Fear of the Lord leads to . . .

 

                                                                              1 Samuel 4; Psalm 18; Jeremiah 42; Romans 4

Last week someone spoke of me as having a direct link to God, as if He is a genie in a bottle and I know how to rub the bottle and get my wishes. This makes me shudder. I think of Aaron making a golden calf and telling the people that this was their god. How silly are both ideas.

Today’s reading is another reminder how God can be misrepresented. The Israelites were battling the Philistines and suffering defeat. They thought if they brought the ark of God (containing the tables of stone with the law, a pot of manna, and Aaron’s rod which budded to show he was a true prophet) then they would gain the upper hand. The Philistines were terrified when they knew the ark was in the camp of Israel, for they had heard about its association with mighty gods who had brought Israel out of Egypt more than 300 years before. However, this idea did not work. The ark was to be carried in faith and at God’s leading, not as if it were a large good-luck charm. The Israelites should have known that their omnipresent God could not be taken away from them or treated on this basis.

Reading comments on this passage makes me ask if I’ve ever tried to manipulate God’s favor? Does He care about externals or about my behavior and the purity of my heart? Psalm 18 is a strong answer to this question summed up in these verses:

The Lord lives, and blessed be my rock, and exalted be the God of my salvation— the God who gave me vengeance and subdued peoples under me, who rescued me from my enemies; yes, you exalted me above those who rose against me; you delivered me from the man of violence. For this I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations, and sing to your name. Great salvation he brings to his king, and shows steadfast love to his anointed, to David and his offspring forever. (Psalm 18:46–50)

David cried out to God because his enemies were too strong for him (verse27), a cry that declared the Lord was his rock and fortress, his deliverer and stronghold. He praised the Lord, not a box full of reminders of Him, not statutes, or symbols, crosses on a chain or icons hanging around the room. His prayer was certainly not a cry based on superstition.

Later the prophet Jeremiah was approached by leaders of the Israelites who were still in their homeland and not yet subject to their enemies. They wanted him to pray and discover God’s will for them saying that whatever it was they would obey it. Jeremiah did as they asked and received a strong warning that they should not escape to Egypt but stay in their land. However, they didn’t listen to the Lord and off they went. Did they think that God could be manipulated by His prophet? Is that why they didn’t pray themselves? Was he their good-luck charm who could rub the bottle and control the genie? Did they think He wanted what they wanted?

Romans 4 makes it clear: salvation is by faith, not by keeping the Law or by doing anything that we can do. It is not faith in stuff that reminds me of God or makes me feel ‘religious’ or appear pious. I cannot persuade God or win spiritual battles by ‘right praying’ or by the strength of my desire. Incantations and rituals do not do it. Instead, God looks for faith which shows itself in an unexpected way:

All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the Lord. But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word. (Isaiah 66:2)

When the Philistines came at them, the Israelites could have cried out in helpless dependence with genuine admission of their failure to trust God, or perhaps confess their sin in trusting a box of reminders instead of Him. This is the same strategy needed for those remaining in their homes after most of their people had been exiled to Babylon. God told them to stay there, but they took matters into their own hands, depending on their own strategy to keep themselves safe. They didn’t think to confess their desire to do their own thing and ignore what God told them.

APPLY: The bottom line is: who do I trust — God or me? God or my version of God? God or symbols and images that remind me of Him? Fear of the Lord is about awe and respect, not about being afraid of what He might tell me to do. Fear of the Lord is doing what He says, even if it seems odd or strange because I believe He is good and wise and wants the best for me.