Pray… The nations in an uproar, O Lord, and people go on planning vain things. The rulers of this world stand divided, save for their rebellion against You and Your elect. Evil men seek to subvert godly morals and to cast all standards of righteousness and justice aside. But Your wisdom is high above theirs and reveals their foolishness. One day in Your anger You will pronounce judgment upon the godless and they will shudder as they witness Your fury! You have installed Your righteous One as my true King. Upon His shoulders Your government now rests, for He speaks Your truths and rules justly. To My Lord Jesus alone You have said, “Thou art My Son. I have sent You and in You I am well-pleased. Ask of me and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance and the very ends of the earth as Your possession. You will strike the nations and rulers of the earth with a rod of iron. With a sword from Your mouth, You shall shatter and destroy them in but a moment.”
With reverence for Your righteous judgments, O Lord, let me display discernment, accept correction, and remain in His kingdom of peace that endures forever. Let me worship You with reverence and rejoice with great fear and trembling! Bring me to humbly bow before Your Son to whom You have given all judgment, lest His anger is aroused, and I faint under His just rebuke. Soon His wrath will be kindled, as every knee bows to Him. How blessed will be all who take refuge in Your kingdom on that day!
Consider… The Almighty, we cannot find Him. He is exalted in power, and He will not do violence to justice and abundant righteousness. Therefore men fear Him. How we try to get God to grade on the curve—to do violence to righteousness and justice so we can rationalize our sin and find peace with our hypocrisies. Our God will not compromise justice and so we remake Him in our image, into a passive, lovable idol we can worship without fear of judgment. That is why there is so little holy fear of God in modern Christendom. But that is not a proper characterization of Jehovah nor of His Son Jesus. He would caution all who mistake His patience for weakness or capitulation. While His love reaches to the heavens and His mercy never ends, so also His zeal for justice and righteousness knows no bounds. Do we revere Jesus’ holiness and passion for righteousness, even as we stand in His grace? Does a holy fear of God lead us to want to lead lives of obedience? Having prayed the prayer and thus kissed the Son with our lips, do we now by our deeds deny Him, insult grace, and arouse His wrath? “Therefore, let us work out our salvation with fear and trembling,” for in this we will truly stand in grace and be counted among the faithful.
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