Psalm 2:11
Serve The LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling.
SERVE THE LORD WITH FEAR
Having just finished our study on The Fear of The Lord, do we have this one down pat? No. Learning is a process. Don't worry about remembering everything we are learning. We'll do what we need to do - learn - and The Holy Spirit will do what He needs to do - bring to our remembrance what we have learned.
When we serve The LORD with fear, we are serving Him with reverent awe, acknowledging that He is God and there is no other. Those who do not have this fear of The LORD are many because they refuse to recognize His authority and that He is The Only God.
Deuteronomy 10:12 The Lord asks us to fear Him by:
Walking in all His Ways
Loving Him
Serving Him with all our heart and with all our soul
Keeping His commandments and statutes
The fear of The Lord in the one who fears Him is an active fear (walking, loving, serving, keeping) and is always in motion. Those who live in the fear of The Lord take their rest in Him: our eyes may close for sleep, but we are able to sleep the sleep of the blessed and the favored of The Lord.
We walk -- live out our lives -- in all His Ways. We walk by faith (living a life of hope in His Word) and we walk by His Spirit (we don't walk alone). We walk The Way of Holiness, a narrow path which only those who fear The Lord can traverse. It is an old, well-worn path which many have trod before us.
It is not a hidden path. But it's narrowness causes many to dismiss it as useless and worn-out, while others believe there is more than one path. A few believe they can walk more than one path at a time, blending paths together to form a new path. This is silly foolishness.
We love Him because He first loved us. We love Him had He done nothing for us but to call us to follow Him. The Old Testament saints had not yet seen the promise of God's Savior, yet they believed God and they followed Him anyway.
We make a conscientious and willing decision to serve God with all our heart and with all our soul: the dual seat of our decision making. We go where He sends us and speak what He tells us to speak. With Christ as our example, Who only went where God sent Him and only spoke what God gave Him to speak, we resolve (everyday) to do so, as well.
We keep His commandments when we put Him first in everything. Seeking His counsel first. Going to Him in prayer with our worship first, and our needs second. For the commandments of The Lord are righteous, holy, and perfect [Psalm 19:7; Romans 7:12]. The statutes of The Lord are righteous [Deuteronomy 4:8]. His entire Law is for our benefit [Joshua 1:7,8].
REJOICE WITH TREMBLING
Those who fear The Lord in such manners as these given rejoice in The God of their Salvation. We praise Him, thank Him, glorify Him, honor Him. We give Him the 'firstfruits of our lips'. When we waken, we greet Him. When we arise, we seek Him. When we prepare for the day, we thank Him for the new day in which to serve Him.
This trembling within us is deep-seated, innate (fundamental/basic), deep-rooted. When we are in Christ and He is in us, we are keenly aware that not only that something wonderful has happened, but that that something is the power of God. We are amazed that He loves us so much He died for us. His grace overwhelms us and we fall to our knees, weeping. We throw ourselves on the mercy of His court and He forgives us!
This innate trembling is both inherited and acquired. We acquire it when we join the family of God through our faith in The Name of Jesus Christ. It is inherited after we are grafted into The Vine (Jesus Christ) and become a family member through the bloodline of The Lamb of God. The body of Christ trembles with profound joy.
Whether times are good or seasons of distress are upon us, we joy in The God of our Salvation. [Habakkuk 3:16-18]. The sovereignty of God over all of His creation is a blessing worth praising and taking joy in.
This word 'rejoice' is vividly rendered as 'violently spinning': to spin round (under the influence of any violent emotion). A person can so exult in their joy of their Lord that their bodies tremble in His presence. But this same base root can also refer to someone who is scared to death to be in the presence of The Lord, who cringes and backs away to get away from Him; someone who wants only to flee from the presence of The Lord God. The body of Christ anticipates a joyful union with Christ and we can't help but tremble in His presence: we love to be in His presence.
THE LORD REIGNS - Bob Fitts (1989)
