And this principle is plainly and entirely consistent with the sincerest love: our love indeed is powerfully increased by the reflection, that our heavenly Father, of whose attributes we form conceptions so awful and sublime, should condescend to bestow such regard upon His frail and fallen, His disobedient and rebellious children; it may teach us to exclaim with the liveliest emotions of gratitude, as well as with humble adoration and astonishment, “Lord, what is man that Thou art mindful of him, and the son of man that Thou visitest him?” { 139} Good reason, therefore, had the framers of our Liturgy, for directing us to implore the united influence of a perpetual fear and love of God’s holy name.
But the fear spoken of in the text is of another kind; it relates to uneasy and distressful apprehensions respecting our acceptance with God; to a feeling of doubt and distrust, whether we are, in deed and in truth, partakers of the gracious promises of the gospel; whether we are living in a state of reconciliation with God; whether we have within us that earnest of the Holy Spirit, which is the pledge and seal of our redemption; whether, in a word, we are objects of God’s favour here, and have a well-grounded hope of his mercy hereafter.
That this is the state of mind represented to us by the beloved Apostle, is clear from his own reasoning; “for fear,” says he, “hath torment:” now the fear of God, as above described, has no torment at all; it makes us humble, and fills as with reverential awe, but it tends to comfort and peace. We could not entirely love a Being, whose manifestation inspired us with terror and dismay; and this is the very reason why many, when they come seriously to consider their condition, are filled with confusion and alarm; because they do not love God in sincerity and truth: their affections have been set on the world; and therefore their title to salvation, upon the terms proposed to them in the gospel, is clearly insufficient; they have served other masters, and have reason to tremble for their reward from the great Lord and Master in heaven; they have employed their talents for other purposes, than those for which they were committed, and therefore, when they think of making up their accounts, their lord presents himself as “an austere man,” exacting more than they will be able to render: no man can heartily love God, without an entire obedience of the heart; this they have never shewn, and therefore have never loved Him: how then can they expect His favour; how can they reflect upon their condition with composure and comfort?