This prophecy of Isaiah puts to rest any doubt we may have had about the Bible’s presenting a healthy fear of God as integral to love and flourishing. We often read this foretelling of a messiah in the Advent season. Isaiah foresees that “a shoot will rise from the stump of Jesse.” Jesse was King David’s father, so this is an oblique way of referring to the lineage of kings that came through David. Even though some terrible kings led the nation to the brink of exile, the LORD would not forget his promise that David’s line of kingship would never fail. When all seems lost, the Christ will appear. 

 

Both “messiah” and “Christ” mean “anointed one” after Israel’s custom of anointing kings with oil. But this mighty figure will be anointed with the Holy Spirit. A superabundance of God’s favor and presence will be upon him. The passage describes what the out-poured Spirit will create in Christ: wisdom, understanding, wise counsel, deep knowledge of God and the fear of the LORD!

 

The prophet underscores this last attribute through repetition: “And his delight will be in the fear of the LORD.” No one delights in terror-based fear. No human would relish the fear that comes from skeptical scrutiny, the feeling that God is out to get us. But the fear that pervades the very Spirit of the Messiah is a delight to him. This fear gives pleasure. It satisfies from the inside out. It awakens a desire for more of the LORD so that delight in fearing him can be magnified. 

 

The verses that follow amplify the qualities and actions that flow from the Messiah’s delight in the fear of the LORD. The Messiah will see to the heart of the matter and judge by the truth, not the appearance, that someone exhibits. He will be so resolute in fairness that the poor and meek, so often overrun by the powerful, will feel lifted up by his impartial judgments. The wicked will not get away with dominating. The Messiah will battle the evil spiritual powers and confront the way they manifest in earthly powers. He will be sustained by his innate righteousness. His resolute faithfulness to his Father will make him a uniquely integrated, incorruptible, through-and-through human being. 

 

Our brief excerpt from Psalm 130 takes us deeper into how fear and delight go together. The psalmist speaks the stark truth: God, if you should keep a comprehensive account of everyone’s sins and repay us accordingly, who could ever survive your presence? No one would willingly draw near to you. We would try to avoid you at all costs. But. But with you, gracious LORD I AM, there is more than just judgment. You are not known for exacting every ounce of punishment. You are known for bestowing everlastingly steadfast love. With you there is “plentiful redemption.” Not begrudging acceptance but overflowing remedy and relief for our sin. All of this divine kindness, which has been passed to the Messiah, has a purpose: “that you might be feared.” God does not undertake the reconciliation of the sinfully broken to delight in humiliating us. He seeks the fear that respects and reverences so we can relate to God in a relaxed, rejoicing return of love replying to love. 

Of course, we know now that this Christ figure foreseen by Isaiah is our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Son of God who became the Son of Man for us. All his life, Jesus’ very “food” was doing the will of his Father (John 4:34). And, of course, the Father delights in his Son for at Jesus’ baptism even as the anointing Holy Spirit descended upon him, the Father’s voice from heaven declared, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17). In Jesus’ fear of the LORD, whom he knew intimately as Father, he received and expressed delighted love. 

 

This reality is crucially important to us. Paul identifies Jesus as “the last Adam” (1 Corinthians 15:45). He is one of us yet also the beginning of a new human race. Risen from the dead, he is no longer subject to death. Jesus is humanity outfitted for everlasting life. He is man participating joyfully in the triune life of God. When we are joined to Jesus, we also receive the Spirit. We become part of his new humanity. As Paul tells us, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17). 

 

The essence of being in Christ is a joyful fear of the LORD, grounded in confidence in his abundant redemption. We live every day now realizing that since we are spiritually raised with Christ, we can “seek the things above, where Christ is” (Colossians 3:1). The Spirit within us impels us to “put on the new self” (Colossians 3:10). We get dressed in the new-humanity attire of compassion, forgiveness, kindness and love (Colossians 3:12-14). As the first quality of healthy fear, we refer every situation to Jesus, modeling our actions after his perfected humanity. It looks like this: “And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him” (Colossians 3:17). 

Lord Jesus, in your days among us,

You wanted nothing more than to do the will of your Father.

You only did what you saw him doing.

You only acted according to his character.

Your mission every second was his mission for the world.

That’s what it meant for you 

To delight in the fear of the LORD.

It filled you with faith, purpose and joy.

 

You are the anointed one, our new Adam,

Our hope of resurrected life in communion.

You are our hope that broken trust,

Shattered love and lost integrity

Will be mended and made whole. 

Everything will come right at last.

 

So grant me the filling of your Spirit

To live this day like you

In a delighted fear of God,

Seeing you as the reference point

For every decision and action.

 

Grant me the joy of trusting you completely.