For your Name’s sake, O Lord, pardon my guilt, for it is great.
Who are they that fear the Lord? He will teach them the way that they should choose.
They will abide in prosperity, and their children shall possess the land.
The friendship of the Lord is for those who fear him, and he makes his covenant known to them.
My eyes are ever toward the Lord, for he will pluck my feet out of the net.
—Psalm 25:11-15
Fearing God, as theologian Rob Bell once noted, is like sitting on a surfboard just offshore and finding a huge whale surfacing beneath you. The immensity of the event causes awe and respect and, yes, a certain fear as you are lifted. Whales are gentle but still wild, and in the vastness of the sea, encountering such a giant can’t but leave you breathless. And you love it.
That’s fearing and loving God.
Fearing God is like listening to the quiet after a large snowfall. Everything has changed and there is immense power in that. And yet, everything is more beautiful—even if it’s all just a little more complex. And you love it.
That’s fearing and loving God.
That’s fearing and loving God.
Fearing God is like listening to the quiet after a large snowfall. Everything has changed and there is immense power in that. And yet, everything is more beautiful—even if it’s all just a little more complex. And you love it.
That’s fearing and loving God.
—Tim Brown, Living Lutheran
Imprint upon my heart, O God,
that because I belong to you
no one can pluck me from your hand,
and because I fear you
I need fear no other. Amen.
—A New Zealand Prayer Book
