Psalm 103
1 Praise the Lord, my soul;
all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
2 Praise the Lord, my soul,
and forget not all his benefits—
3 who forgives all your sins
and heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the pit
and crowns you with love and compassion,
5 who satisfies your desires with good things
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
6 The Lord works righteousness
and justice for all the oppressed.
7 He made known his ways to Moses,
his deeds to the people of Israel:
8 The Lord is compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger, abounding in love.
9 He will not always accuse,
nor will he harbour his anger forever;
10 he does not treat us as our sins deserve
or repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
13 As a father has compassion on his children,
so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;
14 for he knows how we are formed,
he remembers that we are dust.
15 The life of mortals is like grass,
they flourish like a flower of the field;
16 the wind blows over it and it is gone,
and its place remembers it no more.
17 But from everlasting to everlasting
the Lord’s love is with those who fear him,
and his righteousness with their children’s children—
18 with those who keep his covenant
and remember to obey his precepts.
19 The Lord has established his throne in heaven,
and his kingdom rules over all.
20 Praise the Lord, you his angels,
you mighty ones who do his bidding,
who obey his word.
21 Praise the Lord, all his heavenly hosts,
you his servants who do his will.
22 Praise the Lord, all his works
everywhere in his dominion.
Praise the Lord, my soul.
Are you afraid of God?
If you don't believe in God, then obviously not.
If you do believe in God, then probably not.
Most people, especially Christians, know God's fundamental attitude towards us is love – so why would we be afraid of Him?
Yet in our bible reading we heard, “For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him.”
And, “As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him.”
And again, “...from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear him.”
Some people do fear God, they are afraid He will punish them for their sins; if something bad happens to them, they assume it is because God is punishing them. To such people God seems vengeful, as if God's fundamental attitude towards us is not love, but wrath.
Yet this is not what Psalm 103 says, we heard that that God “forgives all your sins”, that He “ redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion,” and that the “Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love,” and as for punishment, “He will not always accuse, nor will he harbour his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.”
So why does the Psalm 103 speak of both the love of God, and the 'fear of God?'
The Psalmist wrote in Hebrew, which we translate to English, and with the word 'fear' a choice is being made because the Hebrew word used can also mean to respect, or to hold in awe.
So, is it, “...from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear him.”
Or, “...from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who respect him.”
Or is it, “...from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who hold him in awe.”
It might help to think of it like this, have you ever stood next to a shire horse? They are a huge heavy mass of muscle and bone, and beautiful, and very impressive, and a little bit scary – just because they have so much physical power. It could be the most gentle shire horse that ever lived, but you would treat it with respect in part because you were aware of it's mighty power.
Or if you stand before the ocean, it's that that feeling of sublime awe. The ocean is beautiful, and a blessing, enabling trade and travel, but it also commands absolute respect amongst those who know it well.
If God is who the bible says He is, the Creator, the Almighty, the Judge of all, the Ancient of Days, then He is awesome and to be respected, and in that sense to be feared.
Tradition holds that Psalm 103 was written by King David, the great King of Israel who lived about a thousand years before Jesus was born to Mary, so he did not have the benefit of hearing the teachings of Jesus.
Jesus changed our perception of God, that is, Jesus changed how we saw God, he did this in what he said, but even more so by who he was. In Colossians we read, 'Jesus is the image of the invisible God,' and in Hebrews we read that Jesus, “... is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being.”
So if you want to know what God is like, look to Jesus. Read the four accounts of the life of Jesus in the bible, and there you will find the face of God.
All the might, majesty, and power, of God the Father was present in God the Son. Yet we read in Philippians, that Jesus, “Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross.'
Despite his infinite power, Jesus came to serve, not to be served.
The life of Jesus reveals the true nature of God.
David knew God as his Lord and King, but he also knew God well enough to write of Him as a caring shepherd. Jesus was and is the physical embodiment of the good shepherd that David knew God to be.
Perhaps we are uneasy when we hear of the fear of God, because we live in a time when we know the story of God told by the life of Jesus. God does does not treat us as our sins deserve, or repay us according to our iniquities, in Jesus we can see God offers forgiveness, and asks us to extend that forgiveness to those around us.
If you ever think God is punishing you for your sins, that's not Christianity, that's generalised religion, or the influence of a guilty conscience. Romans 3:23&24 tells us that, “...all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”
That 'all' includes you.
Peter, a disciple of Jesus, wrote, he “...bore our sins' in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live for righteousness.”
David was especially close to God, and knew He forgave, but this was revealed for all to see in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. David was proven right when he wrote, “...as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” He was proven right by the image of God seen in Jesus.
The love of God is infinite, it reaches as far as the east is from the west.
If we are honest, we judge and condemn others, and often we judge and condemn ourselves, but the great Judge of all offers forgiveness to all.
Sin brings it's own disastrous consequences, sin divides us from each other, and from God; the answer is to follow the way of Jesus, to 'love God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength, and love you neighbour as yourself.'
Should we fear God?
We should recognise the might and majesty of God written in the face of Jesus, and follow Jesus as Lord.
Amen.
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