Psalm 115:13 –
He will bless those who fear the LORD, both great and lowly
First, I know I skipped 114 but it was short and honestly nothing sparked my fancy. See if you can find something that does yours and tell me!
Every time I read the word “fear” I wonder what the original text says or was intended to mean. I really don’t ever “fear” the Lord during my walk. In my definition “fear” has more of an afraid or terrorized meaning, which I honestly don’t have with God. I trust that what happens is in His will and is in the basic plan. At the same time I don’t think unfortunate accidents and illnesses are all caused by God’s hand.
Let me expand on this briefly because there is a major argument that God’s finger is on everything and it’s all done by His will. Then the skeptic says well explain why a loving God allows earthquakes, natural disasters and disease? I don’t think God is planning the next hurricane to strike New Orleans … no that just happens. Creation has a dynamic to it that was designed in and unfortunately sometimes the “dynamic” does major property damage and kills people. If you look at all the natural disasters they are kind of needed for this earth to cleanse itself.
Now back to our “fear” of the Lord, what does this really “imply”? Now there are a few translations which say “respect” or “honor”, but the majority says “fear.” I believe it’s more like a father-child relationship where fear should not be a factor but more a healthy respect. Fear come when you fail or do something wrong, then “fear” is a factor. It’s not an abusive relationship, it’s a loving one. So fear the retribution for inappropriate actions, but live daily with honor and a healthy respect.
Now the cool part of this verse is that ALL will be blessed, God is not going to ignore the ones who are faithful and are rich or the ones who are poor. No ALL are included in His blessing. Make sure you understand the blessings are not equal. If you understand the parable of the ten minas (or about 3 months wages) then you will understand how God blesses people. He will bless them when what He can entrust in them.