Fear of the Sovereign Jehovah

THE command is given, “Let all the earth fear Jehovah.”a (Ps. 33:8, AS) Appreciating how fearful and exalted is the position of our Sovereign Jehovah God, how can we help fearing him? Him, the Creator not only of the earth but of all things unseen as well as seen; him, whose spirit no one has directed and whom no one has counseled; him, the potter who can do with his vessels whatever he pleases and whom none may question.—Job 38:1-36; Jer. 18:2-10; Rom. 9:20, 21.

Our Sovereign Jehovah is so far above us, so highly exalted that the distance between him and us is almost absolute. We are dependent upon him, not only for a few things or in certain respects, but totally, for life and all its associated blessings. To maintain his sovereign control of the universe and for our own good he makes laws for our guidance and provides “sanctions” in the way of punishments if we transgress them and rewards if we keep them.

In view of these facts we can at once see that godly fear of Jehovah, the great Sovereign Ruler, is right, desirable and proper. And such fear is not merely a reverence but is actually an apprehension of harm, a dread, a consciousness of possible danger. Being completely at God’s mercy we cannot afford to trifle with him or be careless regarding his requirements, for to displease him would result in the sanction of death being applied against us.—Isa. 8:13, AS; Heb. 12:29, NW.

However, in this present system of things there are also other, though lesser, sovereigns, referred to in the Scriptures as “Caesar”, who make their own laws and who provide for sanctions for the violating of them. Because at times the laws of these two sovereigns, Jehovah and Caesar, clash, Christians find themselves in trying positions. What, then, shall they do? Follow the examples contained in God’s Word showing how his servants in times past conducted themselves under like circumstances. Uniformly their attitude has been: “We must obey God as ruler rather than men.” (Acts 5:29, NW) Out of warm love for God, which continually bathes our conscience, we will unhesitatingly keep ourselves in total subjection to our theocratic governing authorities, consisting of Jehovah God and Christ Jesus.

And while being careful so that at no time will we render God’s things to Caesar, we may nevertheless pray for persons acting for Caesar in official capacities, not that they may be converted, but that God may cause them to be reasonable, unprejudiced and amenable to the witness being given them by God’s servants appearing before them, so that the work may go forward unmolested.

So, recognizing our greatly inferior position before the living God and that we are totally dependent upon him for life and all its present and future blessings, let us humbly submit ourselves to him, showing obedience with the fullest understanding. Let us never risk displeasing the Sovereign Jehovah by any act of unfaithfulness. Let us lay aside all old world customs and scruples and accept and perform the new duties which we ascertain from a study of God’s Word, foremost of which is preaching the good news of the Kingdom. (Matt. 24:14) Let us ever live in the dread of displeasing our Sovereign, and so enjoy now to the full the fruits and peace of new world subjection while looking forward to new world blessings.

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