Psalms 85:9

Surely His salvation is nigh them that fear Him.

The nearness of salvation to piety

The fear of God does not mean servile terror, but loving reverence; it means piety. The subject of these words is the nearness of salvation to piety. They are so near that they are inseparable; in truth, they are essentially one. Where there is piety there is salvation, and nowhere else; where there is salvation there is piety, and nothing else. This vital connection between salvation and piety serves two purposes.

I. To correct a popular delusion. In popular religious tracts and pulpits, men are constantly exhorted to seek salvation, as if it were something outside of them, something away in another region, and to be reached by scheming. But it is in the state of the heart, and nowhere else. “Say not in thy heart, Who shall ascend to heaven to bring it down?” etc. It is in supreme love to God and self-sacrificing love for man.

II. To urge the cultivation of personal piety. “The grace of God hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts,” etc. (Homilist.)

There is safety in godly fear

Holy fear is a searching the camp that there be no enemy within our bosom to betray us, and seeing that all be fast and sure. For I see many leaky vessels fair before the wind, and professors who take their conversion upon trust, and they go on securely, and see not the under water till a storm sink them. (H. G. Salter.)