Read Psalm 119:113-120 113I hate the double-minded, but I love your law. 114You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in your word. 115Depart from me, you evildoers, that I may keep the commandments of my God. 116Uphold me according to your promise, that I may live, and let me not be put to shame in my hope! 117Hold me up, that I may be safe and have regard for your statutes continually! 118You spurn all who go astray from your statutes, for their cunning is in vain. 119All the wicked of the earth you discard like dross, therefore I love your testimonies. 120My flesh trembles for fear of you, and I am afraid of your judgments.
The Word of God didn’t just fill David’s heart with awe and wonder, it also filled it with fear. Blood curdling fear. His flesh trembled. Like Eliphaz, when he saw a ghost (Job 4:14-15). One version translates verse 120 this way: “The dread of thee makes my flesh creep.”
Why such a visceral response to the Bible? Because the Bible makes it very clear that God will judge the evildoers; the wicked will be discarded like dross. David himself had faced the judgments of God in his past. When he sinned against God by taking a census, counting his fighting men, he fell into the hands of an angry God. God brought a devastating plague of death to Israel. In the end, God’s hand was stayed and mercy prevailed.
In Christ we have escaped the wrath of God. But that must never let us take for granted the mercy of God. God is still God. His word is still his word. Nothing from this stanza has changed. God still spurns all who go astray from his statutes, and discards all who are wicked. Why? Because God is love, and love must protect the righteous from the wicked.
Apart from Christ you and I are the double-minded, the evildoers, the wicked.
But in Christ we are hidden in God. Protected by his shield of salvation. So work out your salvation in fear and trembling (Phil. 2:12), for there can be no apathy nor coolness in to live is Christ.
Yes, there is peace in Christ, but only after trembling.
You: What do you think it means to fear God?
You in Christ: How does our union with Christ keep us from apathy and coolness, and instill fear and trembling instead?
Christ in you: How might a healthy fear of God change who you listen to and seek to impress – I hate the double-minded.
Pray: Father, you have freed me from the judgment of your wrath, but may I never forget that judgment is my deserved reward. May I always tremble at a God that would give his own life for mine. Amen.
To Live is Christ 