Psa 114:7 Tremble, thou earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob.

“Tremble at the presence of God” is the message of this psalm. It is a reverential fear when we come into the presence of God. God is love and merciful, but He is also God. It means He deserves our respect. It means we cannot talk to God like He is our equal. But we are to come to His presence with reverential fear. It is the same way we should treat our parents. Our parents love us very much. They shower us with love and compassion. But we should not take their love for granted. We are to treat them with respect. We are to honour and obey them: “Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. Honour thy father and mother” (Ephesians 6:1, 2). We are to speak to our parents in a respectful manner and address them as father and mother. So, likewise we are to approach God in a respectful manner. The Bible exhorts to fear God: “Fear God, and keep his commandments” (Ecclesiastes 12:13). What does it mean to fear God? The fear of the LORD in the Bible is reverential fear. It is not the same kind of fear we have to a tyrant, or a dictator. We don’t need to fear God’s anger unless we sin: “But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath” (Romans 2:8). Sinners will need to fear the wrath of God (2 Thessalonians 1:7-9). A reverential fear is a fear that results when we reverence God. We know who we are talking to. We know whose presence we are appearing. We will display the right attitude when we worship Him: “But the LORD is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him” (Habakkuk 2:20). Our worship must be in spirit and according to His truth (John 4:24). Hence, to fear God is to have the proper reverence and awe for Him. What happens when we do not fear God? 1. We will not take sin seriously. 2. We will not take our worship seriously. 3. We will not take our faith seriously. 4. We will not take His word seriously. 5. We will not take eternity seriously. In Isaiah 66:2, God says: “But to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.” If God looked upon you, would you not tremble? If you were looking upon God, would you not tremble? God fearing men in the Bible trembled at the presence of God. Moses was up on the mountain of God and was in the presence of God forty days and nights receiving the Ten Commandments that he said: “And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake’” (Heb 12.21). When Isaiah saw a vision of the holy God, the prophet trembled, saying: “Woe is me, for I am undone!” (Isaiah 6:5). The word “undone” means “cut off; destroy”. He was so terrified that he thought he was going to die. He remembered God once said of Himself: "There shall no man see me, and live" (Exodus 33:20). We should tremble as Moses and Isaiah did when they were in the presence of God. Even the devil trembles at the mention of God (James 2:19). They trembled when they saw Jesus (Matthew 8:29). What about you? Do you tremble when you come to His presence in worship? Think about it.