Reverence
Reverence (usually some form of יָרֵא, φοβέομαι, to fear), a respectful, submissive disposition of mind arising from affection and esteem, from a sense of superiority in the person reverenced. Hence children reverence their fathers even when their fathers correct them by stripes (Heb 12:9); hence subjects reverence their sovereign (2Sa 9:6); hence wives reverence their husbands (Eph 5:33); and hence all ought to reverence God. We reverence the name of God, the house of God, the worship of God, etc.; we reverence the attributes of God, the commands, dispensations, etc., of God; and we ought to demonstrate our reverence by overt acts, such as are suitable and becoming to time, place, and circumstances. For though a man may reverence God in his heart, yet unless he behave reverentially and give proofs of his reverence by demeanor, conduct, and obedience, he will not easily persuade his fellow-
mortals that his bosom is the residence of this divine and heavenly disposition; for, in fact, a reverence for God is not one of those lights which burn under a bushel, but one of those whose sprightly lustre illuminates .wherever it is admitted. Reverence is, strictly speaking, perhaps the internal disposition of the mind, φόβος (Ro 13:7); and honor, τιμή, the external expression of that disposition.
