Merriam-Webster
definition of reverence
“honor or
respect felt or shown : DEFERENCE.
especially : profound adoring awed respect”
“a gesture
of respect (such as a bow)”
In the Old
Testament the word used for “Reverence” is yârê (“yaw-ray”)
Meaning to
fear, to revere, to frighten, put in fear, be made afraid
That word
is used in Leviticus 19:30; 26:2. The
Israelites were told to “… keep my Sabbaths and reverence my sanctuary…” Do we “reverence” the sanctuary? Each time
the Israelites were instructed to keep the Sabbath, they were also told to
reverence the sanctuary.
In many
churches today it appears as though there is no respect or reverence placed
upon entering the sanctuary of God’s house. Do we have a holy fear of entering
the sanctuary unclean? In our current
day it is not uncommon to see all forms of day to day life taking place in the
sanctuary of a church. This even occurs
during “Worship”. If you are about to
come face to face with the God of Creation would you have your hands filled
with a phone or cup of coffee? Would you
be worried about the text message on your phone or whether you have had enough
sips of coffee? Then why do we do so,
when we come before him to offer our “worship” and praise. What a contradiction! We are stating that he is not worthy enough
for us to ignore that text or for us to be deprived of our correct amount of
caffeine!
Psalm 89:7
states that “God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints and to
be had in reverence of all them that are about him”
Are we
awestruck in his presence? When we approach the throne of the Almighty God of
the Universe and are given the OPPORTUNITY to
Worship at his feet, why are we not totally overwhelmed at that privilege? We are not deserving of that honor. We have no rights to be there. The Almighty can strike us dead for not presenting
ourselves in a holy manner. BUT HE CHOSE
NOT TO! Instead his son humbly died on
that piece of tree for us! A tree he created! How do we dare to come before him
with unclean hands that hold in them the things of this carnal world? We need to drop it ALL at the doorstop
before entering that sacred room that we call a church sanctuary. A room we pathetic humans have defined as his
domain. As if we could “bottle-up” the
presence of God into the confines of a “sanctuary”.
With such a
little space being offered to the KING, he deserves the small price of giving
it some “reverence”.
I am
overwhelmed when I look at that in light of the Old Testament saints and how
they revered God and others. David was
King over all of Israel
David WAS KING!
And yet he bowed and showed reverence to a lame son of his predecessor King
Saul!
This is
MORE than just respect being shown. The word used in this verse is:
shâchâh (“shaw-khaw”) meaning to
“prostrate in homage to royalty or God”. David had reverence and respect for
Mephibosheth pure of heart and motive.
He gave to the man what was truly deserved and owed.
Scripture
is full of acts of reverence. Abram fell on his face (prostrate) and God talked
with him. (Genesis 17:3) Moses while on
the mountain was told to take off his shoes because the place (in God’s
presence) where he was standing was Holy Ground. (Exodus 3:5)
Hebrews
12:28 “…serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.”
This is the
Greek word: “aidos” meaning the idea of “downcast eyes”. When used in reference to God it equals the
word “awe” or when used in reference with man it translates to “bashfulness
modesty”. That is why in 1 Timothy 2:9
it gets translated as “shamefacedness” in regards to how women should
dress. Do we ever come before the Lord
of Heaven with downcast eyes due to shame facedness or bashfulness? That is rarely seen in the House of God.
The reason
for such a lack of reverence can often be seen as a result of no Fear of
God. Why fear something that most will
not acknowledge has any existence in their lives except for on Sunday mornings?
A “Fear
of God“ leads to a state of reverence. The word “fear” as defined
today, conjures up images of Hollywood
God asks
Job (Job 38) “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?” Are we bigger than he is? Do we not tremble at the presence of a God who
places the sand to control the seas? (Jeremiah 5:22)
Moses told
the children of Israel
Deuteronomy
has plenty to say on fear:
4:10 “...I
will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that
they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children.”
5:29 “Oh
that there was such an heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my
commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children
for ever!”
10:12-13 Lists five things God requires:
1) but to fear the Lord thy God
2) to walk in all his ways
3) and to love him
4) and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with
all they soul
5) to keep the commandments of the Lord, and his statutes…
I wonder if
all five items would be covered by practicing a little bit of “reverence” once
in a while.
Then there
is the passage in Psalms 89:7 that sums it up so clearly that there should be
no argument of what God expects from us.
“God is
greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence
of all them that are about him.” Psalms
89:7
If these
verses were not enough, there are plenty more in the book. Psalms 33:8; 34:7-11; 52:6; 67:7 115:11-13;
128:1.
Learning
how to get or obtain a “correct type” of fear comes from Proverbs 2:1-6
1) Receive HIS Words
2) Hide his commandments within
3) Incline your ears toward Wisdom
4) Apply your heart to understanding
5) Cry after knowledge
6) Lift up your voice for understanding.
Looking for it with the diligence that is used searching for treasure.
With all
this done, how can anyone not have a fear and reverence for God?
1 Peter
2:13-17:
“Submit
yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: whether it be to the
king, as supreme, or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the
punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well. For so is the
will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of
foolish men. As free, and not using your
liberty for a cloke of maliciousness , but as the servants of God. Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king.”
How often
are we using our “liberty” to do what is malicious? Where is the submission to
every ordinance? Submission is a DIRTY
word today. As a society we believe that
if we have to “submit” to anyone then we must lower ourselves to a level
“beneath our stature” and we cannot do that. It is an attitude that is WRONG
and SINFUL if we desire to stand before a God that deserves and demands are
fear and reverence.
Put
RESPECT, RESPONSIBILITY, and REVERENCE back into practice. When these begin to show up in individual
lives and church congregations; expect to see monumental changes in the way
people are affected. Not only will there
be more peace among parts of the body but suddenly the body will begin to grow
again as it was intended to from the beginning.
(all scripture quotations King James Version
unless noted)
