Do We Have Reverence for God?
“Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.” (Psalm 2:11-12, ESV)
Reverence.
It’s a big word, and one not to be used lightly. It is a deep respect and awe for something or someone. Lately, I’ve been asking myself: do I have reverence for the Lord in my every day life?
I think between social media blurbs, quick and snappy sermon titles, and TikTok devotions, the American church has lost what was once its highest priority: to revere and regard the Lord with deep love and trembling.
I remember as a little girl, my mom would read the Little House on the Prairie books with me. One thing that always felt so crazy to me was that when the Ingalls family went to church, it was an all day thing! They sat in a pew from morning until late in the day and I remember reading that and thinking I could never sit still for that long and listen to a sermon. You see, back when I was a little girl, I thought my pastor preaching for an hour felt like an eternity!
But now, I think about it and realize that the American church didn’t always have such a short attention span. It used to be meditative and planted in truth. It wasn’t so easily persuaded or shaken. It wasn’t about flashiness or how cool the worship service was. It wasn’t about being hip or trendy or likable. It was rooted in reverence for the Lord. They had a fear for Him; and not as if they were afraid of God and what He would do, but they were so in awe of Jesus that they trembled in the sheer wonder of who He is– how immense, how mighty, how holy.
Do we have that today? I’m not so sure. I see more people getting up and marching out of church services claiming they are too long because how dare the pastor preach 10 minutes over sermon time. As if their Sunday afternoon itinerary were more valuable than eternal truth and reverent worship of the only God who saves. I see more of my generation ditching churches that are Bible-believing and worship in Spirit and Truth in order to attend more shallow alternatives just because they have a better dating pool or the worship looks and feels like a Coldplay concert. I see people saying they want more of the Lord, but then turning around and blatantly sinning in what feels like the next breath because it's what is comfortable.
That’s not reverence. That’s pursuing carnal desire over what’s eternal. That is idol worship.
Maybe you think that’s rash or over the top. Sure, a Bible verse posted on Facebook is still a Bible verse, but are you posting it to spread the Gospel to your friends and family, or are you doing it to be seen by others and believed as spiritual? Yes, sharing a 30-second video about the Gospel is still trying to reach the lost, but do we use that 30 seconds as a means to satisfy our daily devotion?
Your soul is not meant to be spiritually nourished by a 30-second feel-good message or a single Bible verse as you endlessly scroll. If that is what our personal time with God consists of, then we are living with no reverence, no fear, no trembling before the Lord.
Think about it: if you took a bullet for someone you loved and they simply made a status on Facebook that said, “Thanks, friend, for taking that bullet. Much love,” would you think that person was at all thankful to know you? No, you wouldn’t.
And that’s not to say that we can earn God’s love or that God’s love for us is contingent on our response to Him. It’s not. But that is to say that we cannot claim we are reverent for the Lord– that we respect Him or live a life in submission to His awesome love– and then phone it in on a daily basis with weak gestures of devotion to Him.
The truth is, I’m starting to feel so desperately thirsty for more of the Lord. I’m feeling even more desperate for real, God-fearing fellowship with other believers who are reverent of who He is and what He’s done. I am so fed up with shallow internet sermons and posts that are clearly more for clout and people pleasing than they are for honoring the Lord and sharing His Gospel.
Ask yourself this: Am I truly living in reverence for the Lord? And that’s not just living in fear and trembling at the thought of how truly amazing He is. In today’s verse, David not only advises the reader to “serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling.” He also tells us to “kiss the Son,” meaning that we’re not just supposed to submit to the Lord in reverence, but to do so affectionately with our whole heart.
We are not only called to yield to His will and power. We are called to do so with all the love and the passion we have. So, we are not supposed to yield to Him and then boast to everyone we know about the works we’ve done in the name of Jesus. We’re not supposed to submit to His Lordship out of fear of His anger or wrath. We’re supposed to live our lives as a sacrifice to Him because it will take every ounce of devotion we have in order to adequately praise Him and even then it still won’t be enough. We’re supposed to do it with joy. We’re supposed to do it with zeal. Not for the eyes of man to be on us or to be impressed with how holy we seem. But we’re supposed to affectionately serve the Lord because He is worthy of our all, not just the next 30 seconds.
So, do you live out of a reverence for the Lord? Are you sacrificing time and devotion to praise Him and serve Him?
