Stand in Awe

Here I am again in Psalm 4 that I talked to you about in that blog a few weeks ago. I cannot get away from Psalm 4:4a...”STAND IN AWE, AND SIN NOT.”

Wow! What events have been taking place since early March! As my daughter’s pastor asked once: “How do you like God’s ways?” Doesn’t that make you stop and think and try to be honest with your reaction to problems and events that come into your life and “throw you for a loop”? What is God doing? Why did this happen?

What can I learn from these short, six words from the Psalms? “Stand in awe, and sin not.”

The phrase at the end of Psalm 4, verse 3, is a promise:
“The Lord will hear when I call unto him.”

This is a firm statement in God’s Word. So IF I have called on the Lord AND He has heard me, my next step is simply to “stand in awe, and sin not.” Let’s “unpack” this a bit.

Why am I to “stand in awe”? Because I have just been speaking to my Heavenly Father (the Creator of the universe) AND Jesus Christ is on His right hand interceding for me. Romans 8:34: “...It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, WHO is even at the right hand of God, WHO ALSO MAKES INTERCESSION FOR US.” By the way, this is one reason why Jesus had to ascend to the Father...to take His place at the Father’s right hand and to intercede for us! He talks to the Father about us!!

Also, the Holy Spirit takes those hidden, heart-wrenching cries and (Romans 8:26) “makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.”

SO...WHY SHOULDN’T WE STAND IN AWE? The Trinity is waiting to hear our prayers!

As we were eating breakfast today, the sun from our skylight fell on this plaque that was a gift from my children.  I had to smile. It just prompted me along to this thought of standing in awe.

This is not a suggestion. We are to “call unto Him” and then “stand in awe” to see how He will answer. Words usually fail a person who is “standing in awe.” There is a feeling of amazement, reverence, even expectation.

The next phrase is not a suggestion either: “SIN NOT.” I have been using this quite a bit lately in my own heart  about our family, the world situation with the virus...and now, you dear Grace friends, the tornado that totally “uprooted” your world...so easy to worry!

How do we “sin not” when we feel all is falling apart? We do this by going back to the first phrase...Stand in awe, be still and know that He is God, and see what our God will do. I have to be honest. I battle with this just like all Christians do - to  totally trust our God that He can put (Psalm 4:7) “gladness in my heart” no matter the circumstance. Someday we will be able to “connect the dots” in these challenges and see how God put them all together in a beautiful picture in our lives. Then we will truly be standing in awe at what God did.

--Maylou Holladay