Respect With Reverence

I believe that these two terms should probably go hand in hand with one another when approaching the Lord. If I only approach Him with respect, I’m leaving out a valuable part of Who He is. If I approach Him with reverence without respect I’m making much more of me than I ought.

Reverence is defined at dictionary.com as “a feeling or attitude of deep respect tinged with awe”. Respect is defined as “to hold in high esteem or honor”. King David loved the Lord and he had a great relationship with God. An event happened when David and some of his men where moving the Ark of The Covenant to Jerusalem. There is this pretty big procession of singing, dancing and celebration as the Ark is on the move. Check this out…

6 When they came to the threshing-floor of Nakon, Uzzah reached out and took hold of the ark of God, because the oxen stumbled. 7 The Lord’s anger burned against Uzzah because of his irreverent act; therefore God struck him down, and he died there beside the ark of God.

8 Then David was angry because the Lord’s wrath had broken out against Uzzah, and to this day that place is called Perez Uzzah.

9 David was afraid of the Lord that day and said, ‘How can the ark of the Lord ever come to me?’ 10 He was not willing to take the ark of the Lord to be with him in the City of David. Instead, he took it to the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite. 11 The ark of the Lord remained in the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite for three months, and the Lord blessed him and his entire household. (2 Samuel 6:6-11 NIV)

There is nothing that stops a celebration in it’s tracks like death. This event went from celebration to stunned disbelief in a flash. I think David’s response was very human and I can so see myself responding the same way. I remember clearly being pretty ticked at God when my son was diagnosed with cancer. It takes time to process sometime just Who God is and what His calling upon my life is really about. I sometimes think my life should be rosy and good all the time. I want to be safe. I want to be healthy. I want to be wealthy. I want to be happy. I want – I want – I want. Most of the time I spend time telling the Lord what I want from Him instead of asking Him what He wants from me. If I’m not careful I think that the Lord is all about me when He really wants me to be all about Him.

My life should be all about respect with reverence before God. I need to change the goals of my life and make them about Him instead of all about me. When I figure this out, my life takes on deep reverence and deep respect for Creator God. If I think that it’s all about what I want – when I want it, then this is a colossal case of missing the point of my existence here on earth. As I read the rest of the passage, I think David had time to process what happened and he realized that maybe they had been a bit flippant with the Ark. He ended up going back after it after three months.

As I approach today, I want to make sure the activities of my day are deeply respectful and reverent before the Lord.

Pressing On!

Dwayne