“Serve the LORD with fear and rejoice with trembling.”
– Psalm 2:11
THE THEOLOGY in some worship songs makes me very uneasy. For instance, there are several popular songs that use the following lyrics (which I will paraphrase): “I want to see Your holiness.” But is that good theology (or even good sense)? Do we, as people on this side of eternity, really want to gaze into God’s unveiled holiness? Even the angels in heaven need to shield their eyes from the piercing luminance of His presence. And all the accounts that I’ve read in the Bible describe sinful man beholding God’s holiness as a terrible and terrifying thing. When Peter was confronted with the holiness of Jesus, he responded, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” When Isaiah came before a holy God, he responded, “Woe to me! I am ruined!” For all of us who are washed of sin but still prone to it, facing God’s holiness is not a fun prospect! It is a scary one—not unlike the prospect of being inches away from a mighty lion. As C.S. Lewis illustrates in the book The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, the beaver says this about Aslan the lion, “Safe? Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe, but he’s good. He’s the king, I tell you.” Perhaps one day in heaven, when God’s work of sanctification is made complete, we will be given new eyes and abilities to directly see His holy presence. Until then, having some fear and trembling seem to me a healthy thing.
Now some may argue that fearing God and loving God are somehow contradictory concepts. Isn’t it true that “love drives out all fear?” In 1 John 4:18, the author writes, “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.” So what’s going on? To understand the meaning of this verse, it’s important to read this verse in its proper context. Immediately before this passage, John writes, “In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him.” It appears that the “fear” described here is the “fear of the day of judgement.” As Christians who are deeply loved by God, we have no fear of losing our salvation when we stand before Him on that final day (and Christ’s perfect love does, in fact, drive out this fear). However, John is not implying that we should not have a healthy fear of and respect for God. In fact, there are multiple verses in the Bible that support the compatibility of the fear and love of God. In Deuteronomy 10:12-13, the author writes, “And now, O Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways, to love Him…” In Psalms 33:18, David writes “But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love.” And in Proverbs 16:6, the author writes, “Through love and faithfulness sin is atoned for; through the fear of the Lord a man avoids evil.”
It truly is a mystery! God can be closer and more intimate than the closest friend; and yet, He is more dangerous and fearsome than a mighty lion. But that, as with many other seeming paradoxes of the Christian faith is both the riddle and the majestic truth.
Bookends
In Western society, we claim to understand God’s love, but we do not rightly fear God. But can love exist without fear? If I say that I love the Father, and yet I do not give Him the proper authority and respect in my life and I do not appreciate His utter hatred of sin, does that not disqualify any tender words from my lips? And here is another problem—speaking of the sweetness of God’s love without knowing the fear of His holiness seems to me illogical. It would be like trying to describe a one-ended stick. Both of these important concepts of God can only be understood in relationship to each other. They are like bookends. Our knowledge of God is not complete without the tension of both of these seemingly disparate concepts in some kind of profound and miraculous harmony—which we see most vividly at the cross.
O Worship the King
Robert Grant was born in India in 1779 and later became a prominent lawyer and politician in England. After his death, a volume of sacred poems and hymns were publish for which O Worship the King (based on Psalm 104) became the most popular.
