(The following is post 1 of 5 on Five Personal Benefits of God's Word)

Reverence toward God is often seriously lacking as we approach Him. We saunter up to him in prayer or worship without regard to His holiness and splendor. Sometimes we have not the faintest thought that He might possibly reject our offering, like he did Cain, because we’ve not taking him as seriously as He requires.

Reverence means that we’re treating God with the deepest respect that He deserves. It means that we are in awe of Him and holding Him in the highest regard.

The best way to learn reverence toward God is to not just know concepts about Him, but to really KNOW Him. God has told us everything He wants us to know about Himself in His Word, the Bible. In the Bible we learn of God’s character and His nature. We learn about His love for us and how He works in our lives to restore us to Himself through His great plan of salvation through Christ Jesus. It is only when we have begin to intimately know God, that we begin to have great, high and lofty thoughts about God.

Once we have a proper high view of God, we should be able to clearly see that, by comparison, we as humans fall woefully short in every area. When we look at our own weaknesses as frail men, and then gaze at God’s position as Creator and Sustainer of the universe, ‘reverence’ toward God is really the only proper response. When we are thinking clearly about who God really is, and who we really are, then we begin to approach Him in the state of awe and wonder, respect and reverence that He desires.

Establish Thy word to Thy Servant, as that which produces reverence for Thee.

In Psalm 119:38, David is making a request to God. He knows that reverence is a necessity and so He is crying out in prayer, asking God to produce it. David knows that the means to a reverent spirit is through the Word. He’s asking God to ‘establish’ it in His life, that is, to build it up, make it fixed and make it stand powerfully firm.

In the scriptures we read of people who ‘feared’ God with a reverential fear. We would do well to learn from their examples. Take a moment to read about a few in the following passages:

Nehemiah (Neh. 5:15)
Job (Job 1:8)
Cornelius (Acts 10:1-2)
The Church (Acts 9:31)

There are also accounts of people who were NOT reverent toward God. These people did not take God very seriously. Take note of the outcome as you take a look at these scriptures:

Merchandisers in the Temple (Matt. 21:-12-13; Mark 11:15-18)
Nadab and Abihu (Lev. 10:1-3)

If we know about God, but don’t really KNOW him, we cannot render the proper reverence that He commands. In the examples stated above, some of the people took what they knew about God and applied it in their lives, translating their knowledge into love and awe and reverence for their God. Others did not, and the consequences were devastating!

Response:

Is there anything in particular about God’s Word that will help you in your quest to show reverence toward the Lord?

How is your prayer life? Do you rush in and out of God’s presence? What do you think God feels about your hurried relationship with him?

Write brief prayer regarding your own attitude of reverence toward God.

Memory Verse:

Establish Thy word to Thy Servant, as that which produces reverence for Thee. - Psalm 119:38