“The eye of the Lord is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love” (Psalm 33:18).
In grade nine I was on the receiving end of bullying. I loved competing in sport and one of my favourite activities was basketball. In the fall I had tried out for, and made, my school’s basketball team. That part was great – especially for a slight kid who wouldn’t hit his growth spurt until grade 10. Unfortunately, two of the older bigger boys apparently saw the proverbial “kick me here” sign on my backside. I became the guy they would pick on to feel better about themselves. I was singled out in the locker room and on the court; in practice and even in games. Once when warming up for a regular season game I was in the practice layup line waiting my turn when out of the blue I was struck in the side of head by a ball heaved from the other side of the court by one of my adversaries (I mean teammates!). It left me uneasy with my teammates, and timid on the court. It frustrated my coaches (unaware of the situation) as they could see unrealized potential in my game.
When we read the above verse from Psalm 38 we can be left wondering how to reconcile fearing the same Lord we are to hope in. I feared my basketball bullies, but the only hope I had with respect to them was the daily hope they would skip practice! Why would we fear God if indeed he is the source of “steadfast love”? Doesn’t the bible tell us that “perfect love casts out fear”? Clearly, there are other aspects and kinds of fear with respect to the Lord. The Psalmist tells us that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Ps. 111:10a).” And the beginning of the fear of God comes when we agree with C.S. Lewis who wrote: “In God you come up against something which is in every respect immeasurably superior to yourself. Unless you know God as that – and, therefore, know yourself as nothing in comparison – you do not know God at all.”[1] Seeing ourselves as we are and God as he is enables us to live our lives in humility before the Lord, acknowledging and submitting to his superior wisdom, and drawing upon his perfect provision day by day. Such a life, grounded in the fear of the Lord, will also of necessity be filled with hope – the kind of hope not influenced by circumstance, but settled in the steadfast love of God.
Much love,
Pastor Gary
[1] C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, (San Francisco: Harper Collins, 2001), p124