God's Glory and Obedience

Psalm 34 begins with praise: 1: I will extol the Lord at all times; his praise will always be on my lips. 2: My soul will boast in the Lord; let the afflicted hear and rejoice. 3: Glorify the Lord with me; let us exalt his name together.

My heart cried out to the Lord when I came to verse 3, Oh, Lord, how do I glorify You? How do I live for Your glory? What does this mean? How can I attain to this standard when I don't understand what this means?

Always glory has seemed very abstract to me. How does one specifically live for God's glory? But immediately an answer came in my heart: obey. Obedience to God is living for His glory. Verse 1 says at "all" times; "always". We are always to obey God, even when afflicted, verse 2. Affliction implies hardship, difficulty of obedience. Phillipians tells us that Christ learned obedience through what He suffered. Obedience, because it involves suffering and hardship, because it goes against the tide of human nature and circumstance, therefore glorifies the Lord. We glorify whomever it is that we obey.

Then the theme of fear comes in, verse 4: I sought the Lord, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears.

There are two kinds of fear: that which is found in verse 4, a bad kind, which leads to death, and a good kind, which leads to life. The Lord delivers those who "fear" Him from the bad kind of fear.

Why does obedience involve fears? Fear is the motivating factor in obedience. I will obey whom I fear. If I fear the world, then I am strongly tempted to obey the world. If I fear God, then I obey Him.

I do have many fears of the world. But God's Word tells me that He will deliver me from all wickedness and evil, so that I may not fear those things, and therefore not obey them. I am to obey the Lord, I am to fear Him, and He will protect me from all harm.

Verse 9: Fear the Lord, you his saints, for those who fear him lack nothing. Verse 11: Come, my children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord.

The Lord saves those who take refuge in Him, verses 4, 5, 6, 7 (The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them), 8, 9, 10, 15, 17, 19, 20, and 22. Who fears the Lord? The righteous fear the Lord. To fear the Lord, is to obey Him. We obey whomever it is that we fear.

To fear shows respect, deference. When we fear someone or something, we acknowledge that the someone or something has power over us. That is to give glory. To fear is to glorify. If I fear the world and those who represent the world in my life to the point that I give my allegiance (my obedience) to the voice of the world and the world's people, then I am giving the world and the world's people glory. If I fear the Lord, then I am glorifying Him.

The Lord's call is to fear Him, and He promises to protect, save, care for, provide with many blessings those who do. The Lord promises to save those who fear Him from the world, from the enemy.

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O Father God, may I fear You, and not this fallen world. Grant me Your grace, Your strength in my inner man, to love and obey You with all my heart, mind, soul, strength and will. You know how weak I am and how prone to believe the lies of this world. Forgive me, please, Lord, and lead me by Your Spirit and Your Word into Your everlasting ways. By giving You my obedience, I give You honor, respect, and I glorify Your name.
Thank-You for Your Word. You are the great God who has the power of life and death, happiness and hell. You have told us very specifically how we should please You, so that we do not perish. O Lord, may it be so in my life. Grant me grace, the will, and the strength to obey You, my Lord. Thank-You. In Jesus' name, Amen.