STAND IN AWE

This psalm opens with a wonderful and unique title of God - ‘God of my righteousness’. In himself David could scarcely claim to be righteous. However, through belief in the promises, the same ground as other Old Testament saints, by God’s sovereign grace he had been counted righteous. In his current problems he calls upon the God who, according to his past experience, has the ability to enlarge in trouble. God does not leave the suppliant to his own devices and the inevitable diminishing of his standing before God and men. In times of distress, believers should first call on the name of the Lord and not make prayer the last resort.

David challenges these evil men and explains that in spite of their activities God has set apart, sanctified, the godly for Himself and will, therefore, hear such special ones when they call on Him for help. Verses 4 and 5 may be seen as advice given by David to his enemies, though they may also be considered as the thoughts of all those who suffer at the hands of men. He gives six commands: stand in awe; sin not; commune with your heart; be still; sacrifice; trust in the Lord.

To ‘stand in awe’ is to tremble, and this may be seen as trembling in anger, as interpreted in the New Testament, ‘Be ye angry and sin not’. On the other hand, the thought may be that as the believer under pressure considers his situation he should be patient and careful. The natural response is to retaliate physically or verbally or to complain loudly about perceived injustices. The suggestion is that the believer first tremble before acting which, one has said, is better than acting first and trembling afterwards. Further, rather than talking to others he should ‘talk to his pillow’, or reflect in the quietness of his own bedchamber. Such reflection will result in his seeing the problem in a different light. Rather than rushing out in the energy of the flesh he will ‘be still’. He will be helped to see the other person’s point of view and his own shortcomings, and this results in sacrifices and trust in the Lord. The outcome of such a patient approach and mature consideration will be gladness, peace, rest and future safety. Let us determine ever to pursue this path.