Those Who Fear Him Have An Inheritance

Psalm 61:5 - For you have heard my vows, O God; you have given me the heritage of those who fear your name.

Recently, the Lord led me to Psalm 61. It is a beautiful psalm of David who cried out and found God, His rock and refuge. In verse 4, David said that he longed to dwell in God's presence and take refuge in the shelter of His wings. This imagery is both powerful and rich.

Verse 5 holds an important truth and blessing for those who will meditate on it and believe it. Specifically, those who fear God have a "heritage" in Him. Some versions use the word "inheritance". We can safely infer that those who don't "fear" God do not have any such hope and blessing. The Hebrew word for fear used in this verse is "yare" and it is translated to mean "to revere", to have "reverence".

Notice that the beginning of verse 5 states that God heard David's vows (prayers). The reason David's prayers were heard was because he feared/reverenced God. Fearing God puts everything in proper perspective. We recognize that He is the rightful Lord of our lives and that we must be dependent upon Him, in essence it creates humility within us. Fear of God also causes our hearts to be open and receptive to hear from Him and to obey His commands. It allows God to have the most important place in our lives. We know that we cannot claim to love God unless we obey Him (John 14:21). So reverence and fear are absolutely essential to our love-relationship with the Lord.

Here are just a few of the promises and blessings we have when we fear God: According to Psalm 111:10, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and all who follow God's precepts have good understanding. Blessed is everyone who fears God and walks in His ways, according to Psalm 128:1. God takes pleasure in those who fear Him (Psalm 147:11). Also, His goodness is stored up for those who fear Him, which He gives to those who take refuge in Him (Psalm 31:19-20).

Fearing God opens the gate for us to have a heritage and inheritance from Him. God desperately wants to richly bless those who love and fear His name. Psalm 5:12 says: "For you, O Lord, will bless the righteous; with favor you will surround him as with a shield." 2 Chronicles 16: 9 says: "For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him."

Our inheritance in God is extravagant because He extravagantly blesses those who fear and obey Him. Deuteronomy 28:1-13 states: "If you fully obey the LORD your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. All these blessings will come upon you and accompany you if you obey the LORD your God: You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country. The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks. Your basket and your kneading trough will be blessed. You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out. The LORD will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction but flee from you in seven. The LORD will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to. The LORD your God will bless you in the land he is giving you. The LORD will establish you as his holy people, as he promised you on oath, if you keep the commands of the LORD your God and walk in his ways. Then all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the name of the LORD, and they will fear you. The LORD will grant you abundant prosperity—in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your ground—in the land he swore to your forefathers to give you. The LORD will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none. The LORD will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the LORD your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom." These pronounced blessings are so great that they are almost overwhelming. While these promises were given to His people Israel, they are, however, also for us today because God does not change.

In Ephesians 1:3, we are told that the Father blesses us with every spiritual blessing in Christ. Everything that Christ had and has is ours because it is the Father's will to give it to us. Because we are in Christ we lack nothing. Additionally, 2 Peter 1:3-4 says: "His divine power has given us EVERYTHING we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness. Through these He has given us His very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires".

To fear God is to have a heritage in Him – a history, an identity, and a purpose for our lives. The Apostle Paul said in Ephesians 1:18-20 - "I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints, and His incomparably great power toward us who believe. That power is like the working of His mighty strength, which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come."

If we love Him much we will also revere Him much. When this characterizes our lives and testimonies, we shall walk in abundant and overflowing blessing because He will release to us our inheritance, which is reserved for those who love and fear His name.