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            The word “awe” is defined by Oxford Languages as “a feeling of reverential respect mixed with fear or wonder”. The word “awesome” is defined as “extremely impressive or daunting, inspiring great admiration, apprehension or fear”. The Psalmist wrote, “O God, You are more awesome than your holy places” (Psalm 68:35). The Psalmist expressed the awesomeness of God many times in the psalms such as when he wrote, “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament shows His handiwork” (Psalm 19:1) and “Your word is lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Psalms 119:105). The power and authority of God to create the material world is seen or evident, and that same power an authority is seen in the giving of and the effect of his word. Inspired Paul wrote it this way, “I am not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of God unto salvation…” (Romans 1:16). Paul too was extoling the awesomeness of God through the plan of salvation, the gospel.

            The Psalmist wrote that God was more awesome than his holy places. The tendency of human beings from before the time of David and in the centuries since then has been to revere the place so that in a sense it becomes greater than God himself. The Jews held the Law of Moses up as a banner of their awesomeness among the nations, but when it came to carrying out the law daily in their lives, they were not so enthusiastic about it. The people of God became a reflection of their kings, or probably more accurate is that the kings were a reflection, of the people. The inspired history said of Judah’s king Ahaziah, “…did evil in the sight of the Lord” (2 Kings 8:27). Ahaziah was just one of the many kings that turned from God. The prophets of God begged the people to listen to God, repent, and recognize the awesomeness of God. “Here the word which the Lord speaks to you, O house of Israel…Do not learn the way of the Gentiles…” (Jeremiah 10:1,2).

            After the Temple was built the Jews revered the “awesomeness” of Temple and it became their symbol of pride among the nations, but when it came to their daily living or even using the Temple for their own person purposes and gain, true purpose of the Temple was forgotten and in their mind its awesomeness outshined that of God. During the centuries this side of Jesus religious groups have constructed elaborate temples, cathedrals, etc., and in time the awesomeness of the edifices outshined the truth, the Word of God, and God himself. The Psalmist understood that the same problem existed 1,000 years before Jesus ever came to this earth, and for that reason he wrote, “You are more awesome than your holy places” (Psalm 68:35).

            The awesomeness of God is seen in the great plan of salvation and the awesomeness of the love of God. Jesus said, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son…” (John 3:16). Paul expressed the awesomeness of God in the plan of salvation when he wrote, “But God who is rich in mercy, because His great love with which He loved us…He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:4,7). The awesomeness of God is revealed through the church that Jesus established and the purpose of the church. Paul wrote, “to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be make known by the church…according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Ephesians 3:10-11). The awesomeness of God is seen in the plan of salvation involving Jesus and the church. As the words of a song suggest, “Our God is an awesome God who reigns form heaven above”., and as David wrote, God is more awesome than His holy places.