•The great remedy for believers is to trust God, to take refuge in Him, to believe and depend upon Him in such a manner as to not be afraid.
•But there is another way to not be afraid in the midst of this pandemic, in the midst of our precarious and uncertain lives — it is to fear God and Him alone, to be so gripped by a holy reverent fear of God as to free us from all other fears!
John Murray said, "The fear of God is the soul of godliness."
v. 12, Conspiracy — don't look at the events that are happening as if some deep conspiracy is afoot, whatever it might be — everything is a conspiracy, we interpret events in terms of conspiracy, powerful forces, masterminded by diabolical forces, —events are not explained in terms of God's control, purpose and intervention but upon some deep mysterious and sinister forces seeking to undermine, manipulate, control and overcome us.
1. "But the LORD of hosts, him you shall honor/regard as holy."
That is to see him as holy, to see Him as distinct and not common, to regard Him as high and lifted up, holy, holy, holy. "Those who treat God as holy do not ignore his words, dishonor his name, or fail to trust in him. They bow in awe, give him due reverence, and in faith obey what he says." (NAC)
2. "Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread."
This does not mean "horror" and craven fear. Rather, we fear offending God, we fear disobeying Him and His Word; what He wants is more important than what anything or anyone else might want. He has our full loyalty – that is our holy fear and dread. Nothing else grips me. That holy fear is like a magnet — it draws me to Him, to believe Him, to obey Him, to follow Him, to depend upon Him. |
