Awe:
noun an overwhelming feeling of reverence, admiration, fear, etc., produced by that which is grand, sublime, extremely powerful, or the like.
I have recently come to realize how under-inspired I have become. I have lost my sense of awe of the Creator of the universe. When the day to day life becomes mundane and boring, crazy and chaotic, I tend to take my relationship with the Lord for granted. When I am far from him, I forget the beauty of his splendor. Out of fear and reverence of the Lord, King Solomon not only built the history Temple but he spared no expensive. The temple Solomon built was not built out of pride for what he could afford or what he would be able to show off to the people around him like so many other Kings would have done, it was built out of sheer awe!
Back in 2 Chronicles 2 Solomon said,“5 The house that I am to build will be great, for our God is greater than all gods. 6 But who is able to build him a house, since heaven, even highest heaven, cannot contain him? Who am I to build a house for him, except as a place to make offerings before him? 7″
Solomon didn’t take the left over money in his bank account to build the walls of the temple. He didn’t simply hire someone to make the plans and take care of the details. Out of reverence and honor, Solomon took his time and spared no expense. Bronze, silver and gold metals, rare wood materials and large fountains were all engineered and commissioned by skilled workmen brought from the east and the west. Solomon stopped at nothing to attempt to build a temple that would be adequate to hosue the Ark of the Covenant, the home of the Lord all while knowing nothing would ever really be good enough.
19 So Solomon made all the vessels that were in the house of God: the golden altar, the tables for the bread of the Presence, 20 the lampstands and their lamps of pure gold to burn before the inner sanctuary, as prescribed; 21 the flowers, the lamps, and the tongs, of purest gold;22 the snuffers, basins, dishes for incense, and fire pans, of pure gold, and the sockets[f] of the temple, for the inner doors to the Most Holy Place and for the doors of the nave of the temple were of gold. 2 Chronicles 4:19-22
Even reading the scriptures of Solomon’s temple I take for granted how beautiful and huge this temple was. My husband is a general contractor and works in the field of civil engineering. He cannot even fathom the logistics of how this was built let alone how the obtained the materials and afforded it. The details literally boggle the mind. And what boggles my mind even more is that it all started with Solomon’s fear and reverence for the Lord. He loved the Lord God so much that this was the outpouring of his heart.
So, I must ask myself this question. Do I live in fear and reverence of the Lord God Almighty who created the heavens and earth? Do I worship him in spirit in truth to express the awe that is within my heart? Do I stop at nothing to share that with others? I have a long way to go and am thankful that the Lord is gracious and merciful because often my answer to these questions is “no”.
Thank you, Father, for your incredible love, grace and mercy to me. O, Lord, You are great and greatly to be praised. There are not enough words to praise you and as Solomon said, who is able to build you a house since even the highest heaven cannot contain you. I stand in awe of you, Lord. Amen.
Katie
From the archives. Originally published December 4, 2017.
Sixty-six books in a year 