majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him in Palms 112:1,
"Praise the Lord. Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who finds
great delight in his commands."
In this beatitude, the psalmist speaks of the blessedness of the one
who fears the Lord, delighting in his commands. How does one arrive at
this disposition? Do I just wake up some morning and say, "I am going
to fear the Lord today so I can get blessed!"? How do I delight in the
Lord's commands? Who enjoys obeying someone else's commands? The
psalmist goes on to say that the man who does these things will have
very specific blessings bestowed on him: his children will be mighty,
wealth and riches, righteousness that endures forever, light in the
darkness, he will never be shaken and be remembered forever, etc.
John tells us in 1 John 3:21-22, that our confidence before God and
the grounds for which our prayers are answered lies in obeying his
commands and do what is pleasing to him. As a matter of fact, John
goes on to say that our obedience to God is a demonstration that we
have a relationship with God. He says, "Those who obey his commands
live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in
us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us." Here is also the answer to
the question of how we develop a fear of the Lord and delight in his
commands: it is because he has given us the Holy Spirit. In 2
Corinthians 5:17 we read, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a
new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!"
The man who fears the Lord and takes great delight in his commands is
blessed because he is a man who has become a "new creation". This new
creation is due to the presence of the Holy Spirit who has come to
dwell right within our hearts and changes us from within, as Paul
tells us in Galatians 5:22-24, "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy,
peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and
self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to
Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and
desires."
Indeed, Paul tells us in Romans 8:9-10, that all of us who are God's
children have received his Spirit. "You, however, are controlled not
by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in
you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not
belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because
of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness." All of us
who have embraced Jesus Christ in faith are blessed as the psalmist
says. We are changed from within and now have a fear of the Lord and
take great delight in his commands. How wonderful our God has wrought
this work in our lives!
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share
your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd
love to hear from you!
Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com
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