Psalms 89:7 - Homiletics

The fear of God.

"God is greatly to be feared," etc. True religion contains three indispensable elements—right beliefs concerning God; right feelings; right conduct. If either be deficient, our religion will be proportionately injured or worthless. Religion without faith is impossible. Religion without morality is a mockery. Religion without feeling is lifeless and powerless. Preaching commonly deals more with faith and duty than with feeling— i.e; affection, desire, emotion—for two reasons:

Yet this vast region of Christian experience is far too important to be left unexplored, uncultivated. The affection referred to here is often spoken of in Scripture as synonymous with true religion— the fear of God. Consider

I. ITS NATURE .

1 . It is not terror; the fear which "hath torment," which "perfect love casteth out" ( 1 John 4:18 ). Terror would drive us from God; the fear the Bible teaches begets trust, and draws us near to him ( Psalms 115:11 ; Psalms 22:23 ; Psalms 25:14 , etc.). Ungodly men, in the presence of sudden danger or impending death, often pass in a moment from impious carelessness or defiant blasphemy to abject terror; but there is no more religion in the latter than in the former.

2 . It is not a passing feeling, but a permanent habit of mind. It is central and fundamental; for without it love, trust, gratitude, hope, obedience, would lack their truly religious character. Yet we cannot sum it up in any single, simple phrase. It is the temper which prompts and inspires worship ( Psalms 95:6 ). It is awe of God's greatness, reverence of his majesty. It is reverence for his authority, prompting obedience to his Law, submission to his will. It is sensitiveness to his praise and blame, making the thought of displeasing him intolerable. There is in it ever some mingling of that sort of terror with which we contemplate tremendous power or awful danger, though in safety; the precipice over which we nearly fell; the avalanche that swept by without touching us; the storm in which our frail boat would have been wrecked had we not come ashore in time ( Luke 12:5 ).

II. ITS MOTIVES .

1 . The revelation of God's omnipotence, omnipresence, infinite wisdom, eternal being in the vastness, order, variety, unity, of the universe ( Psalms 8:3 , Psalms 8:4 ).

2 . Our personal relation as creatures to our Creator ( Acts 17:28 ). By "saints" ("holy ones")angels may here be meant; they share with us this awful, incomprehensible, ineffably intimate relation to God.

3 . God's holiness, in itself and in contrast with our selfishness (comp. Exodus 3:5 ).

4 . God's goodness and mercy (see Hosea 3:5 , where Revised Version is a paraphrase, Authorized Version more literal; Jeremiah 33:9 ). Our Saviour's presence, gracious as it was, inspired intense awe ( Luke 5:8 ).

In former times, harsh and terrible views of God were often preached, out of all harmony with not only New Testament, but Old Testament teaching ( 1 John 4:8 ; Exodus 34:6 ). At present an exaggerated reaction tends to thrust out of view the awe-inspiring teaching of both Law and gospel as to the evil of sin and its penalties, and to lose sight, in curious speculation about the nature and duration of future punishment, of the two most important facts—its certainty, and its righteous severity ( Romans 1:18 ; Romans 2:4 12).