Morning Devotional
May 2, 2005
"Happily Ever After" (Part 1)
    by Don Emmitte

Praise the LORD! Happy are those who fear the LORD. Yes, happy are those who delight in doing what He commands. Their children will be successful everywhere; an entire generation of godly people will be blessed. They themselves will be wealthy, and their good deeds will never be forgotten. When darkness overtakes the godly, light will come bursting in. They are generous, compassionate, and righteous. All goes well for those who are generous, who lend freely and conduct their business fairly. Such people will not be overcome by evil circumstances. Those who are righteous will be long remembered. They do not fear bad news; they confidently trust the LORD to care for them. They are confident and fearless and can face their foes triumphantly. They give generously to those in need. Their good deeds will never be forgotten. They will have influence and honor. The wicked will be infuriated when they see this. They will grind their teeth in anger; they will slink away, their hopes thwarted. (Psalm 112:1 NLT).

 

Though I have not progressed beyond the simple books with Faith and Logan yet, I am sure there will be times when we read some of the classic children’s stories. Inevitably the endings will all have some form of “…and they all lived happily ever after” in them. The question is can that really be true?

 

For the next few days I will be using Psalm 112 to explore that truth. There is great wisdom in this Psalm for living an abundant Christian life. The Psalmist begins by saying that those who fear the Lord are happy. What does it mean to fear the Lord? I don’t think this means that we live in constant fear that God is going to suddenly crush us, but I also don’t believe it simply means that we are awestruck with God either. I think there is a certain element of both in the fear of the Lord.

 

The Bible uses the word fear in reference to “fear of the Lord” with two basic meanings. The first meaning of fear is the apprehension or encouragement, which keeps a person from acting or reacting certain ways. Our fear of God then should keep us from evil actions. We should be motivated not to sin because of the “fear of the Lord”. We fear that there will be retribution for our actions. The “wages of sin is death” and we should therefore not want to face the punishment or the consequences of sin.

 

The second meaning of fear in the Bible, as it relates to God, is an awe or reverence felt in the presence of some higher being or authority. The same word would be used for the respect a child should give his parents. When Scripture says we are to “fear the Lord” it means we are to stand in amazement of who God is and what He can do. This wonderment should also motivate us into Christlike action. “God is holy, so you be holy.” (1 Peter 1:16). When we learn to fear the Lord, recognizing His power over us and His power in the world, when we stand in awe of His deeds and His majesty, the Psalmist says we will be happy. Can I ask you a question? Are you happy? Can you honestly say you are happy in life? If not, perhaps you need to take this first step. Fear the Lord.