Come, my children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord. --Psalm 34:11
Many people come to God irreverently. We will never get very far in our relationship with the Lord unless we understand He is to be feared. One of the greatest examples of fearing the Lord can be found in the infamous book The Chronicles of Narnia.
In the book, an allegory written by C.S. Lewis, the story is told of two girls, Susan and Lucky, who prepare to meet Aslan the Lion, who represents Christ. A story mostly made up of talking animals, Mr. and Mrs. Beaver help to prepare the girls for their first visit with the lion king. "Ooh," says Susan, "I thought he was a man. Is he quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion."
"That you will, dearie," replied Mrs. Beaver. "And make no mistake, if there's anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they're either braver than most or else just silly."
Mr. Beaver goes on to tell the young child, who questions if he's safe, "Don't you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? Of course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the king, I tell you!"
The psalmist understood better than anyone what Mr. and Mrs. Beaver were trying to explain to Susan and Lucy. He wrote, "Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him. Fear the Lord, you his saints, for those who fear him lack nothing" (Psalm 34:8-9). We aren't to live in terror of the Lord, but we must always fear Him in reverence and awe of His goodness and kingship. Our God is awesome beyond what we can imagine.
PRAYER CHALLENGE: In your prayer, praise God for who He is and worship Him with trembling hope and repentant tears.
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