Plan Three: Nurturing a Fear of GodSample

GOD’S GLORIOUS CREATION HELPS US FEAR HIM, PART 1

When trying to comprehend God’s greatness, there is no better illustration than creation, and that is where the writers of Scripture so frequently turn:

“To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these?

He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls forth each of them by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.

We tend to view God’s creation in scientific terms of neutrons, protons, cells, DNA, black holes, and light years while forgetting the God who made all of it. Modern science has largely removed creation’s wonder, giving us an exhausting stack of academic textbooks and scientific studies.

When Job struggled with the personal tragedies and infirmities God had allowed and the perceived injustice of it all, God never addressed Job’s whys. Instead, He instilled in Job a fear of Him by pointing to the wonder of His creation through some of the most beautiful poetry ever written:

“Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand.Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it?

On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone—while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?”

God provides the inspiration to fear Him, which is found all around us. King David wrote,

When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars,which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?

You made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor.

The careful and intentional study of God’s creation, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, inspired King David to fear God. He repeatedly pondered the work of God’s fingers, the moon, and stars — and the startling greatness of God stunned him, the comparative weakness of man alarmed him, and the caring love of God overwhelmed him. That is the complete, well-rounded, mature fear of God initially revealed through a creation so vast that its size is incomprehensible, just like its Creator.