MIF 2:4 (July-Sept 1970)
Editorial
The word reverence as generally used in the King James Version indicates an attitude of high esteem and respect; first, toward God; and then, toward a superior, a parent or a husband.
The Psalmist uses it in a specific sense of the Lord; he says, “Holy and reverent in His name”• (Psa. 11:9). He implies more than mere esteem and respect. This deeper sense is expressed by other translators. One renders it, “Holy and terrible is His name;” and another, “Holy and awful is His name.” Without doubt, there is an awesome fear about the Lord which requires a worshipful submission in His presence, a veneration of His sacred character and infinite majesty.
Another Psalmist expresses the attitude due to the Divine Presence: “God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence of all them that are about Him” (Psa. 89:7).
The attitude of true reverence is seen in the case of the seraphim; of them we read, “Each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of Hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory” (Isa. 6:2-3).
Have we poor humans lost this sense of reverential fear?
Allston wrote: “Reverence is an ennobling sentiment; it is felt to be degrading only by the vulgar mind which would escape the sense of its own littleness by elevating itself into an antagonist of what is above it. He that has no pleasure in looking up, is not fit so much as to look down.”
Another wrote, “Reverence is one of the signs of strength; irreverence, one of the surest indications of weakness.”
Even Christians may lose a consciousness of this holy awe. The bustling entering into the congregation of the Lord, the audible whispering before and during services, and the gossip after dismissal, must be interpreted as a lack of reverence. Levity at the entrance to the auditorium suggests not only disrespect, but can only be considered as detrimental to the testimony of the Lord.
“What was your reaction in coming into a Western Nation from India?”‘ a converted Hindu was asked.
“I felt,” he replied, “that Hinduism could teach Christianity much both in reverence and ethics.”
What an indictment against Christianity!
Repetition is to deepen impression, for this reason twice God said to Israel, “Ye shall … reverence My sanctuary, I am the Lord” (Lev. 19:30; 26:2). Can God expect less of us who have received much more than they?
—J.G.