February 13, 2011

Psalm 33:1-17 (Click to see scripture)

Bible in One Year Passages:
Matthew 14:13-21, Acts 21:27-40, Exodus 27-28

Journal Entry

Scripture

Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him! (v. 8)
For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm. (v. 9)

Observation

The “fear” of the Lord comes from my “awe” of him. If I fear the Lord because he is capable of punishing me for my wrong doings, then my understanding of God is rather rudimentary. If I truly know who God is and what he has done, I will understand how utterly insignificant and powerless I am in the presence of him. With mere words, bang, he created the universe. How significant am I in the vastness of the universe? Am I not but a mere speck on this planet? Isn’t the earth is but a speck in our galaxy, and isn’t Milky way is but a speck in the Universe? What actions of mine or that of the entire human race can ever make any impact on the universe? The entire mass of the expanding universe started from a single point at a particular time when God spoke (a metaphor for God expressing his will to create). In the presence of this God, I am utterly insignificant and fear and awe should come over me.

I should rejoice with loud shouts and every musical instrument that this awesome God loved us so much that he sacrificed his own son to save us. How incredibly cool is that?

Application

I am so used to thinking God as a loving Father that I often forget how mighty he truly is. Personification of God helps me to get closer to him. Yet this sometimes leads me to believe that God is my buddy, though he is infinitely more than that. To worship him properly and to follow his commands diligently, I need to put God in a proper perspective, as the creator of the whole universe and everything in it. I often acknowledge this fact when I pray, but do I really know what that means? If I did, my actions and behaviors would be different. Genuine awe and fear of God is a requirement for true worship of him.

Prayer

Lord, I want to worship you truly. May the fear of God overcome me and may I be in awe of you everyday. Amen.

--tchang