Fear the Lord
Key Verse: Luke 1:50
“He shows mercy from generation to generation to all who fear Him.”
Additional Reading: Luke 1:46-55
Much has been written and preached about the Additional Reading passage of scripture for today. Theologians call it “The Magnificat: Mary’s Song of Praise”. There are so many wonderful things that could be pointed out in these verses, but I was drawn to Luke 1:50, the scripture for today.
Like me, I know you are so grateful for the mercy of God. Without God’s mercy none of us would have any hope of peace here on earth or going to heaven. The good news is, mercy is one of God’s strongest characteristics; the Bible uses the word “mercy” many times, in some translations it is used 246 times. Webster defines mercy as “kind or forgiving treatment of someone who could be treated harshly”. Mercy and Grace go hand in hand with how God treats His children, He gives His favor though it is not earned. God’s mercy should be at the top of every person’s praise list!
Now that we have established how wonderful God’s mercy is to us, we must finish Luke 1:50: “to all who fear Him”. The word “fear” in this context is hard to understand. We may tend to think of fear being the emotion we feel when we sense danger coming at us. However, the Bible uses fear, many times, to refer to someone’s respect or reverence for God. I believe that would be the proper understanding of Luke 1:50. God has mercy from generation to generation to “all who reverence” or to “all who respect God”.
The main reason I feel this understanding is so important is that we tend to think that what we receive from others is based on how we act or how we treat them. When we put that spin on the word “fear”, we can easily wonder if God’s mercy will be shown to us because most of us don’t feel we behave well enough to deserve it. I personally am glad this verse doesn’t read: God shows His mercy from generation to generation to those who walk perfectly before Him, or who never blow it in their obedience to Him. Even when I fail Him, God knows my heart and knows that I failed Him out of my weakness not out of any disrespect of Him.
The longer we walk with God, the more the devil understands that he has little chance of convincing us to turn our backs on God. So, the devil simply changes his tactics on the more mature Christ-followers; he works on our joy and peace. He knows the joy of the Lord is our strength, (Nehemiah 8:10). It is extremely important for us to remember what the Psalmist David wrote:
Psalm 103:8: The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.
Psalm 103:9: He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever;
Psalm 103:10: he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.
Psalm 103:13: As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him;
Psalm 103:14: for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust.
Keep your joy because you are highly favored and loved by God our Father. Jesus has paid a heavy price to give you a robe of righteousness as you walk by faith with Him. Don’t give the devil any joy by believing his lies and condemnation.
Father, I praise you for loving me with such love. I accept it and rest in it, In Jesus’s Name, amen.