“Blessed is the person who fears the LORD, who finds great delight in his commands.” – Psalm 112:1
What does it mean to “fear the Lord”?
When we hear the word “fear” we immediately think of something frightening … such as a wasp appearing in my house and suddenly flying up into my kitchen window when I was busy at the kitchen sink doing the dishes. Freaked me out!
Psalm 112:1 – “Blessed is the person who fears the LORD.” This does not mean that we are blessed if we are terrified or freaked out.
Rather, it is a sense of overwhelming awe and wonder! Such as … flying right over top of Mt. Rainier!
When flying up the west coast from somewhere south, you fly over top of a whole series of mountain peaks in the Cascade Mountain range. Oh look … far below is itty bitty Mt. Jefferson, in Oregon. Oh look! … down there is the little point of Mt. Hood. Check it out … there’s Mt. St. Helens. Oh and look, there’s Mt. Adams.
Then Mt. Rainier comes closer and closer out the airplane window. Compared to all the other mountain peaks, Mt. Rainier is a beast! An absolute beast of a mountain! It is massive!
Imagine you are sitting here in this airplane seat gazing out in awe and wonder at this massive beast of a mountain.
And then you glance over at the seat next to you and sitting there in the seat next to you is the One who created that massive beast of a mountain. “Yes, I made that,” he casually says. Whoa!!
Mine and hubby’s YouTube channel is filled with all sorts of “click-bait” videos of famous celebrities and actors randomly showing up and surprising people … such as the actors from Star Wars or the Marvel movies. The response of the people they surprise is shock! Awe! Wonder! Overwhelm!
This right here is the idea when Psalm 112:1 says: “Blessed is the person who fears the LORD.”
The people in the click-bait YouTube videos who were randomly surprised by famous Star Wars or Marvel celebrities were “blessed” for that moment to be able to meet someone amazing who had “created” something amazing!
What if we actually met the One who created Mt. Rainier?!
Here is another view of Mt. Rainier to give us an idea of size and magnitude. Here you can see the parking lot far below where hubby and I parked. Behind the parking lot the flank of the mountain rises.
It makes you feel small doesn’t it! It makes you feel very very small!
Zooming out from the parking lot we can see more of the flank of the mountain as it keeps rising. Can you see the parking lot there in the center of the photo? The size and scale of the mountain is so great it’s almost hard to comprehend.
And then zooming all the way out we have the full view. The parking lot is still visible in the photo here. It is just a tiny little blip tucked away at the base of the massive mountain. Standing here on this ridge the viewer can’t help but be overwhelmed with awe and wonder!
What if, as hubby and I were standing here on this ridge chatting with fellow hikers, the One who created this mountain suddenly showed up and was standing right there next to us?
Would we have the same surprised, shocked reaction just like the people in the YouTube videos who were surprised by the sudden appearance of Star Wars actors? Would we be giddy with overwhelm and awe?
This right here is the idea of Psalm 112:1 when it says: “Blessed is the person who fears the LORD.”
For sure I have a healthy “fear” and respect of this mountain. Untold volcanic power is bottled up within this mountain and kept corked. I am fully aware of this, and yet I am not freaked out or terrified. Hubby and I drive right up to the mountain and hike all over it, enjoying the beauty.
If the One who created this mountain could put untold volcanic power deep within the mountain, then keep that power corked, and give us the beauty as a gift to enjoy every day … how much greater and how much more power does the creator have?!
The creator of this beauty … the creator of this power … the creator with the ability to keep all that volcanic power corked … this creator wants to be a part of each of our lives.
This creator wants to stand next to us and get to know us. This creator wants us to get to know him.
Is this not mind-blowing?!
In fact, it is so important to this creator that we be able to get to know him, that he wrote a whole book just for us so that we could know who he is and get to know him – the Bible!
“Blessed is the person who fears the LORD, who finds great delight in his commands.” – Psalm 112:1
* We are blessed as we enjoy the overwhelming awe and wonder of the majesty and greatness of our God!
* We are blessed as we enjoy the overwhelming awe and wonder of the beauty of this world our God has made for us.
* We are blessed as we enjoy the overwhelming awe and wonder of our great God being right here with us!
* We are blessed as we enjoy the overwhelming awe and wonder of reading the words our great God has given us.
* We are blessed as we enjoy the overwhelming awe and wonder of getting to know who our great God is!
* We are blessed as we enjoy the overwhelming awe and wonder of having a warm, close relationship with our great God!
“Blessed is the person who fears the LORD, who finds great delight in his commands.” – Psalm 112:1
