Read the transcript from today's video devotional.
Years ago, I was invited to a big Ohio State football game, and we were up right underneath the balcony. When the running back would get the ball or when there was a touchdown, there's this loud, screaming, echoing sound. There's over 80,000 people at this particular game. In Michigan they call it the big house. There's over 107,000 people at that place. There's another huge stadium in India. It's 136,000 plus. Now think about this: in the Super Bowl in 2025, I think the average was 126 million viewers. That's a whole lot of people.
As you think about it, what has been a big event that you have been to? Think about the importance of all the people and why they were there.
God's Call to the World
As you think about that, there's a verse in the Bible, our Verse of the Day. It's a beautiful verse, it's Psalm chapter 33, verse 8. The Bible says, let the whole world fear the Lord and let everyone stand in awe of Him. God gives this universal call to you and to me to fear the Lord. This is a universal call out not to hundreds of thousands of people, not to millions of people, not even to billions of people, but the whole world.
We have a problem in our culture. When I was younger, there were these "No Fear" t-shirts. Everybody wore them. No fear, no fear, no fear. We still have some around today. But the Bible says that there's no fear of God before certain people's eyes. God says we are to fear Him in our text.
The Right Kind of Fear
Let me give you just two quick principles, two points about this universal call that God calls us to. All right. As we look at this, I want us to make sure that we think about the appropriate kind of fear. I'm a dad, I have several kids, and when my boy was four, he was doing something wrong. I remember raising my voice and telling him not to do something. He visibly shook for a moment, and I looked at him and I asked him, "What's wrong, son?" He said, "I'm scared, daddy."
As soon as he said that I felt so bad as a dad, I felt like a pathetic father. I remember thinking in my mind, I don't want to motivate people, especially my kids, out of this unhealthy, servile fear.
So here the Bible calls us again to fear God and for us as Christians we are to have this filial fear. Romans chapter 8 says, for we have not received this spirit of fear, this scary type of fear, but we've received the spirit of sonship. Whether you know the Lord or don't, there is this different fear that God calls us to.
Two Aspects of This Fear
Let's quickly look at these two fears that we have before us. One is this universal fear- He says right there: "Let the whole world fear the Lord," the whole world. This is everybody. God's called you. God's called me. God's called the whole world to fear Him. Then, so that no one's missed, He says right here again in the verse, "and let everyone stand in awe of him." Not this general whole world- I need every single one. That's how I read that.
I'll never forget, I went to Yosemite. I used to live in California. We pulled up to Yosemite Park. It's amazing. These huge rocks, huge cliffs, waterfall falling down the side of these beautiful huge rocks. It was massive. It was gorgeous and it was just awesome.
Now we use that word "awesome" a lot. Man, this Krispy Kreme donut, it was awesome. This In-N-Out burger, it was awesome. This chicken burrito, it was awesome. Here in the Bible, this is something that truly inspires awe, and it's God Himself.
God on Display
As you think about it, front of the Bible, the very first book of the Bible: "In the beginning, God"—the fourth word in the Bible. If you're God, who do you want on display in the world that you made? Yourself! God can say that and not be egotistical. "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth," and then He creates the earth in seven days. It's amazing what God has done.
As you think about it, as you think about your life, as you think about your family, as you think about people that you know, there's this universal call to everybody. God's called you and I to fear Him. Let's delight in the fear of God, as Isaiah says, because we can actually delight in the One that we love. Let's fear Him and love Him and take pleasure in who He is because He's a great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.
