Trembling at the Word

When the book of the law was found, Josiah did not praise it from a distance. He tore his clothes, gathered the people, heard the covenant aloud, and put his hand to the hard work of cleansing the land. The word of God is not given for admiration but for obedience. Clement says of Josiah, he was remembered "for his observance of the law, for thirty-one years." The king’s reform was public, costly, and thorough, because he had learned to tremble before the Lord.

Job teaches the same trembling in another school. The thunder, rain, ice, and snow are not bare weather; they are witnesses that man is small and God is great. Arnobius speaks of the One "which makes the rain fall drop by drop, which has spread out rain and feathery flakes of snow." If creation itself moves at His command, then no servant of God may treat His word lightly.

So Paul, standing near death, charges Timothy before the Judge of the living and the dead: preach the word, endure afflictions, fulfill the ministry. Men will gather teachers to suit their passions; others, like Alexander, will resist the truth openly. Yet the servant must not trim the message to keep peace. Josiah did not spare idols because they were old customs. Paul did not spare falsehood because it was popular.

Therefore let us receive the Scriptures as a covenant to be kept, not a sound to be heard and forgotten. Let repentance begin with ourselves, then pass into our houses, our speech, our dealings, and our prayers. The Lord’s servant must endure, and the Lord Himself will bring every work into judgment.