Fear the Lord!
[Psalms 34:8-14]
Who are truly happy Christians? In the Bible, Deuteronomy 10:12-13, God is telling us to keep God's command to us for our own good and happiness. One of those commands is found in Amos 5:14-15 and the command is to hate evil and love good. But often we don't seem to regard evil as evil. That’s why there are times when we live a life that satisfies our sinful instincts that we like rather than life that hates evil. What does the Bible say? The Bible says, “To fear the Lord is to hate evil …” (Prov. 8:13). We must live in fear of God.
Today, I read the book “Awe in God's Fear” and saw what I wrote on the Internet. There was an article that reminded me of one thing as I read it. In summary, in the fear of God, we must have the same attitude of God who hates sin. But God does not stand as a judge and punisher of our sins but He is hurting when we sin against Him. These are two quotes from those passages: ‘After I learned that heart of God, in my heart I immediately hated sin. No that I was afraid of being disciplined for sinning, but there is hatred toward sin in my heart’ (Internet). Are we developing hatred in our hearts toward the sin? If we answer “Yes”, then we should ask ourselves whether the motives of such heart arise because we realize that Heavenly Father is hurting because of our sins rather than because we fear that we may be disciplined by God.
I want to meditate on Psalms 34:8-14, under the heading of “Fear the Lord” and learn four lessons about those who fear God.
First, those who fear God take refuge in the Lord.
Look at Psalms 34:8 – “O taste and see that the LORD is good; How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!” Here, the word ‘to take refuge in the Lord’ means ‘to trust God and to put hope only in Him and obey Him’ (Park). In other words, those who fear God are those who trust in God and put their hope only in the Lord and obey His commandments. Such people tastes the goodness of God. In other words, those who take refuge in Him experience God's goodness. David already made this confession about those who took refuge in the Lord because they fear Him in Psalm 31:19 – “How great is Your goodness, Which You have stored up for those who fear You, Which You have wrought for those who take refuge in You, Before the sons of men!” Those who take refuge in the Lord not only experience God’s great grace of protection (5:11) but also His wonderful lovingkindness (17:7) through His salvation. In addition to God's lovingkindness, David experienced His goodness.
Have you ever experienced God's goodness? I experienced God's goodness through my marriage. With God's guidance, I met my wife, and with God's great love and grace, I married her. And during the marriage worship, God gave me this word of Psalms 34:8. Indeed, I experienced that my God is a good and God who causes all things to work together for good to me (Rom. 8:28). Our God is a very good God. Our God is a very good God. He is loving and good God. Therefore, we must trust Him. It is a blessing to us when we put our hope in the Lord and obey His word. How is it blessing for us to obey His word? Those who fear God take refuge in Him, and those who take refuge in Him experience God's goodness. In order to experience the goodness of God, we must trust God and hope only in Him and obey His word. That is the blessed life.
Second, those who fear God lack nothing.
Look at Psalms 34:9-10: “Fear the LORD, you his saints, for those who fear him lack nothing. The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.” Those who fear God not only take refuge in God but also seek Him. In a dangerous situation, those who fear God first take refuge in Him and seek Him. And the one who seeks God lack nothing (v. 9). “Lion” is cruel, harming others and seizing them, so there is no worry to be in need. Then, ‘the saints who don’t harm others with integrity are likely to starve to death (Park). But the Bible says that even though the lion starves, owe saints will not: “I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread” (37:25). The lions symbolize ‘self-sufficiency’ for the form of physical needs. In contrast, those who fear God cannot satisfy themselves. Those who fear God depend on God for the basic needs of their daily lives. The Lord is with those who fear God. Which Lord is with them? The Lord who is the shepherd is with those who fear God. Then, like David, they confess: “The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want” (Ps. 23:1). Those who fear God and those who take refuge in Him and seek the Shepherd, they are not in want because they experience His fullness through His richness. God has stored up for those who fear Him and bestow on them who take refuge in Him (31:19). That’s why those who fear God lack noting.
Third, those who fear God will see good.
Look at Psalms 34:12 – “Who is the man who desires life And loves length of days that he may see good?” What is “good” here? It is nothing more than longing for life, a longevity blessing. The terms “life” and “longevity” in this sense have the same meaning as “eternal life” which the New Testament clearly refers (J. Ridderbos, Park). David tried to teach his disciples [“you children”(v.11)] the fear of the Lord in the midst of lacking nothing by taking refuge in Him in a dangerous situation (v. 11). The lesson David wanted to teach his disciples as a teacher was the most fundamental of all things, that is the meaning of life. That is ‘desiring life,’ ‘longevity’, or ‘wanting to be blessed’ (v. 12). David, who had enjoyed it satisfactorily, taught his disciples because he wanted to enjoy the satisfaction of such life in their lives as well. In that teaching, he taught them how to be blessed, which is the meaning of life in their lives, that is to discern God's purpose and live properly according to that purpose. Living properly according to God's purpose is a life of praising Him and praying to Him in fear of God to reveal His glory (vv. 1-7). Furthermore, David is giving two lessons to live properly according to God's purpose (vv. 13-14): (1) We must keep our tongue from evil and from speaking deceit (v. 13), (2) We must depart from evil and do good and seek peace (v. 14) . We must praise God because we fear Him and live a life of praising Him and praying to Him in order to glorify Him. By controlling our lips and forsaking evil and doing good, we must enjoy the blessing of eternal life that God has given us.
Fourth and last, those who fear God depart from evil and do good.
Look at Psalms 34:14 – “Depart from evil and do good; Seek peace and pursue it.” This is one of the answers to verse 12,'Who is the man who loves to see good.’ In other words, those who long for life and want to be blessed by longevity must fear God and forsake evil and do good. Look at Proverbs 8:13 – “To fear the LORD is to hate evil ….” Those who depart evil because they fear God are wise (14:16). David says that those who fear God passively depart evil and actively do good (P. 34:14). Here, the word ‘to do good’ means ‘to find and pursue peace’. So how do we find and pursue peace? We can find the answer in Psalms 34:13 – “Keep your tongue from evil And your lips from speaking deceit.” This means to keep away the sins that harm others with our lips, that is, insults, curses, flattery, slander, and leaks (Park). We must control our lips in the church in order to find and pursue peace in the community. Failure to do so will break and destroy the peace of the church. The reason is that if we use the tongue incorrectly, it is “a restless evil and full of deadly poison” (Jam. 3:8).
Those who fear God are blessed and happy. They take refuge in the Lord and experience God's goodness. They also enjoy God’s great grace that He has stored up for those who fear Him. Not only they receive God's protection and salvation, but they also experiences His wonderful love. They gains strength by trusting in God and obeying His commandments in hope. They aren’t lacking anything because the Lord, the shepherd, is with them. They depart from evil and do good and seek peace and pursue it. That’s why they keep their tongue from evil. Those who fear God are truly blessed and happy.
Being established as God’s blessed and happy child,
James Kim
(Seeking His wisdom to fear God)