2 LORD, be gracious to us;
we long for you.
Be our strength every morning,
our salvation in time of distress.
6 He will be the sure foundation for your times,
a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge;
the fear of the LORD is the key to this treasure. (Isaiah 33:2 and 6, NIV)
Who wouldn't want God to be gracious, be our strength, our salvation, and our foundation? If we were to ask anyone we knew about that the overwhelming response would be YES. It's like getting something free or winning a contest. God wants to do this in our lives (Isaiah 30:18), He longs to do all of this. God has His part in this scenario, and we have ours. Don't misunderstand me, we are not people of works, you don't earn it. You just have to want it.
There are two clear statements that Isaiah gives here for us to understand. The first is that, yes, you do have to want it. That is the word "long". This is what Isaiah is talking about in verse 2 "we long for you". That is the questions we all have to ask ourselves is, how bad do you want it? To long is to have an unquentionable desire that can only be filled by God. Do you have that desire, or is it just a passing thought. Many times God speaks to us and we just dwell on it for a few minutes, maybe even an hour. When we say we "long" for something it is an idea, thought, or desire that you just can't get away from.
The second part of this is the statement that pre-requisites the key to "this treasure", and that is the statement of "the fear of the LORD". So we ask: What is the fear of the LORD?. The word "fear" doesn't mean "to tremble, or be terrified" here. It means to have honor and reverence. So the next question is: do you have that high honor and reverence for God? It is the key, in fact it is the only key. Do you have honor and reverence for the person of God, the work of God, the Word of God, the people of God, the house of God, and the Kingdom of God? All of these fall under, well, God.
We want God to be gracious to us, He will, and He does. If you want the key, if you need the key, frankly if you desire the key. It is there all you have to do is grab it.
Have a blessed day, Chris
