Psalm 72

Give the king thy judgments, O God, and thy righteousness unto the king's son.


 He shall judge thy people with righteousness, and thy poor with judgment. The mountains shall bring peace to the people, and the little hills, by righteousness.


He shall judge the poor of the people, he shall save the children of the needy, and shall break in pieces the oppressor. They shall fear thee as long as the sun and moon endure, throughout all generations.


He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass: as showers that water the earth. In his days shall the righteous flourish; and abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth.


He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth. They that dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him; and his enemies shall lick the dust. The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents: the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts. Yea, all kings shall fall down before him: all nations shall serve him. For he shall deliver the needy when he crieth; the poor also, and him that hath no helper.


He shall spare the poor and needy, and shall save the souls of the needy. He shall redeem their soul from deceit and violence: and precious shall their blood be in his sight. And he shall live, and to him shall be given of the gold of Sheba: prayer also shall be made for him continually; and daily shall he be praised. There shall be an handful of corn in the earth upon the top of the mountains; the fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon: and they of the city shall flourish like grass of the earth.


His name shall endure for ever: his name shall be continued as long as the sun: and men shall be blessed in him: all nations shall call him blessed.


Blessed be the LORD God, the God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things. And blessed be his glorious name for ever: and let the whole earth be filled with his glory; Amen, and Amen.


The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended.

No fear, a mark of rebellion and defiance

Declare this in the house of Jacob and proclaim it in Judah, saying, hear this now, O foolish people, without understanding, who have eyes and see not, and who have ears and hear not:

Do you not fear Me? says the Lord.

Will you not tremble at My presence, who have placed the sand as the bound of the sea, by a perpetual decree that it cannot pass beyond it? And though its waves toss to and fro, yet they cannot prevail; though they roar, yet they cannot pass over it.

But this people has a defiant and rebellious heart; they have revolted and departed. They do not say in their heart, “Let us now fear the Lord our God, who gives rain, both the former and the latter, in its season. He reserves for us the appointed weeks of the harvest.”

Your iniquities have turned these things away, and your sins have withheld good from you.  Jer. 5:20-25

Here God commands the prophet to proclaim this message to all of Israel. They were considered foolish and poor because they did not know the way of the Lord nor the judgment of their God (see 5:4). The prophet, at the Lord’s command, points to His creation, the sea and its shoreline. In this thing set before their eyes daily he demonstrates His power, control and mercy and yet they depart from Him.

His power, control and mercy are demonstrated in the immensity of the size of the sea, its constant tossing and the roaring of its waves, and his absolute control of it at all times. His mercy is seen in the boundary of the sand, a perpetual decree that the water will not pass over this boundary and swallow up the people. Israel’s lack of fear and trembling indicates defiant and rebellious hearts. These are hearts that have departed from their Creator.

People are no different today in the 21^st century. Using the same picture that Jeremiah declared we see God’s power, control and mercy in the roaring of the ocean and yet we look right past it and right past our Creator and His goodness. Think of the boundary itself, numberless tiny sand particles used to hold back this powerful ocean. Yet, instead of saying, “Let us now fear the Lord our God” we instead rebel, defy and depart from Him going our own ways.   This we do because we do not know the way of the Lord nor the judgment of our God. The psalmist and later Paul put it this way; there is no fear of God before their eyes!

May God give grace to see for without it we will go on in blind stupidity to Him until we meet Him in the judgment.

Fear, a mark of a believer

There is a fear that marks a believer. A fear of God that resides in the breast of a born again soul. It is a holy fear, a godly fear and a healthy fear. It's a fear that I'm not able to explain but I do see it in the word of God as it relates to both believers and unbelievers. Not only is it plainly declared but it is demonstrated in several of the saints lives i.e. Jacob, Daniel, Job, John and others. As far as understanding this fear it seems to be related to our view of God. Search it out for yourself. Start with the passages I've listed below. Do not pass by them to quickly. 


May we take heed to Peter's instruction and pass the time of our sojourning here in fear!

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.   Pro 1:7

And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear:  Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.

                                                                          1 Pet 1:17-21

Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: For our God is a consuming fire. 

                                                                          Heb 12:28-29




On the other hand, unbelievers are characterized in the scriptures as those who have no fear of God before their eyes, see Psa. 36:1 &  Rom. 3:18.