Hear And Fear

We do not have to be afraid of the LORD’s harsh discipline if we are trustingly serving him.   ~~~   Fear God We ended last week by seeing that in 2 Samuel 12, Samuel gave his farewell address and encouraged the Israelites to hear from God as he continued to pray for them and instruct them. That would be their proper response, but not the only response. Not only were they to hear from God, they were to fear God. This is an interesting one. In verse 20, Samuel says, “Do not be afraid; you have done all this evil.” And then in verse 24, Samuel says, “Fear the LORD.” So in one verse he says, “Fear not.” And then turns around and says, “Fear the LORD.” What are we to make of this? I think if we read it with the context in mind, we will see that we do not have to be afraid of the LORD’s harsh discipline if we are trustingly serving him. If there is a greater reverence, if we see Him as He truly is and as He presents himself to us, we will not have to fear his judgment because our lives will be aligned in His ways. So we must fear Him, revere Him, stand in awe of Him. The type of fear that Isaiah had, when after seeing him in His glory, and becoming undone, but then having the cleansing of that piece of coal brought to His lips, Isaiah was ready to go anywhere and say anything the LORD commanded. So we are to hear from God, and when He is made plan to us through instruction, we are to fear Him in reverence and awe.