Psalm 33:8-9 

Let all the earth fear the LORD; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him! For He spoke, and it came to be; He commanded, and it stood firm.

 You may not like the idea of “fearing” the Lord. Many people don’t. But the reason they don’t – and perhaps the reason you don’t like it – is because we somehow have the notion that God is a mushy-gushy-kindly-old-grandpa in the way He considers us.  

But can I tell you, because I love you, that’s NOT a biblical portrait of God in the least. 

He is fearsome. Yes… to be feared. Why? Because He made you, and the tree outside, and the sun that blazes 93 million miles away, and everything else large and small that you can think of. In other words, He’s powerful. So we fear Him like we would fear a semi-truck if we were lying helpless in the middle of I-94 as it was barreling down on us. 

And that’s not a contrived metaphor. It’s pretty accurate in fact. The “semi-truck” of God’s wrath was barreling down on our sin and sinfulness. All of us. Every human. There was nothing we could to get up out of the road and save ourselves. Only God could avert the destruction of His wrath – and He did through Jesus. 

In light of this amazing and wonderful news, “let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him.” For He spoke and the world came into being… He spoke, and His Son was sent to earth to absorb the impact of His “semi-truck” wrath on our behalf. 

Such wrath and such gracious love are to be feared. Rightly so. 

So as you seek Him today, as you go about your day doing so, look for a semi-truck and imagine the scenario. Consider God’s anger at your sin. Then revel in His gracious forgiveness… and fear Him out of respect for both His power and His mercy. 

-Pastor Carey