Reverend vs. Reverent

“Holy and reverend is His name.”

Psalm 111:9b

“Let me not, I pray you, give flattering titles to a man.”

Job 32:21

One of the flattering titles ministers bestow upon themselves and upon one another is “reverend”.  But that lofty title belongs to God alone.  As the psalmist said it, “Holy and reverend is His name” – not ours.

My father, a minister of Christ for over 60 years, told me of the danger of being called “reverend”.   If you are reverent, he said, that is a good thing.  But only God is reverend; that is, only God is worthy to be revered.  We should all be reverent toward God, for “holy and reverend is His name.”