We are all looking for a glimmer of hope in the middle of
our struggles. The people, the ancient prophet Isaiah to whom was writing, were
displaced, homeless, starving, disoriented refugees in a foreign land.
Throughout the writing, that Jews and Christians call the Book of Isaiah, there
are hints to hope in darkness. Many of these texts were believed by the early
church to be signposts of the coming of the Christ or Messiah. In one such
passage, found in the eleventh chapter, Isaiah describes the hope that one like
King David will come and establish his reign. One of the descriptions of this
coming hope is this:
“(H)e will delight in the fear of the Lord.” Isaiah 11:3
What does this mean? And, if Jesus is a model for the lives
of his followers, what does it mean for us to “delight in the fear of the
Lord?” One thing it does not mean is living in the terror of some terrible
judgment of an autocratic demagogue. To fear is to please or to fulfill the desires
of the One being worshipped or revered. Notice it is with “delight” that he
considers the Other. Jesus said he loved
to do the will of his Father even though it was not easy to do the Father’s
will. When we follow Jesus we become co-lovers of the Father’s will and heart. –
Ron Friesen
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