HOW GREAT THOU ART

“Should one wish to contend with Him, he could not answer Him once in a thousand times.” –Job 9:3

God is beyond the powers of human expression. “He removes the mountains before they know it; He overturns them in His anger. He shakes the earth out of its place, and the pillars beneath it tremble” (Jb 9:5-6). “He alone stretches out the heavens and treads upon the crests of the sea” (Jb 9:8). “He does great things past finding out, marvelous things beyond reckoning” (Jb 9:10). “Should He seize me forcibly, who can say Him nay? Who can say to Him, ‘What are You doing?’ ” (Jb 9:12)

The truth that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” echoes throughout the Scriptures (e.g. see Ps 111:10). We feel amazement, awe, and wonder at the presence of the almighty God. “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Heb 10:31). “How great Thou art!”

When we have a more realistic awareness of Him, everything comes into right perspective. We realize our privilege to be in His kingdom. We recognize that the greatest honor possible for a human being is to praise and serve God. We feel blessed to suffer (Rm 8:17), even to die for Him. We almost faint to think we receive the all-holy God into our bodies in Holy Communion. When we have the fear of the Lord, we disdain a minimalistic, mediocre Christianity and abandon ourselves to a life of joyful, sacrificial commitment to the Lord.

PRAYER: Jesus, why did You ever pay any attention to me? Thank You, Lord, for loving me.
PROMISE: “Jesus answered him, ‘Whoever puts his hand to the plow but keeps looking back is unfit for the reign of God.’ ” –Lk 9:62
PRAISE: St. Jerome is the Church’s greatest biblical scholar. Jerome wrote, “The reading of Holy Scriptures should follow upon prayer, and prayer in turn should follow reading.”