To Know Him is to Fear Him

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

Proverbs 9:10

What exactly does it mean to fear the Lord? The word ‘fear’ that is used in this verse (in the original language) means ‘fear, terror, respect, reverence or an attitude of deep respect tinged with awe.’ I think the fear of the Lord is all of these things. I think it is multi-faceted. I think fearing God means that you are filled with “fear, respect and awe” for God in the right proportion at the right time.

Now, I am going to go out on a limb here and guess that you don't have a problem with the ideas that we should respect God or be in awe of Him. But the idea that we should fear Him, at all in any way, is hard for some of you to accept. But the simple truth is that no one who rightly comprehends who God is can help but fear Him. 

There is no way you can encounter a God who is perfectly holy- as pure as raging fire, a God who is all-powerful - not just the most powerful being but the source of all power in the entire universe, a God who is all-knowing - who knows you and sees you like no one else does, the Creator of the Heavens and the earth- a God who made everything that has been made, a God who sustains all life (even your life) by His Word, a God with no beginning and no end, a God who has always existed, a God who hates sin and will one day judge all mankind, a God for whom all things exist and without whom nothing would exist… it’s impossible for any creature to rightly comprehend who that God is and not quake in their boots, not fear Him, not bow in awe before Him.

It reminds me of C.S. Lewis’ book The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. In the book Lewis pictures Jesus as a lion named Aslan. When one of the children in the book finds out that she is going to meet this powerful lion, she is understandably nervous. She asks, 

“‘Is he — quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion.’ 

‘That you will, dearie, and no mistake,’ said Mrs. Beaver, ‘if there’s anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they’re either braver than most or else just silly.’ 

‘Then he isn’t safe?’ said Lucy. 

‘Safe?’ said Mr. beaver. ‘Don’t you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.” (Lewis, C.S. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. (Collier Books: New York) 1970, p75-76.)

The girl in the story wanted to think of Aslan as a tame lion, but a lion who could be tamed wouldn’t be very powerful would He? Often, we make the same mistake with God. We want to think of Him as tame, when in fact He isn’t. You can’t control God. You can’t predict what He will do. And He is more powerful than you can imagine. But He is good! And this verse tells you that the first step to wisdom is understanding that your knees ought to knock a little bit when you stand in His presence.

Do your knees ever knock when you think about God, when you pray, when you worship? I’m not saying that fear is the only emotion you should feel towards God. We know that can’t be true, because the greatest commandment in all Scripture isn’t that you should fear God but that you should love Him. And yet… you are also commanded to fear Him.So, make sure you “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind,” (Matthew 22:37) but don’t forget to keep that love holy by mixing in a healthy dose of the fear, respect and awe that He deserves as well.

The Fear of the Lord Leads to Worship

They were all filled with awe and praised God. “A great prophet has appeared among us,” they said. “God has come to help his people.”

Luke 7:16

In Luke 7 we read about Jesus raising the widow’s son back to life. And Luke 7:16 tells us how the people responded to this amazing miracle. It says, “They were all filled with awe and praised God.” Now the NIV says awe, but most other translations say fear, because the word here, ‘phobos,’ is related to the word phobia. When the people saw that Jesus had the power to raise the dead they were filled with fear and awe, and that drove them to praise the Lord.

When you really get how big and powerful and amazing God is, fear and awe are the only right responses. But fear can push you in two directions. Fear of the LORD can push you away from God, but it can also push you towards Him, especially the kind of fear that includes awe. The awe of the Lord should lead you to worship.

When you see how great God is, you ought to tremble before Him, you ought to stand in awe of Him, and then you ought to fall on your knees and worship Him. It may seem odd at first, but worship is the right response to the fear of the Lord. Why would I worship a God that wasn’t more powerful than I am? Why would I worship a god that I didn’t stand in awe of?

And consider this, Psalm 19:9 says, “The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever.” Think about that. The fear of the Lord endures forever? That means that we will still fear the Lord in Heaven for all eternity. And I believe the reason for that is because the fear of the Lord is part of worship. Even in Heaven we will revere the Lord. Even in Heaven we will stand in awe of Him. And yes, even in heaven, our worship will be mixed with the fear of our Holy God.

So, fear God... but draw near to Him. Tremble at His presence… but fall at His feet in worship as you do. And be glad that God is so fearfully powerful and mighty. Because if He weren’t, He wouldn’t be worth worshipping at all.

Fear and Bravery

Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked him to depart from them, for they were seized with great fear. So he got into the boat and returned.

Luke 8:37

Jesus had just done the unthinkable. You see there was a man who was notorious in this part of the country. He was demon possessed. Not by one demon. Not by two. But by so many that when Jesus asked the demon its name it replied, "My name is Legion, for we are many" (Mark 5:9). Having been possessed by so many demons, this man had uncommon strength. He could not be bound or restrained even by a chain. But he also lived the tortured existence that the enemy wants for us all. He was driven out from society into solitary places. He lived among the dead in the tombs. He no longer wore clothes but went around like a wild animal.

So, you can imagine the stir that it caused when the people of the area heard that Jesus had cast the demons out of this man. When they came to investigate and saw the man clothed and in his right mind, sitting at Jesus' feet, Scripture says they were afraid. 

Now, you may disagree with what I am going to say next, but I would argue that fear was the right response. Scripture says that the "the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom" (Proverbs 9:10). When you glimpse how big and powerful and amazing God is, fear is the only wise response. But fear can push us in two directions. Fear of the LORD can push us toward God or away from Him, and this is where they went wrong. Their fear ought to have caused them to fall at Jesus' feet asking for mercy and forgiveness. Instead, it poisoned them against Jesus, causing them to reject Him. Perhaps... if I can suggest this without sounding heretical... perhaps they saw in Jesus some of what they had seen in the demon-possessed man: great power that they could not restrain or control. They wanted to be free of such power, so, they sent Him away. 

Don't make the same mistake. Fear God. But draw near to Him. Tremble at His presence. But fall at His feet as you do so. Be glad that God is so fearfully powerful and mighty. We need Him to be so, because the devils among us are more powerful than we are also. Only a God who is more powerful still can save us. So fear God, but be brave enough to draw near to Him.

Sleeping through the Storm

But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord.

Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up...But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep. The captain went to him and said, “How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god! Maybe he will take notice of us so that we will not perish.”

Jonah 1:3-6

Sin brings storms. So many Christians today seem to think they can rebel against God and live unaffected. They think that as long as they believe in God, they can disobey Him as much as they want. But they are wrong because they have no fear of the Lord. And because the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge (Proverbs 1:7) we know that they are foolish as well. Don't follow their course. It will throw your life into turmoil every time. Let's see how it affected Jonah. 

First, we see that Jonah's plans were thwarted. He has set himself against an all-powerful God and now he has an all-powerful enemy opposing him. God is standing in his way, blocking his path, and he isn't going to get to Tarshish. You can’t direct your life away from God’s will and expect to get where you want to go. It’s not gonna go how you think.

Second, we see that Jonah has blessings removed and curses applied. What started out as an easy trip has become anything but. There is no smooth sailing for the disobedient child of God. The storm threatens to tear the boat apart. The wood is cracking and splintering. An all-mighty God is using his power to violently get Jonah’s attention. Do you want him doing that with you?

And where was Jonah in all of this? He was asleep, completely unaware of the danger he was in. Maybe you are like Jonah- a child of God, living in disobedience and completely asleep and unaware of the danger you are in. The wrath of a Holy God is seeking you out. God is trying to get your attention! Wake up, cry out to God and deliver yourself before it’s too late!

Fearless

God is our refuge and strength,

    an ever-present help in trouble.

Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way

    and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,

though its waters roar and foam

    and the mountains quake with their surging.

Psalm 46:1-3

Christians ought to be the most fearless of all people in the world. By that I don't mean that we should make reckless decisions or carelessly enter into dangerous situations. Rather, I mean that no situation that arises in our lives rightly ought to cause us to fear. Now, that's a rather bold statement when you really think about it, but I believe Scripture supports it. 

In the passage above the psalmist says that even if all of creation itself began to shake and come undone, that he would not fear. Why? Because God is his refuge even in the midst of great chaos. God is in control, God is all-powerful, and God is good. These three truths are all you need to know to stop fear dead in its tracks for if all three of these are true, then believers have no reason to fear anything or anyone other than God.

Think about it. Any person or circumstance that enters your life to do harm, is under God's control. He allowed it. He can stop it. Ultimately, your fate is in His hands. So even if someone holds you up at gun point, you can trust God. When you are diagnosed with cancer, you can face it without fear knowing that your life is in His hands. Don't get me wrong. Christians are still human. I know that we will still fear at times. Even Paul was afraid when his life was in danger (2 Corinthians 7:5). But at the end of the day, there is no reason for us to live in fear of anything or anyone.

Scripture commands us over and over again to fear God, but it never commands us to fear anyone or anything other than God. (The only possible exceptions to this rule are Proverbs 24:21-22 and Ephesians 6:5, but I believe both speak of fearing human authority as extensions of God's authority.) 

Still not convinced? David takes up this same theme in several other psalms. He promises not to fear even when tens of thousands attack him on every side (Psalm 3:5-7), or when he walks through the valley of the shadow of death (Psalm 23:4), or even if an entire army should declare war and besiege him (Psalm 27:1-3). The sons of Korah dare to ask why they should fear anyone but God? (Psalm 49:5). Another psalmist still comes right out and says "surely the righteous...will have no fear" (Psalm 112:6-8). Why all this fearlessness? Because faith is the antithesis of fear. Their fear of God and their faith in God is so strong that it drives out all other fear.

Heavenly Father, fill me with a holy fear of You and a bold faith in You that I might not fear anyone or anything else. For if You be for me then what can man do to me? And if You be against me, then who can protect me? Only let me be right with You, Lord.

For further reading...

• Luke 12:4-5- Don't fear people who can kill you. Fear God.
• Psalm 91:4-8- Another psalm that promotes fearlessness.

Mining for Wisdom

"Where can wisdom be found and where does understanding dwell?" (Job 28:12 cf Daniel 2:20, James 1:5 & Revelation 7:12)

In the rest of his discourse while trying to answer this question, Job acknowledges that man has perfected the means to search out and mine precious metals and jewels from the earth no matter how deep into the heart of a mountain they may lie. Man digs tunnels through dirt and stone alike to seek out the treasure he desires. Yet there is one treasure that proves elusive. No matter how hard he tries, man is unable to seek it out. It lies beyond our grasp. This treasure is wisdom.

History tells us that the great philosophers of old spent their lives seeking it out wisdom, yet the record of how they lived their lives and of how they died leaves little room for doubt. Whatever knowledge they discovered, wisdom was not found. Job reveals to us that "God understands the way to it and He alone knows where it dwells." Yet God, in His mercy, reveals the path to wisdom to us.

And [God] said to man, "The fear of the LORD-that is wisdom, and to shun evil is understanding." - Job 28:28

The fear of the LORD is the well from which all wisdom springs. If you don't fear God, then you underestimate Him. You don't understand who He is. And nothing could be more important than understanding the nature of your Creator and what He requires of you. Thus, if you do not fear God then you cannot be considered truly wise. You may have attained some measure of earthly knowledge, but wisdom eludes you still.

A person of understanding shuns evil. Anyone who clings to evil actions, thoughts or attitudes is not yet made perfect in understanding. When we embrace evil we bring fire to our chest, for evil surely brings destruction. Our God will not be mocked. We all reap what we sow. Therefore, anyone who willingly pursues evil, destroys their own peace and security. What could be more foolish than this? Only a man without understanding would do such a thing.

Of course, I imagine you are tempted to reject these definitions of wisdom. Likely you do not find them fully satisfying. I Corinthians 1:18-25 shows us that in our sin man always wants to reject God's wisdom, chiefly in Christ but in every other way as well. So if I may push Job's metaphor a little farther, I would say that perhaps this writing hasn't placed jewels of wisdom directly into your hand, but at the least it has revealed a worthwhile shaft to go digging in. Do your own mining of the fear of the Lord and of shunning evil. Here are some other passages that agree with Job's assessment: Psalm 111:10, Proverbs 9:10, Job 1:8, Proverbs 8:13. Find wisdom and understanding in them, and pursue them always.

When God is Against You

So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he gave them over to plunderers, who plundered them. And he sold them into the hand of their surrounding enemies, so that they could no longer withstand their enemies. Whenever they marched out, the hand of the Lord was against them for harm, as the Lord had warned, and as the Lord had sworn to them. And they were in terrible distress.

Judges 2:14-15

Many believers act as though God doesn't care about our sin. "After all," one might think, "Jesus has already paid for my sin so why does it matter?" This attitude leads many Christians today handle their sin with a kind of a wink and a smile, but not so with God. God hates sin! He is Holy, pure, and perfect. Sin is an affront to His very nature. It is rebellion against Him. It is an insult to Him. God never deals with sin lightly. He never overlooks it. The atonement proves this. God's unwillingness to overlook our sin is why Jesus had to die. The only way any of our sins could be forgiven was for God's wrath against those sins to be fully satisfied. God poured out the punishment for our sins on Jesus as our substitute on the cross. But do not be so mistaken as to think that just because the eternal punishment of our sin has been dealt with that God no longer cares about your sin or that there will be no consequences to your sin. 

The above passage from Judges reveals that God set His face against His people because of their sin. He turned against them and put them in great distress. Don't think He won't do the same to you if you harbor sin in your life and in your heart. But even here there is good news, for our God is good. Even as God punished His people He showed them mercy and felt compassion for their suffering. The New Testament teaches that God disciplines believers like a Father disciplines the son whom He loves (Hebrews 12:5-7). He punishes us to bring us back to Himself. Punishment isn't reserved for the lost, rather redemptive punishment shows that you are a beloved child of God.

Does it seem as though God has been against you lately? Search your heart and your life for unconfessed sins and sins you have asked forgiveness for but aren't turning away from. Don't dare to ask God to forgive you of some sin, while having no intention to stop committing it. Instead take Scripture's advice. Fear God and fear His punishment (Proverbs 1:7, 3:7, & 16:6). Even though we know God's discipline is merciful and compassionate, it is still dreadful. So turn from the sin in your life and double your commitment to walk closely with the Lord.

Envy Much?

Do not let your heart envy sinners, but live in the fear of the LORD always. Surely there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off.

Proverbs 23:17-18 (NASB)

Who do you envy? Is it a famous person? Someone who makes a living off of sexual innuendo and getting other people to lust after them? Is it a rich person? Someone who shuts their ears to the cries of the poor while they increase their own luxury? The Bible says we should be careful who we envy. Envy in itself is akin to covetousness which breaks one of the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:17). To covet is to be driven by envy to want what someone else has. But do you know what's worse than coveting? Coveting after the yield of sin, because it has the potential to cause even more destruction in your life.

It is tempting to envy the wicked. Often we can relate to the psalmist who says, "For I was envious of the arrogant as I saw the prosperity of the wicked... Behold, these are the wicked; and always at ease, they have increased in wealth" (Psalm 73:3, 12). Often as we look around us it seems the innocent suffer without end while the wicked prosper. It's easy to conclude with the psalmist, "Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure and washed my hands in innocence." It's easy to think that we are missing the boat... that we would be much better off if we began patterning our lives after the prosperous wicked. But God's antidote for this type of wrong-headed thinking is to urge us to live in the fear of the Lord. Why? What does the fear of the Lord have to do with envying sinners? The next verse gives us the clue we need. For those who live in the fear of the Lord, there is a future and their hope will not be cut off. 

This leads us to the same conclusion the psalmist finds: "Then I perceived their end. Surely You set them in slippery places; You cast them down to destruction. How they are destroyed in a moment!" (Psalm 73:17-19a). There is no future hope for the sinner. Their future is God's righteous judgment on their sin. That is why fear of the Lord is the fitting antidote. Fear of the Lord reminds one that God will one day judge the living and the dead, and it urges us to obey His commands to avoid judgment. When we live in the fear of the Lord we preserve our hope and future by choosing to follow God's commands. 

So as you find yourself tempted to envy sinners, read Psalm 73 and remind yourself how it ends. "For, behold, those who are far from You will perish; You have destroyed all those who are unfaithful to You. But as for me, the nearness of God is my good; I have made the Lord God my refuge, that I may tell of all Your works" (Psalm 73:27-28). And if you have not yet submitted your life to the fear of the Lord by giving your life to Jesus, then choose to repent of your life of sin and ask forgiveness today, surrendering yourself to His way of living life for good. (For more information on becoming a Christian, click here.)

For further reading...

• Read all of Psalm 73.

Fear the Lord

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.

Proverbs 9:10

The band Death Cab for Cutie has a song called "I Will Follow You into the Dark" which contains the following verse:

In Catholic school as vicious as Roman rule

I got my knuckles bruised by a lady in black

And I held my tongue as she told me

"Son, fear is the heart of love"

So I never went back

Whether or not these lyrics present an experience that Ben Gibbard (the songwriter) actually lived, the sentiment they portray resonates. To many people the idea that we are to "fear the Lord" makes God out to be some tyrant who wants people to cower before Him in fear. But this image of God does not square with the God of the Bible. He is no tyrant. So how are we to understand verses like the one above?

First, we must note that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, not the end of it. Thus, though it may be the beginning of a person's spiritual journey, it certainly is not God's desired end for them. Jesus tells us that the greatest commandment is to "love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind" (Matthew 22:37). God's greatest desire for you isn't that you would fear Him, but that you would love Him. In fact, I John 4:18 says, "There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love." So then why does God want us to fear Him? Why is it the beginning of wisdom?

Here I believe that another proverb can be helpful. Proverbs 16:6b says, "by the fear of the Lord one turns away from evil" (see also Proverbs 3:7-8, 8:13, & 14:26-27). Imagine a young child who keeps running out into the street after his ball. His parents might try to explain to him what would happen if he were to get hit by a car, but children who are very young cannot understand these kinds of consequences yet. So eventually the parents would tell their son that they will punish him if he runs into the street again. They may promise to put him in timeout or to spank him or to take away his dessert, because these things are in his ability to grasp. From that time on (perhaps with a few exceptions) the boy would avoid running out into the street not because he feared getting hit by a car yet but because he was afraid of the punishment. Eventually, as he grew older, however, he would understand the danger of getting hit by a car and would avoid running into the street for those reasons. 

Just like that young boy needs the threat of punishment to avoid disaster, even as adults we often need the same. You see the enemy has waged an excellent marketing campaign for sin in this world. He packages it just right. He plays up its temporary pleasure and free nature. He doesn't mention the pain, suffering, and disaster it brings into your life. We are often like small children staring at sin; we just can't seem to see the danger in it. We need the fear of being punished by a holy and just God to turn us away from evil. The fear of the Lord puts us on the right path. It helps us to avoid sin even if we don't yet see how destructive it is. As we move farther down this path into relationship with God we learn that He is loving, gracious, merciful, and patient. We learn that Jesus died to pay for our sins. We read about the true effects of sin in the Bible, and we become more capable of seeing through the scheme. We start avoiding sin for our own sake and for God's glory.

Although there is a sense in which we should always tremble before the greatness of God's power, the fear of the Lord is only where we start- loving God with all our mind, soul and strength is where we are headed. Fear is the first and natural response to God's awesome power and nature- loving submission is the final result of growing to know the goodness and grace of this all-powerful God.

For further reading...

• Proverbs 3:7-8, 8:13, & 14:26-27- Read more about the fear of the Lord in Proverbs.
• Deuteronomy 10:12, Psalm 33:18, & Psalm 103:11- Notice how these passages place love and fear right next to one another. They offer some good ways of considering how we continue to tremble before God's greatness while still loving Him.  
• I John 4:7-21- God is love!
• Deuteronomy 6:5- Fear of the Lord leads us to obey God's commands. God greatest command is that we should love Him!

Fear the Lord?

You who are His holy ones, fear Yahweh, for those who fear Him lack nothing.

Psalm 34:6

The idea that we should fear the Lord has fallen on hard times lately. No one seems to like it any more. Many think that we should ignore those parts of the Bible or at least find a new way to understand them so that they make more sense in the postmodern world. I disagree. God's Word is without error and is precious. If we don't agree with part of it, it is either because we don't understand it or because we are wrong and in need of heart-change. In the case of fearing the Lord, I think it is both.

First, my understanding of the Biblical passages that call us to fear the Lord is that it is not calling us to be terrified of Him (though there certainly are some points in Scripture where people are faced with a clear picture of God's power and are rightly terrified. c.f. Exodus 20 [esp. verses 18-19], Isaiah 6, Revelation 1:17-18). I believe the fear the Bible is referring to when it says that we should fear the Lord is the type of fear a person would have before a great king. There is little in the modern American experience that helps us understand this, but perhaps the closest thing is the fear of a child for his father. As a small child, you love your father and you know he loves you, but you are also aware of the fact that he is much greater than you and will discipline you harshly if you are disobedient.

Second, I think the simple truth is that we just don’t like the idea of fearing God. We prefer to focus on the parts of the Bible that talk about how we have been brought close to God through Jesus. We like to talk about how we are friends of God and no longer servants (John 15:15). But the fact of the matter is that we have been called to fear Him and that through our fear of Him our every need is provided. Let me explain why.

Those who fear God obey Him. They submit their lives to His will as they would a king. By doing so they become a part of His kingdom and come under His protection. He is a great king and provides bountifully for all in His kingdom. But He cannot and will not tolerate persons who want to be in His kingdom but who refuse to bow the knee to Him. He cannot have little would-be-kings running around threatening His authority yet demanding that He provide for their needs. It would be an assault to the greatness of His majesty.

So let me ask you, is Jesus the Lord of your life? (c.f. Romans 10:9) To put it another way, is He king of your life or are you just a little would-be-king who refuses to obey His commands? Psalm 111 says, "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom." How wise are you? Stop and consider how awesome a God you serve and tremble with a holy fear in His presence. Then let Him draw you close by the love of His Son.

For further reading...

• Deuteronomy 6:1-3 - Teach your children to fear the LORD.
• Joshua 24:14-15 - Fear the Lord or leave!
• Proverbs 19:23 - Untouched by trouble.
• Revelation 15:3-4 - A song for the end of days.
• Deuteronomy 5:22-29- Take note of how God approves of Israel's fear of Him at Sinai and also how continuing in that fear would lead to prosperity.