The Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king; it is he who will save us. —Isaiah 33:22.
When we think about God as our Judge, we normally think of falling under judgment and receiving punishment. Isaiah reminds us that God’s being our Judge means he will judge us according to his will, rule, and grace. He is on our side and is looking to save us, not condemn us (John 3:16-17). His commands are rightfully given as our Creator and King, yet given to us to protect us and bless us. Using the New Testament idiom, when we stand before our Judge, we see our loving Father, and at his right hand is our Savior, who gave his life for us (Hebrews 1:3). As Paul so beautifully told us:
For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back in fear, but you received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, “Abba! Father!” it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God (Romans 8:14-16).
We don’t obey out of fear; we don’t fear the judge, but we obey because of loving appreciation for all that our Father has done to save us!