The Fear of the Lord (5)

Rev. J.J. van Eckeveld, Zeist, the Netherlands

Translated from De Saambinder

Love

The fear which is in the heart of God’s children, therefore, is a childlike fear. This fear is the result of the love towards God.

In the rebirth, everything is bestowed, even if we do not immediately have consciousness of it. For this the exercises in faith are necessary.

We have seen earlier that the Canons of Dort in one breath, as it were, speak of “true faith in Christ and childlike fear” (First Head of Doctrine, Article 12). Childlike fear, therefore, is very closely allied with faith. God’s Word tells us in Galatians 5:6 that “faith worketh by love.” That is also true of childlike fear; therein is the love which is bestowed in the rebirth.

In order to know what childlike fear is, we want to mention some of the characteristics of children. In this respect we think especially of little children who are still so tender and spontaneous. That characteristic was what Christ was referring to when He said we must become as a little child.

In the first place, a child loves his father, even though in the beginning the child cannot give an account of that love. Wherein is the love visible? When such a child has been naughty, and the father is angry, the child crawls back to the father. It cannot rest until all is again well between him and his father. In this act, do we not see something of childlike fear?

From the love of God which has been poured out into the heart in the rebirth, there comes a pining, a longing for God. When a father is far away, a child longs for his father to be home again and to be near. Because of the fear of the Lord, we come to experience that we are far from God because of sin that has caused a great breach between the Lord and our soul. Being far from God causes a deep-seated sorrow in one’s soul. The fear of the Lord knows of sorrow for sin and sorrow of being without God. That leads to a calling out with the poet in Psalm 42, “My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?” The sorrow over sin and the thirst for God is inseparably connected with love. That is why Calvin states that believers are more afraid of offending God than they are afraid of punishment.

How often childlike trust is lacking in God’s children; how often there is mistrust. Dare we say that the Lord has been the cause of it? Has He ever brought shame upon His people? Why is there so much opposition and rebellion in the heart of God’s children? It is because childlike fear is so seldom lively in their heart.

A little child, in spite of punishment, crawls back to his father which shows something of childlike fear. With slavish fear, the trials will drive us away from God. With childlike fear, we are driven or, to say it better, are drawn to the Lord. When a father punishes his child, he does so out of love, and a child senses that. The Lord chastises His people out of love, and when childlike fear is in exercise, they feel something of the love in the buffeting and the trials. Later, childlike fear will confess, “It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn Thy statutes.”

Childlike fear teaches that trials are a training school whereby faith is exercised and confirmed. Yea, then the chastisements are a confirmation of our being a child of God. For when we are “without chastisement, then are ye bastards and not sons” (Hebrews 12). It is just these trials which show us more and more what we are and remain in ourselves, but according to the words of Calvin, “that faith is made stronger with fear and trembling.”

Respect and trust

We were speaking of little children, such as those Jesus used as an example. Often when children become older, parental relationships change, but little children trust their father. When we were speaking earlier about Scripture and the Confessions, concerning the fear of the Lord, we were shown time and again that this fear is connected with trust. Similarly, a little child will sometimes say, “Daddy said so!” Then all further arguments are ended.

What a privilege when we may become such a little child and be able to say, “The Lord Himself has said it.” Will God not do what He has promised? Then it is seen in childlike fear, “I hope in Thy Word” (Psalm 119:114). People with childlike fear love the Word even when the Word condemns them, for they love the God of the Word.

How often childlike trust is lacking in God’s children; how often there is mistrust. Dare we say that the Lord has been the cause of it? Has He ever brought shame upon His people? Why is there so much opposition and rebellion in the heart of God’s children? It is because childlike fear is so seldom lively in their heart.

The examples from Scripture and the Confessions have also made it very clear that childlike fear is inseparably connected with respect and reverence for the Lord. Just think back to the example of that little child. He has such a high opinion of his father. Father is so strong. Oh, with what a high opinion and respect childlike fear looks up to the Lord; how the hearts of God’s children are filled with respect and reverence for Him.

Do you know what childlike fear is? “And blessed be His glorious name, long as the ages shall endure” (Psalm 72, Psalter 199:5). The fear of the Lord is filled with the deepest reverence for the Lord. Therefore, there is also a heartfelt bowing under the Lord, even in the greatest trials. When the fear of the Lord is in exercise, the Lord is so great, and I am so small. Then I become dust and ashes, worthy to be blown away by the Lord. With the thief on the cross, I learn to own my worthiness of punishment and to acknowledge and accept God’s righteous judgment. Then I can no longer have any evil thoughts of God.

(This installment marks the end of this series.)

Every believer is under the guardianship of Father, Son, and Spirit. Consequently, he is held by a threefold cord which can never be broken.

—Augustus Toplady

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