Isaiah 8:13
13 Sanctify the LORD of hosts himself; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread.
THE TRIUNE SANCTUARY
‘Sanctify the Lord of Hosts Himself; and let Him be your fear, and let Him be your dread.’
I. The whole subject of Godhead is one of awe, and if of awe, then ‘dread.’—The more you know of God, the more you feel the unfathomableness of the mystery of Godhead. And all mystery is awe. It is a rule of our being that we must tremble when we stand on the margin of the unknown. Therefore, they who know most of God will most ‘fear,’ not His anger, but simply His amazing greatness.
II. The sense of mercy and benefits heaped upon us has an overwhelming influence upon the mind.—Do not you know what it is to tremble at a danger when you have escaped it much more than you did when you encountered it? That is exactly the ‘fear’ and the ‘dread’ of a pardoned sinner. It is the contemplation of a thunder-cloud which has rolled over your head.
III. Reverence is the great lesson which our age has to learn.—Be suspicious of the love which is without awe. Remember that our best acquaintance with God only shows us more the immensity of the fields of thoughts which no mind can traverse.
IV. ‘He shall be for a sanctuary.’—Do you recoil at the idea of dreading God? That which makes the dread makes the hiding-place. To those who fear He shall be for a sanctuary. (1) To a Jewish mind the first idea of a sanctuary would be refuge. (2) The sanctuary of safety becomes the home of peace. ‘Lord, Thou hast been our dwelling-place in all generations.’ (3) God is the fountain of your holiness. The Shechinah shines within the veil; but as you become familiar with the precincts of that holy place you catch some of its rays and reflect its glory.
Rev. Jas. Vaughan.
Illustration
‘What is the measuring-line of our distance from God? The Saviour. What is the Saviour? Infinite. Who, then, knows the actual separation of a man from God, but he who knows the Saviour? Who, then, will be the man, who, having the most knowledge of the distance, will be stricken with the greatest appreciation of the terribleness of Almighty God? The forgiven sinner.’