PSALMS OF ASCENT!

PSALM 128:1

Yare
BLESSED ARE ALL WHO FEAR THE LORD, WHO WALK IN HIS WAYS. (PSALMS 128:1 NIV)
YARE
Blessings come from having reverence (right relationship with God), & obedience (habits learned from God). The Hebrew word for fear is yare (pronounced yaree). Its origin comes from words that mean to tremble or be short of breath. So the word describes experiences that profoundly take your breath away. When you are outside and a clap of thunder catches yo u o f f - g u a rd , t h at s a n experience of yare. But so also is experiencing a miracle where God heals someone that everyone else has written off. That can be a yare experience too. This kind of fear recognizes Gods sovereignty over all that is. Its a Whoa! This must be a God-thing! realisation. We must let God be who He is, vast and terrifyingly powerful. We are not to try to bring God down to our size, but gaze upon him. He is better described than dened. Fearing God helps us to shut up and hear what he has to say. We would do well to pray through these verses regularly, T herefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming re. (Heb 12:2829) To paraphrase C.S.Lewis in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe where characters are discussing Aslan - He is not safe, but he is good. Our God is not safe - we could hardly expect the perfect, allpowerful, holy creator of all that is seen and unseen to be otherwise. But He is good! That is why we can fear Him in a way that is healthy and benecial to us. Walking like Jesus is not simply doing what he did - like some kind of impressionist. It is brought about by a change of heart that leads to a change of lifestyle that will make people realise, by seeing the way we live, that we are disciples of Jesus Christ. Instead of a walking in darkness, with no fear of God and no direction, we are choosing to walk in the light, with reverence for God and in the direction of His choosing the narrow way. We do this with joy because we know that, no matter how dangerous the road, our souls are secure and our destination is assured. The old hymn says it well, When we walk with the Lord, In the light of His Word, What a glory He sheds on our way! While we do His good will, He abides with us still, And with all who will trust and obey. Trust and obey, For theres no other way, To be happy in Jesus, But to trust and obey.

WALK
Not only are we to fear God, but also to walk in His ways. A similar point is made of Jesus followers, We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands....Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did. (1 John 2:36 NIV)

Malcolm Cox, email: malcolm.cox@iccmissions.org | ICC Missions on facebook | www.nwlcc.org