God-fearing Men?

As I come near to the end of this great book by A. W. Pink titled The Sovereignty of God, several things have really impacted my thinking of God while reading this book, first and foremost is a clearer view of His absolute sovereignty over all of His creation including salvation, reprobation, the human will and how all these great truths should impact our prayer life have been a real eye opener. Pink takes it even further as he talks about the attitude of fear we should always have towards God and the dangerous effects of not having a healthy fear of the Lord. I know there are some in Christendom who say that God doesn't want us to fear Him, and this seems to be a pious statement, but Mr. Pink begs to differ and I whole heartily agree.

"Why is it that even among those who profess to be the Lord's people there is so little real subjection to His Word, and that its precepts are so lightly esteemed and so readily set aside? Ah! what needs to be stressed to-day is that God is a God to be feared. "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" (Proverbs 1:7). Happy the soul that has been awed by a view of God's majesty, that has had a vision of God's awful greatness, His ineffable holiness, His perfect righteousness, His irresistible power, His sovereign grace. Does someone say, "But it is only the unsaved, those outside of Christ, who need to fear God"? Then the sufficient answer is that the saved, those who are in Christ, are admonished to work out their own salvation with "fear and trembling." Time was, when it was the general custom to speak of a believer as a "God-fearing man"—that such an appellation has become nearly extinct only serves to show whither we have drifted. Nevertheless, it still stands written, "Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear Him" (Psalms 103:13)! —A. W. Pink (1886–1952)

Quote taken from The Sovereignty of God by A. W. Pink, first published 1930 republished 1984 by Baker Books p. 181