Standing in Awe of God

“Let all the earth fear the LORD; Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him” (Psalm 33:8). In the line upon line teaching characteristic of Hebrew poetry, the Psalmist reminds us that to “fear the LORD” – to honor and revere Him in a way fitting His power and position – is to “stand in awe of Him.” To my shame though, I wonder if I’ve sung the hymn, “I Stand in Awe of You,” more times than I’ve actually stood in literal awe of my God.

When I envision the instruction to stand in awe of God being lived out, I envision scenes of man awestruck at the awesome might and majesty of God: Israel trembling at the base of Mount Sinai, asking not to hear God’s voice out of fear that they might die (Exodus 20:18-19); Isaiah shouting “I am undone!” before the throne of the holy God (Isaiah 6:5); Ezekiel falling on his face each time he saw “the glory of the LORD” (Ezekiel 1:28; cf. 3:23; 43:3; 44:4); Peter, perhaps realizing for the first time who Jesus was, crying out, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!” (Luke 5:8). For these individuals, seeing the glory of God wasn’t simply awesome (productive of or characterized by awe); it was, to borrow a word from Isaac Watts’ hymn “Before Jehovah’s Aweful Throne,” aweful (completely and totally full of awe). Again, as I evaluate myself, there’s too big of a gap between them and me.  

While standing in awe of God is more than simply saying “wow” at something God has done, I think it is at least that. And some of the times when I’ve found it easiest to put “wow” and “God” together have been times when I’ve been out in nature. There have been plenty of times when I’ve been hiking up trails or driving through mountain roads only for a scene to unfold that leaves me full of wonder. I’m thankful that I’ve been trained to see God in moments like these. “The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork” (Psalm 19:1). Indeed, “When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained, What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him?” (Psalm 8:3-4). Nature properly considered leaves us awestruck, humbled, and grateful at the same time. Yet, as Psalm 19 declares, there’s something more profound in God’s special revelation, His “law… testimony… statues… commandment… fear… judgments…” (Psalm 19:7-9), than in the general revelation offered by nature.

It’s easy to pass off the above cited experiences of Israel, Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Peter; after all, they experienced a theophany, a visible manifestation of the invisible God. However, while they did, as far as we know, David did not. And yet, through the aids of general and special revelation, he was still able to stand in awe of God.

Honestly, I stand in awe of David’s reflections upon the Bible. While the Psalm is unattributed, I tend to see David as the author of Psalm 119, and, if he is he is, I’m in awe of the value he placed on his Bible, which at the very most contained the Torah (Genesis-Deuteronomy), Joshua, Judges, and Ruth. Even if a later author penned Psalm 119, it’s still true that this author had not read one Gospel account when he poured out one hundred and seventy two verses of inspired praise for God’s word. Shouldn’t I, a recipient of the “salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully,” the “things which angels desire to look into” (1 Peter 1:10, 12), be even more full of praise and, if it were possible, more full of awe?

Psalm 33:8 compares through parallelism the action “fear” with the action “stand in awe.” Perhaps herein lies the problem for me as a Christian. John said, “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear” (1 John 4:18). It’s possible that my reflections on these words along with Paul’s, “God has not given us a spirit of fear” (2 Timothy 1:7), the Hebrew author’s, “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace” (Hebrews 4:16), and other similar New Testament truths have made me too comfortable with my God. It’s a real temptation: I can dwell so much on the reality of my relationship with God through Jesus and the beautiful access it provides that I fail to remember that there is absolutely nothing about me that deserves such a relationship.

It’s worth noting that the same John who said “love casts out fear” also “fell at His feet as dead” when he saw Jesus in His glory (Revelation 1:17). Yes, love casts out fear, but only the kind involving “torment” as 1 John 4:18 teaches. There is another kind of fear that must always abide in our hearts. As Moses said, “And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments of the LORD and His statutes which I command you today for your good?” (Deuteronomy 10:12-13). I need to strive for an obedient walk with God which incorporates in a healthy way both fear and love from the core of my being.

Perhaps then, when my love for God and its attendant fear grow weak, I need to consider words from another hymn:Both the path to Calvary and the terrible events that occurred there are awe inspiring. To see the cross is all at once to see the terrible weight of my sin and the tremendous, infinite love of my God. It is to see everything I am not and yet want to be while seeing everything that He is.  

While nature provides a starting point for standing in awe of God and while the cross brings some important details into clarity, there’s so much more to consider and so much more room for my sense of awe to grow. Remember, the people of the Old Testament stood in awe of God prior to the cross!

Consider for example the reason Psalm 33 gives for standing in awe of God: “For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast. The LORD brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; He makes the plans of the peoples of no effect. The counsel of the LORD stands forever, The plans of His heart to all generations” (Psalm 33:9-11). To sum up these words, we should stand in awe of God because His will, His plans, His decrees, and His counsel are immutable whereas mine are not. God exists independently and wills unconditionally; in everything that I do, I am dependent and contingent.

Why should God’s will contrasted with my own lead me to a sense of awe? Earlier, I mentioned Isaac Watt’s hymn, “Before Jehovah’s Aweful Throne.” Watts writes:It’s striking in light of all the above considerations that Watts thoughts, like those of Psalm 33, connected awe to the immutability of God’s will. Assuming awe as given though, he called his audience to “sacred joy,” a joy that recognizes that God’s unalterable will, His “firm as a rock” truth, determined to create us, love us, and usher us into His courts forever. I can not only be in awe of God’s ability to will; I can be in awe of what He chooses to do.

Perhaps in the midst of my most frustrating, weakest, and/or failure-filled moments, I need to try to stand in awe of my God all the more. He not only stands in stark contrast to me in these moments; He loves me, wants to redeem me, and gave everything, even “His only begotten son,” to make it so (John 3:16).

-Patrick Swayne  
patrick@tftw.org