Fearfully and Wonderfully Made

"I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful; I know that full well."

You might ask yourself how do fear and wonder pair up? Are you ready for a lesson in Hebrew? The original text of the Bible was written in this ancient language. The word used in the Hebrew text for "fearfully" is "yārā’" (יָרָא), which conveys the idea of reverence, awe, and deep respect in the context of God's creation in this verse. Now that explains a lot. Most of us understand fear. It comes naturally to all of us. Fear of spiders. Fear of the unknown. Fear of eating at the cafeteria table by myself! In this world there is plenty to fear. Jesus has much to say about this, but we can save that for another time. Being in awe of something and showing an important level of respect is what the God of the universe demands and deserves. In a day where most feel that deserving rights and privileges is the norm; this is a different spin. Then, the second thought is the wonder piece. Wow. God did make a wonderful thing in creating humans. Pretty amazing! But somehow it gets twisted. The god of this world would have us think very differently. Pride comes to mind. Statements like, “hey you are pretty wonderful,” and “you are awesome.” Not much harm in those statements, yet the subtly of pride and self-sufficiency can creep in and steal the “wonder” of God. The whole point of the verse is summed up at the end. David, the author says this, “I know that full well.” He is saying “Whoa, God I am in deep respect and awe because you made me. I see the beauty and the difficulty of how you designed me. I get it. I am going to praise and worship you because I understand it.”