Mensa Otabil - The Judgement of the Lord (10/25/2025)
We’re looking at Psalm 19 and examining God’s revelation to us both in a general sense and specifically through His Word. Now we are in verse 9. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. It’s always important for us to approach the Word of God with the right attitude. It’s great to know that God is speaking to us through general revelation; it’s even greater to know that God is speaking to us through His Word. But how do we respond to God’s Word? What is God’s Word to us? Here, God’s Word is called the fear of the Lord, which talks about the weight of God’s Word in our lives and the reverence we give to it. If we don’t have reverence for God’s Word, then all that He reveals to us, as fantastic and precise as it is, will be of no benefit to us.
So, the Word of God must be approached with fear. This is not the kind of fear that involves running away from something or avoiding it; this is the fear of carefully observing, taking note of, and respecting what it is. Therefore, we don’t run from God’s Word; we run to God’s Word, but we run with reverence. When God gives us an instruction, we don’t treat it casually, nor do we throw it aside. As our world becomes increasingly modernized, and as people, including Christians, adapt to this modernization, we become accustomed to multiple voices and expressing our own views and thoughts. Democracy becomes our practice; sometimes we forget God and bring Him into the mix, thinking, «Well, God says it, I can also say what I want.»
Although God encourages us to speak our minds, there is an authority with which He speaks that we must submit to, and that is the reverence we have for the Word of God. Don’t allow the way you speak to other people to become the basis of your relationship with God. The fear of the Lord is clean and enduring forever; it’s a clean fear, not a morbid one, and it is a fear we must have all the time.
Then it talks about God’s judgments: the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. God’s judgment is how He rules a situation. In the Bible, apart from having the written Word of God, many times people will take something to God and say, «Lord, what do You think about this? We want to do this; should we go to war, or should we not? Is it the right thing to do, or not?» God will pronounce His judgment on the situation. The Word of God also evaluates what we are doing and reveals the will of God. It states that when God gives us His Word, provides direction, and pronounces on something we are doing, that judgment is true and righteous altogether.
Just like going to a law court, after a judgment is made, the judgment is supposed to be upheld. Therefore, God’s judgment, higher than any human judgment, is upheld in our lives in every situation. God’s Word is the final habitat, the final judgment, the final say. When He says it, that’s it; it’s righteous altogether. He is always true; He never lies, and He never tells us something that is not right.
The Word of God is presented to us in many ways: as the fear of the Lord as well as the judgment of the Lord. I pray that we will apply reverence in our appreciation of God’s Word, and we will accept His Word as the final determination of everything in our lives. Let’s pray. Heavenly Father, Your judgments are true and righteous; You always do what is right for me. In Jesus' name, Amen and Amen. Well, I’ll catch you again tomorrow. I’m Pastor Mensa Otabil. Shalom, peace, and life to you.