How is God confiding in us a reward for our fear of him?
Psalm 25:14
On the premise that life holds no greater treasure than intimacy with God, this verse gives a priceless insight into gaining and retaining immeasurable wealth… for it holds the key to the mind of the Lord. The Lord does not reveal himself equally to all people, not in this life. At the end of our days, he will show himself openly to us if we have obeyed the gospel of his Son, but in this life it is not so. God hides himself from us in varying degrees, using moments of delightful self-revelation to draw us onto ever-greater godliness. It is a powerful enticement to all who have tasted and seen that the Lord is good.
Paul shows us how it worked in his own heart in Philippians 3:7-14, in which he describes his ever-upward striving toward perfection in Christ. The climax of the passage is in verse 10, in which he says, “I want to know Christ, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death…” It’s amazing that someone who had seen the resurrected Christ with his own eyes, and who had since then seen “surpassingly great revelations” (2 Corinthians 12:7) would still feel only an all-consuming desire to know Christ. It’s true that, the more you truly know Christ, the more you want to know him.
Psalms 25:14 explains from God’s side the central dynamic in this whole process: God discloses himself to those who obey him. Other scriptures also testify to this. One of the best is Jesus’ own testimony in John 14:21, “He who has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.” Our verse in this psalm says, “The Lord confides in those who fear him.” This means God opens up the inner working of his mind to that person. God draws those who fear him into the inner councils of his purposes and his ways, and he reveals his passions and feelings to them as well. A good example of this is God’s fascinating statement in Genesis 18:17, just before he was to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah: “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?” Because Abraham feared God, he walked in obedience to God’s commands. From his own grace, God revealed his secret purposes to Abraham. This is the friendship Abraham had with God, and the foundations of it were, first, the grace of God and second, the faithful obedience of Abraham.
“A key to intimacy with God, therefore, is obedience to his commands.”
A key to intimacy with God, therefore, is obedience to his commands – the “fear of the Lord.” To honor him and obey him every day glorifies him as the holy King of the universe. God rewards such obedience not with gold, silver, or any other perishable bauble, but with ever-increasing self-disclosure. For those who have experienced it, it is the most valuable gift they have ever received. Job says of it, “O for the days when I was in my prime, when God’s intimate friendship blessed my house” (Job 29:4). God rewarded Job with intimate friendship, including permission to “listen in on God’s counsel” (Job 15:8). Obey him out of potential delight in him, and he will reward you the same way!
