"It is the Lord of hosts whom you should regard as holy.
And He shall be your fear, And He shall be your dread.
Then He shall become a sanctuary;
Isaiah 8:13-14a (NAS)
Don't fear anything except the Lord of the armies of Heaven!
If you fear Him, you need fear nothing else.
He will be your safety.
Isaiah 13:14a (Taylor's Living Paraphrase)
What is a "sanctuary?" Webster says it is a holy place, a temple or a place of refuge, a place of protection. With those definitions in mind we can readily deduct that a sanctuary is a place of worship and a place of safety. So when He is (becomes) our sanctuary, we are in a place of worship and because He is there with us, we are protected. Sounds nice, doesn't it?
There is, however, a stipulation--He shall be your fear. I like Taylor's paraphrase: Don't fear anything except the Lord of the armies of Heaven! But wait. He tells us, "Fear not. Don't be afraid. Perfect love casts out fear." We are not supposed to fear.
What does it mean? Let me share my thoughts about this scripture. I think that to fear the Lord does not mean trembling in His presence; or being terrified because of His omniscience--He knows everything about me; or being fearful with your heart palpitating, adrenalin pumping madly. It doesn't mean thinking He might call down lightening from Heaven or just point His finger at you and you would disappear in a puff of smoke because you have invaded His domain. It doesn't mean anxiety in that He is so big and I am so little or that He is so smart and I am so dumb; that I am a finite creature and He is infinite. No. None of those things.
I believe that "fear," means respect for His authority, His power, His intellect, all of His attributes--His omnipotence (unlimited power), His immutability (never changing), being omnipresent (present everywhere all the time), or His omniscience (there is nothing hidden from Him). It means regarding Him as holy, as infinite, and worthy of our praise, honor, and love. It means recognizing Him as our great and glorious God! When I have come to that knowledge and cling to it tenaciously, I need not "fear" anything else. I have stepped across the line and I am on God's team. If God is on our side, who can ever be against us (Romans 8:31)?
So I accept Him in all His glory. When I do that, He becomes my safety, my refuge, my hiding place, my protection and when I am with Him, I worship Him. It's that simple. I do my part, and He does His part. The only thing is that I have to do my part first. As I always say, He is the epitome of a gentleman and will not force Himself on us. He may "chase us" as the "Hound of Heaven," [1] but it is always'always'always for our good.
And while in His presence, I worship Him--love Him and rest in the truth that He loves me unconditionally. No one has ever done that before. From the very beginning of my life on Planet Earth people have had expectations of me or for me. God simply loves me. I can do nothing to make Him love me anymore and I can do nothing to make Him love me any less. That is incredible--but true!
I see Him as holy. I respect Him. I reverence Him. Therefore, He has become my sanctuary and I worship Him while we are together in my place of safety.
Lord, how I love You!
For You have done such tremendous things for me.
The Lord is my fort where I can enter and be safe,
no one can follow me and slay me.
He is a rugged mountain where I hide; He is my Savior,
a rock where none can reach me, and a tower of safety.
He is my shield.
He is like the strong horn of a mighty fighting bull.
All I need to do is cry to Him'
oh praise the Lord'
and I am saved from all my enemies.
Psalm 18:1-3 (TLP)
[1] Francis Thompson: The Hound of Heaven
