Standing in Awe
TEXT: 2 CHRONICLES 9: 1-4
2 Chr 9:1 When the queen of Sheba heard of Solomon's fame, she came to Jerusalem to test him with hard questions. Arriving with a very great caravan--with camels carrying spices, large quantities of gold, and precious stones--she came to Solomon and talked with him about all she had on her mind.
2 Chr 9:2 Solomon answered all her questions; nothing was too hard for him to explain to her.
2 Chr 9:3 When the queen of Sheba saw the wisdom of Solomon, as well as the palace he had built,
2 Chr 9:4 the food on his table, the seating of his officials, the attending servants in their robes, the cupbearers in their robes and the burnt offerings he made at the temple of the LORD, she was overwhelmed.
Paraphrase the awe that the Queen of Sheba felt
AWE. The term refers to an emotion combining honor, fear, and respect before someone of superior office or actions. It most appropriately applies to God.
REVERENCE Respect or honor paid to a worthy object.
Why should we stand in awe of God?
Text: Jer 2:19 Your wickedness will punish you; your backsliding will rebuke you. Consider then and realize how evil and bitter it is for you when you forsake the LORD your God and have no awe of me," declares the Lord, the LORD Almighty.
Jer 2:20 “Long ago you broke off your yoke and tore off your bonds; you said, 'I will not serve you!' Indeed, on every high hill and under every spreading tree you lay down as a prostitute.
Jer 2:21 I had planted you like a choice vine of sound and reliable stock. How then did you turn against me into a corrupt, wild vine?
Jer 2:22 Although you wash yourself with soda and use an abundance of soap, the stain of your guilt is still before me," declares the Sovereign LORD.
What happens if we fail to stand in awe of God?
Who does Awe belong to?
Job 25:2 “Dominion and awe belong to God; he establishes order in the heights of heaven.
Job 25:3 Can his forces be numbered? Upon whom does his light not rise?
What does standing in awe of God bring you?
Jer 33:9 Then this city will bring me renown, joy, praise and honor before all nations on earth that hear of all the good things, I do for it; and they will be in awe and will tremble at the abundant prosperity and peace I provide for it.'
Jer 33:10 “This is what the LORD says: 'You say about this place, "It is a desolate waste, without men or animals." Yet in the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem that are deserted, inhabited by neither men nor animals, there will be heard once more
Jer 33:11 the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of bride and bridegroom, and the voices of those who bring thank offerings to the house of the LORD, saying, "Give thanks to the LORD Almighty, for the LORD is good; his love endures forever." For I will restore the fortunes of the land as they were before,' says the LORD.
Could the reason we don’t have abundant prosperity and peace ,be that we fail to Stand in awe of God ?
Why should we stand in awe of God?
Heb 12:26 At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, "Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens."
Heb 12:27 The words "once more" indicate the removing of what can be shaken--that is, created things--so that what cannot be shaken may remain.
Heb 12:28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe,
Heb 12:29 for our "God is a consuming fire."
Psa 104:1 Praise the LORD, O my soul. O LORD my God, you are very great; you are clothed with splendor and majesty.
Psa 104:2 He wraps himself in light as with a garment; he stretches out the heavens like a tent
Psa 104:3 and lays the beams of his upper chambers on their waters. He makes the clouds his chariot and rides on the wings of the wind.
Psa 104:4 He makes winds his messengers, flames of fire his servants.
Psa 104:5 He set the earth on its foundations; it can never be moved.
Isa 40:21 Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood since the earth was founded?
Isa 40:22 He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in.
Isa 40:23 He brings princes to naught and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing.
Isa 40:24 No sooner are they planted, no sooner are they sown, no sooner do they take root in the ground, then he blows on them and they wither, and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff.
Isa 40:25 “To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?" says the Holy One.
How do we stand in awe of God?
Worship
WORSHIP Human response to the perceived presence of the divine, a presence which transcends normal human activity and is holy.
Worship in the Bible moves back and forth between personal experience and corporate experience. Personal worship may occur in very private circumstances or may be related to public worship. This is illustrated by the shifting back and forth from plural speakers to a singular speaker in the Psalms (for instance, Ps. 44). Personal worship and corporate worship are mutually interactive. Corporate worship is empowered by personal experience, but personal experience needs affirmation and interpretation in corporate worship. Thus, early Christians were warned not to neglect meeting together in worship, "as is the habit of some," in order to encourage one another in the faith and in the spiritual life (Heb. 10:25 NRSV). Assembling together in worship is an affirmation of what the worshipers believe and an opportunity for mutual response to the gracious actions of God.
2.Obedience
OBEDIENCE To hear God's Word and act accordingly. The word translated "obey" in the Old Testament means "to hear" and is often so translated. In the New Testament, several words describe obedience. One word means "to hear or to listen in a state of submission." Another New Testament word often translated "obey" means "to trust."
The person's obedient response to God's Word is a response of trust or faith. Thus, to really hear God's Word is to obey God's Word
True obedience means imitating God in holiness, humility, and love
Praise
PRAISE One of humanity's many responses to God's revelation of Himself. The Bible recognizes that men and women may also be the objects of praise, either from other people (Prov. 27:21; 31:30) or from God Himself (Rom. 2:29), and that angels and the natural world are likewise capable of praising God
Praise comes from a Latin word meaning "value" or "price." Thus, to give praise to God is to proclaim His merit or worth. Many terms are used to express this in the Bible, including "glory," "blessing," "thanksgiving," and "hallelujah," the last named being a transliteration of the Hebrew for "Praise the Lord."
praise is almost invariably linked to music, both instrumental (Ps. 150:3-5) and, especially, vocal. Biblical songs of praise range from personal, more or less spontaneous outbursts of thanksgiving for some redemptive act of God (Ex. 15:
Love
LOVE Unselfish, loyal, and benevolent concern for the well-being of another.
Think of someone you have stood in awe of.
What do you think God thinks when you are in awe of Him?
What is the difference in fear and awe?
Compare someone you stood in awe of to someone you feared?
List someone in the Bible who stood in awe of God?
What problems can you expect if you fail to stand in awe of God?
Deu 28:15 However, if you do not obey the LORD your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:
Deu 28:16 You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the country.
Deu 28:17 Your basket and your kneading trough will be cursed.
Deu 28:18 The fruit of your womb will be cursed, and the crops of your land, and the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.
Deu 28:19 You will be cursed when you come in and cursed when you go out.
Deu 28:20 The LORD will send on you curses, confusion and rebuke in everything you put your hand to, until you are destroyed and come to sudden ruin because of the evil you have done in forsaking him.
Deu 28:21 The LORD will plague you with diseases until he has destroyed you from the land you are entering to possess.
Deu 28:22 The LORD will strike you with wasting disease, with fever and inflammation, with scorching heat and drought, with blight and mildew, which will plague you until you perish.
Deu 28:23 The sky over your head will be bronze, the ground beneath you iron.
Deu 28:24 The LORD will turn the rain of your country into dust and powder; it will come down from the skies until you are destroyed.
Deu 28:25 The LORD will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You will come at them from one direction but flee from them in seven, and you will become a thing of horror to all the kingdoms on earth.
Deu 28:26 Your carcasses will be food for all the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and there will be no one to frighten them away.
Deu 28:27 The LORD will afflict you with the boils of Egypt and with tumors, festering sores and the itch, from which you cannot be cured.
Deu 28:28 The LORD will afflict you with madness, blindness and confusion of mind.
Deu 28:29 At midday you will grope about like a blind man in the dark. You will be unsuccessful in everything you do; day after day you will be oppressed and robbed, with no one to rescue you.
Deu 28:30 You will be pledged to be married to a woman, but another will take her and ravish her. You will build a house, but you will not live in it. You will plant a vineyard, but you will not even begin to enjoy its fruit.
Deu 28:31 Your ox will be slaughtered before your eyes, but you will eat none of it. Your donkey will be forcibly taken from you and will not be returned. Your sheep will be given to your enemies, and no one will rescue them.
Deu 28:32 Your sons and daughters will be given to another nation, and you will wear out your eyes watching for them day after day, powerless to lift a hand.
Deu 28:33 A people that you do not know will eat what your land and labor produce, and you will have nothing but cruel oppression all your days.
Deu 28:34 The sights you see will drive you mad.
Deu 28:35 The LORD will afflict your knees and legs with painful boils that cannot be cured, spreading from the soles of your feet to the top of your head.
Deu 28:36 The LORD will drive you and the king you set over you to a nation unknown to you or your fathers. There you will worship other gods, gods of wood and stone.
Deu 28:37 You will become a thing of horror and an object of scorn and ridicule to all the nations where the LORD will drive you.
Deu 28:38 You will sow much seed in the field, but you will harvest little, because locusts will devour it.
Deu 28:39 You will plant vineyards and cultivate them but you will not drink the wine or gather the grapes, because worms will eat them.
Deu 28:40 You will have olive trees throughout your country, but you will not use the oil, because the olives will drop off.
Deu 28:41 You will have sons and daughters but you will not keep them, because they will go into captivity.
Deu 28:42 Swarms of locusts will take over all your trees and the crops of your land.
Deu 28:43 The alien who lives among you will rise above you higher and higher, but you will sink lower and lower.
Deu 28:44 He will lend to you, but you will not lend to him. He will be the head, but you will be the tail.
Deu 28:45 All these curses will come upon you. They will pursue you and overtake you until you are destroyed, because you did not obey the LORD your God and observe the commands and decrees he gave you.
Deu 28:46 They will be a sign and a wonder to you and your descendants forever.
Deu 28:47 Because you did not serve the LORD your God joyfully and gladly in the time of prosperity,
Deu 28:48 therefore in hunger and thirst, in nakedness and dire poverty, you will serve the enemies the LORD sends against you. He will put an iron yoke on your neck until he has destroyed you.
What blessings can you expect if you stand in awe of God?
Deu 28:1 If you fully obey the LORD your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations on earth.
Deu 28:2 All these blessings will come upon you and accompany you if you obey the LORD your God:
Deu 28:3 You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country.
Deu 28:4 The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock--the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.
Deu 28:5 Your basket and your kneading trough will be blessed.
Deu 28:6 You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out.
Deu 28:7 The LORD will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction but flee from you in seven.
Deu 28:8 The LORD will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to. The LORD your God will bless you in the land he is giving you.
Deu 28:9 The LORD will establish you as his holy people, as he promised you on oath, if you keep the commands of the LORD your God and walk in his ways.
Deu 28:10 Then all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the name of the LORD, and they will fear you.
Deu 28:11 The LORD will grant you abundant prosperity--in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your ground--in the land he swore to your forefathers to give you.
Deu 28:12 The LORD will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none.
Deu 28:13 The LORD will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the LORD your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom.
Deu 28:14 Do not turn aside from any of the commands I give you today, to the right or to the left, following other gods and serving them.
How are people around you affected when you stand in awe of God?
What would happen to the world if everyone stood in awe of God?
What is your biggest hindrance that keeps you from standing in awe of God ?
This coming week let’s put God in the exalted place that He deserves in our lives and stand in awe of the King of Kings
