It shall be well with thee
Psalm 128 as an antidote to indifference
128 Blessed is every one that feareth the Lord; that walketh in his ways.
2 For thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands: happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee.
3 Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house: thy children like olive plants round about thy table.
4 Behold, that thus shall the man be blessed that feareth the Lord.
5 The Lord shall bless thee out of Zion: and thou shalt see the good of Jerusalem all the days of thy life.
6 Yea, thou shalt see thy children's children, and peace upon Israel.
What does it mean to “fear the Lord”? There are a variety of meanings to the little English word “fear.” It’s interesting to me that virtually every translation of this Psalm uses the word fear regardless of translation philosophy. I take that to mean, at least in part, that the idea of the fear of the Lord is thought to be self-evident in meaning. Maybe it is, but somehow I doubt it.
There are a variety of meanings behind the word fear. Generally we can think of the word as denoting something that causes alarm, terror, or awe. For the most part we associate fear, at least when it comes to God, with having a sense of “reverent respect.” That’s what I was taught as a child. As a general rule, it works.
What if, however, God is more than something or someone to quietly behold cap in hand?
What if encountering the living God is fearful in the same way that standing atop the Grand Canyon and gazing into the depths below?
What if it’s more unsettling than the rocking of the ground beneath your feet as tectonic plates shift a barely measurable distance?
As believers we stand in the presence of God redeemed and subjects of his fatherly care. And at the same time, the nature of his disposition toward us removes none of the splendor of his majesty.
The one thing that we cannot be in the presence of God is indifferent.