines:

English Standard Version Psalm 139and are acquainted with all my ways.

Especially His involvement in the affairs of mankind: ; ; ; ; are prime examples. But let me turn to only one of them:

Jeremiah 18:1–11 ESV

The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: “Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will let you hear my words.” So I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was working at his wheel. And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter’s hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do. Then the word of the Lord came to me: “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter has done? declares the Lord. Behold, like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. If at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, and if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I intended to do to it. And if at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it, and if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will relent of the good that I had intended to do to it. Now, therefore, say to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: ‘Thus says the Lord, Behold, I am shaping disaster against you and devising a plan against you. Return, every one from his evil way, and amend your ways and your deeds.’

He knows every foible, every quirk, every tendency and reasoning, feeling, action and reaction. ALL our ways. 6.

2 Chronicles 20:5–6 ESV

And Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord, before the new court, and said, “O Lord, God of our fathers, are you not God in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. In your hand are power and might, so that none is able to withstand you.

Job 12:9–25 ESV

Who among all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind. Does not the ear test words as the palate tastes food? Wisdom is with the aged, and understanding in length of days. “With God are wisdom and might; he has counsel and understanding. If he tears down, none can rebuild; if he shuts a man in, none can open. If he withholds the waters, they dry up; if he sends them out, they overwhelm the land. With him are strength and sound wisdom; the deceived and the deceiver are his. He leads counselors away stripped, and judges he makes fools. He looses the bonds of kings and binds a waistcloth on their hips. He leads priests away stripped and overthrows the mighty. He deprives of speech those who are trusted and takes away the discernment of the elders. He pours contempt on princes and loosens the belt of the strong. He uncovers the deeps out of darkness and brings deep darkness to light. He makes nations great, and he destroys them; he enlarges nations, and leads them away. He takes away understanding from the chiefs of the people of the earth and makes them wander in a trackless waste. They grope in the dark without light, and he makes them stagger like a drunken man.

Job 12:9–25 ESV

Who among all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind. Does not the ear test words as the palate tastes food? Wisdom is with the aged, and understanding in length of days. “With God are wisdom and might; he has counsel and understanding. If he tears down, none can rebuild; if he shuts a man in, none can open. If he withholds the waters, they dry up; if he sends them out, they overwhelm the land. With him are strength and sound wisdom; the deceived and the deceiver are his. He leads counselors away stripped, and judges he makes fools. He looses the bonds of kings and binds a waistcloth on their hips. He leads priests away stripped and overthrows the mighty. He deprives of speech those who are trusted and takes away the discernment of the elders. He pours contempt on princes and loosens the belt of the strong. He uncovers the deeps out of darkness and brings deep darkness to light. He makes nations great, and he destroys them; he enlarges nations, and leads them away. He takes away understanding from the chiefs of the people of the earth and makes them wander in a trackless waste. They grope in the dark without light, and he makes them stagger like a drunken man.

Isaiah 14:24–27 ESV

The Lord of hosts has sworn: “As I have planned, so shall it be, and as I have purposed, so shall it stand, that I will break the Assyrian in my land, and on my mountains trample him underfoot; and his yoke shall depart from them, and his burden from their shoulder.” This is the purpose that is purposed concerning the whole earth, and this is the hand that is stretched out over all the nations. For the Lord of hosts has purposed, and who will annul it? His hand is stretched out, and who will turn it back?

Psalm 47:8 ESV

God reigns over the nations; God sits on his holy throne.

English Standard Version Psalm 139Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.

Isaiah 14:24–27 ESV

The Lord of hosts has sworn: “As I have planned, so shall it be, and as I have purposed, so shall it stand, that I will break the Assyrian in my land, and on my mountains trample him underfoot; and his yoke shall depart from them, and his burden from their shoulder.” This is the purpose that is purposed concerning the whole earth, and this is the hand that is stretched out over all the nations. For the Lord of hosts has purposed, and who will annul it? His hand is stretched out, and who will turn it back?

Job 12:9–25 ESV

Who among all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind. Does not the ear test words as the palate tastes food? Wisdom is with the aged, and understanding in length of days. “With God are wisdom and might; he has counsel and understanding. If he tears down, none can rebuild; if he shuts a man in, none can open. If he withholds the waters, they dry up; if he sends them out, they overwhelm the land. With him are strength and sound wisdom; the deceived and the deceiver are his. He leads counselors away stripped, and judges he makes fools. He looses the bonds of kings and binds a waistcloth on their hips. He leads priests away stripped and overthrows the mighty. He deprives of speech those who are trusted and takes away the discernment of the elders. He pours contempt on princes and loosens the belt of the strong. He uncovers the deeps out of darkness and brings deep darkness to light. He makes nations great, and he destroys them; he enlarges nations, and leads them away. He takes away understanding from the chiefs of the people of the earth and makes them wander in a trackless waste. They grope in the dark without light, and he makes them stagger like a drunken man.

God is at work in the nations - not just His Church - in all of human activity.

You know everything I say. More! Everything I WILL say even before I say it. 7.

Second there is His provision for and the sustaining of all life - human and animal as so fully brought out in .

And 3rd, His divine appointments in Providence which Paul makes much of in

English Standard Version Psalm 139You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me.

Acts 17:26–28 ESV

And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, for “ ‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said, “ ‘For we are indeed his offspring.’

And every step I take is guided by your providence, in all my progress, all my digressions, all my future and all my past. You have your hand on me personally.And when David considers all of this he can only gasp out:

Such an account of God’s all pervasive power being exercised in the affairs of mankind is staggering.

English Standard Version Psalm 139Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it.

But then we add to that, consideration of His various acts of judgment.

a. Acts of Power

b. Acts of Judgment

c. Acts of Mercy

Remember the expulsion of Adam and Eve from Eden. It is frightful.

To even imagine this level of God’s personal knowledge of just me as one lone human being is so overwhelming, I can’t really grasp it. It is too far above my capacity to really take in sufficiently. It is way over my head. And beloved- this is God’s knowledge of you too! And it ought to fill us with just as much awe and wonder. Nothing is hidden from His gaze. As reminds us -

His cataclysmic judgment on human sin in the Flood.

ESVAnd no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

The confusion of languages at Babel; the fiery decimation of Sodom and Gomorrah; the overthrow of the 7 kingdoms in Canaan after the iniquity of those nations had finally reached their limit.

And so will anyone dare to imagine they can approach this God with clean hands? Without His intimate knowledge of every foul thought, every empty and filthy imagination, every doubt, bad attitude and preoccupation with the worthless things of this world? Every inward inclination toward abuse, anger, greed, prejudice, selfishness, impurity, pride, faithlessness, jealousy and autonomy from His Lordship - He knows them all in their most wretched depths.And yet in Christ He accepts us and loves us and receives us as His own. And not at arm’s length, but as the father of the prodigal son in - falling on our necks, weeping over us and preparing a glad feast in our honor when we return to Him in repentance and seeking forgiveness. What a glorious God! And how I wish we had time this morning to unpack the other 2 portions here in the same detail. But let me just skim them quickly so we do not lose them altogether. b. vss. 7-12 / God’s Omnipresence.Yes, our God is Omniscient, but He is also Omnipresent - always with us in every place we go.

Then we see individual outbreaks of His fury in all sorts of events, not the least of which is the striking down of Uzzah in when he dared to touch the Ark of the Covenant with his bare hand; The deaths of Nadab and Abihu for offering unauthorized fire before the Lord; the deaths of Ananias and Sapphira in the book of Acts for lying to the Holy Spirit; the striking of Herod with deadly worms for failing to give God glory for the response to his oration and the blinding of Elymas in for trying to buy the power to give the Holy Spirit to others.

In each of these we see glints of what God SHOULD be doing in judgment constantly - but what in His patience and forbearance He refrains from doing as He holds forth the opportunity for all to repent and believe the Gospel.

In each of these we see glints of what God SHOULD be doing in judgment constantly - but what in His patience and forbearance He refrains from doing

And in all of these we’ve not yet mentioned the pronouncements of the coming final judgment told to us by Jesus and enlarged upon the book of Revelation.

These ought to make us abundantly aware that while God is good and patient and astoundingly forbearing - we do not know when that will end and when there will be no more time to repent - and Jesus “will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.” Rev. 19:15c

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .

All of which leads us back to our final category:

ESVWhere shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,” even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you.

a. Acts of Power

Now we are struck with a conundrum aren’t we? I don’t know about you but when I stop to consider such a God as this, I want to hide my face from Him. Like Adam and Eve in their sin, I don’t want to be found out in my guilt and sinfulness. I want to seek some way of covering myself from that all penetrating gaze: But it can’t be done. Once again, as Spurgeon notes: When David asks: “where shall I go from your Spirit?” “No answer comes. From the sight of God he cannot be hidden, but that is not all—from the immediate, actual, constant presence of God he cannot be withdrawn. This makes it dreadful to sin, for we commit treason at the very foot of his throne. His mind is in our mind, himself within ourselves. His Spirit is over our spirit; our presence is ever in his presence.”And isn’t this both, glorious and disturbing. Disturbing in that we cannot hide anything of our weakness, failings and sins from Him - but glorious in that nothing can ever befall His own that He is not right here with us. In every sorrow, grief, struggle and fear, we have a God who is never far off, never distant, but with us every step of the way. The very thing Jesus needed to remind His disciples of when He was preparing to leave them physically:

b. Acts of Judgment

ESVAnd Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

c. Acts of Mercy

Our Omnisicent - all-seeing, all-knowing God, our every present God, who is also Omnipotent - our all-powerful God. c. vss. 13-16 / God’s Omnipotence Once again time will not allow a full treatment here but look again at how the Holy Spirit through David puts the spotlight on this attribute of God by focusing it on the personal. Oh how it ought to fill each one of us with awe to know that we have been personally crafted by the hand of this God to be who we are.

Here, let me call your attention to an astounding verse:

ESVFor you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.

Psalm 130:4 ESV

But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared.

What a wonder - what a miracle, what a display of infinite wisdom and power is the creation of the human being in body, soul and spirit. 18th century theologian Andrew Fuller noted in this passage: “The human frame is so admirably constructed, so delicately combined, and so much in danger of being dissolved by innumerable causes, that the more we think of it, the more we tremble, and wonder at our own continued existence.”How then does David apply this tour of God’s omniscience, omnipresence and omnipotence to his own life? 3 ways.

Now at first blush, one might wonder exactly how the concepts of God’s forgiveness and fear of Him come together.

English Standard Version Psalm 139How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! 18 If I would count them, they are more than the sand. I awake, and I am still with you.

But in truth, it isn’t very hard to grasp once we begin to think about it and consider what the Bible has to tell us about the nature of sin, the holiness of God, and the nature of a holy and just God who cannot ignore sin or let it go unaddressed.

a. vss. 17-18 Application 1. I can trust you with my weakness. Sleep. We are never more vulnerable and helpless than when asleep. Utterly defenseless. But because God thinks on us immeasurably - because we are the object of His deep scrutiny and consideration - we need fear nothing else.

As the verse directly preceeding this one states:

ESVOh that you would slay the wicked, O God! O men of blood, depart from me! They speak against you with malicious intent; your enemies take your name in vain. Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord? And do I not loathe those who rise up against you? I hate them with complete hatred; I count them my enemies.

Psalm 103:3 ESV

who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases,

Psalm 130:3 ESV

If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?

b. vss. 19-22 Application 2. BUT! I can trust you with my trials. Your enemies become my enemies. Be they human opposition, sin, or adverse Circumstances. I can call on the all-powerful, all-knowing, all-present one to stand up in my defense.

If God were to call us into account for our sins just as the matter nakedly is: No one would come out alive. No one. Who could possibly remain standing when confronted by the blast furnace of His ineffable holiness?

ESVSearch me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!

So in what way does God’s forgiveness create a right fear of Him? Let me suggest 7.

With God there is forgiveness that He may be feared because:

c. vss. 23-24 Application 3. I can trust you with my sanctification. Since you know me, since you rule over me, since you are near me so as to know my most inner being: Work in me to make me like Jesus. I can trust you not just to detect, but todetect and deal with all my sin. Lead me after yourself. David’s direction to us? Such considerations produce humility, and the desire to follow after our great and wonderful God.And are the considerations of God’s awesome nature in His all-knowing, everywhere-and always present and all-powerful glory not fitting considerations as we come to the table this morning?Think about this as you come today - if you are His:1 - He knows our sin. All of it. The full extent of it beyond anything we are aware of. And still He loves us in His limitless grace.2 - He has the power to deal with our sin in its totality. As to its guilt and defilement in the Cross, its remaining power by His indwelling Spirit, and its very presence in the resurrection.3 - He is present with us. In the person of His Spirit. “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

1. Forgiveness is an act of free grace, not an obligation

Beloved, this is so vitally important to grasp: God is under no obligation to forgive anyone, any of US, our sins.

Their is no law or principle He is bound to outside of Himself. Nor is there anything in His being which requires it.

Forgiveness is a personal choice, not a legal requirement.

God forgives sin solely at His own discretion. For you see all are guilty before Him and all of us justly deserve His holy judgment upon our sin.

So we read in

Romans 3:10–18 ESV

as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” “Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of asps is under their lips.” “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.” “Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known.” “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

God would be completely just in consigning all of mankind to an eternal Hell - but for His willingness to forgive and redeem.

We ought to tremble at the thought of it.

If you are a Christian here today it is not because God owed you forgiveness - it is owing singly and entirely to His sovereign discretion in loving you so as to forgive you.

And at that, a forgiveness He offers to the World though the shed blood of Jesus Christ.

God owes no one forgiveness.

And yet so many have it today - only because of His mercy and grace.

With God there is forgiveness that He may be feared because:

2. In His holiness, He cannot pervert justice

Once again we need to reckon with the fact that salvation is NOT, is not and never has been a cosmic version of ally ally in free.

Because He is infinitely and inviolably holy and just, He cannot simply dismiss or overlook sin. Justice MUST be done.

Yes, He forgives personally, but He is also the judge of all the earth. Bound by His own holiness and justice.

Say you were to rob a store of its cash: 2 Things have occured, you have sinned against the store owner, AND you have a committed a crime against the State.

And while to Owner may forgive you personally, that does nothing to satisfy the law and the State. Forgiven, you may still be subject to a just penalty.

In God, He is both the personally offended AND the judge of all the earth - the King of His Kingdom. And justice must still be met somehow.

This is why the cross becomes of infinite importance. For apart from justice being satisfied on our behalf, we may be forgiven - but still liable. Forgiveness does not erase or mitigate guilt.

Only in the Cross, only in Jesus paying the just penalty for our sins may we find relief from our guilt and just judgment.

God cannot - due to His holy nature simply ignore sin, even as He may personally forgive our offenses against Him.

And so in His infinite wisdom, grace and mercy He devised the plan to make sure His justice could be satisfied as well as our being forgiven - that we might be restored to Him - reconciled to Him - with the crimes of our sin fully met.

Tremble at the thought beloved - the impossible was made possible: only in Christ on the Cross.

2 Corinthians 5:21 ESV

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

With God there is forgiveness that He may be feared because:

3. Our sin is so great

Being as we are, we love to make light of our sin. We love to use phrases like: “Nobody’s perfect” and “I’m just human” or to borrow from Alexander Pope: “to err is human.”

We say “we’re all sinners” as though the universality of our sin somehow makes it less vile than it really is. As though if everyone in the world had the same fatal disease, that would somehow make it less fatal.

But how serious is sin really?

We never truly understand it until we look at the Cross. Until we realize that sin brings us under the just wrath of the Almighty God who cannot excuse it on any level - and who made the all encompassing pronouncement: “the wages of sin is death.”

And not just physical death - death to God. Death to everything good and holy and blessed - because all goodness comes only from and in connection to - Him.

Hear to voice of torment crying out from the Cross in supreme agony of soul and body: “My God! My God! Why have you forsaken me?”

The One who had known only perfect, utter and infinite bliss in union with His Father - bearing the weight of our guilt and our shame in His death.

That’s what sin costs.

And to have that penalty not just erased but utterly reversed in the granting of eternal blessings ought to make us tremble in awe.

With God there is forgiveness that He may be feared because:

4. Of what it to took atone for our sin

What did it take to atone for, to pay the penalty for your sin and mine?

Nothing less than the brutal death of the eternal Son of God in our place.

No animal sacrifice could do what was needed.

No amount of good works by us could possibly make up for our rebellion, since we had owed Him total love and allegiance from the very beginning. To live perfectly would only be to do what OUGHT to be done - that can make up for nothing.

No angel could interpose himself.

No, our salvation required nothing less than a sinless, infinite sacrifice to deal with the depths of our sin and iniquity.

We ought to be struck with a holy awe that there was nothing other than the death of The Incarnate Son of God in our place that could do what was needed to save us.

And how do we know that for certain?

By Jesus own thrice repeated prayer in the Garden: “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” .

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .

With God there is forgiveness that He may be feared because:

5. What love there was in the Father to send His Son for us

Ought it not send a holy gasp through our souls to contemplate what love the Father must have for us that He would devise and carry out such a plan for those who hated Him, rebelled against Him and still fail Him every moment of the day?

That so great is His love, that He would send His only begotten Son, that whoever would believe in Him would not perish, but have everlasting life.

Thank on it Believer. Think on it and stand in awe of a love like that.

What kind of love must that be? There is none like in all of humanity. None.

Stuart Townend’s words begin to make the inquiry:

“How deep the Father’s love for us, How vast beyond all measure, That He should give His only Son To make a wretch His treasure. How great the pain of searing loss – The Father turns His face away, As wounds which mar the Chosen One Bring many sons to glory.

Robert Murray McCheyne: "Learn the intense love of God for sinners. He spared not his own Son. Herein is love. He loved the happiness of his Son; but he loved the salvation of sinners more. He loved to have his Son in his bosom; but he loved more to have sinners brought into his bosom. He cast out his Son, in order to take us in. Oh! sinner, how will you escape, if you neglect so great a salvation?"

Astounding!

With God there is forgiveness that He may be feared because:

6. What love and humility there was in the Son to come and die

What is the nature of Christ Jesus’ love for us, that He would submit Himself to this plan that we might be reconciled to the Father and made His own?

It’s transforming when we muse on it enough to fill us with awe once again.

That was the case with Samuel Trevor Francis as he stood on London's Hungerford Bridge contemplating suicide. When all at once thoughts of the great love of Christ came flooding in only to send him off to pen the words:

“O the deep, deep love of Jesus, vast, unmeasured, boundless, free! Rolling as a mighty ocean in its fullness over me! Underneath me, all around me, is the current of Thy love Leading onward, leading homeward to Thy glorious rest above!

O the deep, deep love of Jesus, spread His praise from shore to shore! How He loveth, ever loveth, changeth never, nevermore! How He watches o'er His loved ones, died to call them all His own; How for them He intercedeth, watcheth o'er them from the throne!

O the deep, deep love of Jesus, love of every love the best! 'Tis an ocean vast of blessing, 'tis a haven sweet of rest! O the deep, deep love of Jesus, 'tis a heaven of heavens to me; And it lifts me up to glory, for it lifts me up to Thee!

With God there is forgiveness that He may be feared because:

7. What glories are ours vs the eternal torments we deserve

When we contemplate our sin, and the reality of our guilt before this holy God, and the display of His wrath poured out upon Jesus on the Cross - and THEN, go on to contemplate that no eye has ever seen, no ear has ever heard, no man has ever been able to even imagine the things God has prepared for those who love Him - except to know that there is no suffering in this present life that is worthy to be compared to the glory about to be revealed to us - by faith, we stand in fresh awe.

If this does not engender reverential awe in us, we are not yet born again.

We have not understood God’s holiness nor our sin aright.

But if by grace your heart has been moved in the consideration of these things this morning - then I plead with you to come and bow before the throne of the truly awesome God and His Christ - to confess your sin before Him, and cast yourself upon the mercy offered to you in the substitutionary death of Jesus on the Cross.

ESVfor it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

And my dear fellow Believer - commit today to strive to keep these things ever before your own eyes. To not let the reverential awe of this God and His salvation leave your thoughts.

He knows our sin better than we.But His power is such that all sin is met in the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ - so that the worst of all sinners may be fully cleansed, forgiven and justified before Him.And He so joins Himself to us as to always be with us, at all times, in all things. Never forsaking the trophies of His grace.

For the fear of the Lord is the very beginning of wisdom.

Psalm 103:11 ESV

For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;