Psalm 147:11: Two Things We Must Do

"The LORD taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy." Psalm 147:11

This one verse amazingly captures the essence of our relationship with God.

We must do these two things, but perhaps we tend to be more faithful in one than the other.

Fearing God is the beginning of wisdom and leads to humility before Him, a desire to do what's right and recognition that we nevertheless sin against a holy God and need the sacrifice of the spotless Lamb of God, the Son of God, to take away our sin. Properly understanding our relationship before God means believing that faith in Jesus Christ will save us during a Day of Eternal Judgment which is coming.

But there is still more for us to do besides properly fearing the Lord. We must also hope in His mercy. When we're experiencing pain, or it seems that some suffering might be on the way, we can become fearful and doubt that God will be there with us and carry us through the situation, and fear and doubt will both try to undermine our faith. Believing in His mercy, on the other hand, fills us with hope, increases our faith and brings us into a closer relationship with God.

If we don't properly fear the Lord, then we can't truly have a relationship with Him. We won't respect Him, but instead will view Him as someone to rebel against, as Satan did. We won't see ourselves as sinners before a holy God or appreciate the gift of the sacrifice of His Son for our sakes. Instead, we will take His grace towards us for granted and see no need to repent.

But it's also possible to fear the Lord properly but to not hope in His mercy as we should. When we do this, we're also listening to Satan and accusing God of being evil, and perhaps even more perilously so because we're doing it less obviously. When we ignore His mercifulness, we translate the need to fear Him into a belief that He's merciless and unloving, forgetting the giving of His Son for us which is an act of sacrificial divine love.

Hoping in His mercy, on the other hand, builds our faith as we remember to properly fear the Lord, and will help to give us His peace and joy even in the midst of trials. While consciousness of God's holiness versus our sinfulness and His coming wrath properly give us a perspective of fear before Him, we have the greater knowledge that our hope to receive His Mercy has been assured for us through His Son.