When we think of fear we tend to associate the word with terror. Webster’s Dictionary defines fear as “a feeling of anxiety and agitation produced by the presence or nearness of danger, evil, pain, etc.” For many, this would describe the feeling they get when seeing a snake, visiting the doctor or sensing extreme danger – summarized as the “dread of the unknown.” Surely, this is not the kind of fear about which Solomon spoke.

Solomon was saying that we are to have a deep reverence and respect for the Lord. Literally, we are to be awed and humbled by His presence. Holy fear gives God the place of glory, honor, reverence, thanksgiving, praise and preeminence He deserves. It is to respect His holiness by hating what He hates and loving what He loves, with a wholesome dread of displeasing Him.

When we truly fear the Lord we will recognize that:

• He is the Creator and we are His creatures.
• He is the Master and we are His servants.
• He is the Father and we are His children.

This attitude will show itself in respecting and obeying God and His Word. We can relate this kind of fear to that which a child has for his parents. In a family a child knows that his parents can punish him if there is disobedience, but overriding that fear is the knowledge that disobedience hurts the parents. The child who loves and respects his parents does not want to hurt them. Similarly, the fear of the Lord is a deep-seated reverence for God that causes men to want to please Him at all costs.

Wisdom And Motivation
“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding” (Prov. 9:10). It has been said that wisdom is knowledge rightly applied. But another thought is that wisdom is seeing things through the eyes of God and responding the way He would respond. Proverbs 1:7 says, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” “The fear of the LORD is the instruction of wisdom, and before honor is humility” (15:33). The best place to begin the search for true wisdom is in the fear of the Lord. True fear of the Lord is born out of knowledge that God is infinitely powerful, majestic and full of goodness. Before one can grow in the Lord, he must first learn to fear Him.

“Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and depart from evil” (3:7). “In mercy and truth atonement is provided for iniquity; and by the fear of the LORD one departs from evil” (16:6). These verses tell us that the fear of the Lord promotes holy living – it motivates us to holiness. The person who truly reverences and respects the Lord will not do anything that brings disgrace, dishonor or pain to His heart. They will flee from evil and things that appear questionable. For such individuals, there are no “gray areas.” Every area of their lives will be impacted and affected, as they determine not to cause the Lord pain or grieve His holy heart.

Healthy Way Of Living
Self-confidence and conceit interfere with our comprehending of divine guidance. When we fear the Lord and depart from evil, Proverbs speaks of health to our body and strength to our bones. Literally this has the thought of drink, refreshment or even medicine. We are brought face to face with the close connection between man’s moral and spiritual condition and his physical health.

We read: “The fear of the LORD prolongs days, but the years of the wicked will be shortened” (10:27). This verse reminds us of what we read in Ephesians 6:1-2: “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. ‘Honor your father and mother,’ which is the first commandment with promise: ‘that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth.’” Such obedience may well be an outward sign of fearing the Lord.

This promise of long life is not a blanket promise. However, generally speaking, those who live in the fear of the Lord are more likely to live to old age than those who live for the flesh and the world. It has been estimated that approximately 60% of human illnesses can be traced directly or indirectly to fear, sorrow, envy, resentment, guilt, hatred or other emotional stresses. Adding to that the awful pain caused by alcohol (cirrhosis of the liver), tobacco (emphysema, cancer, heart disease) and immorality (sexually transmitted diseases including AIDS), we can see that a life lived in the fear of the Lord with obedience to His Word will likely result in a much healthier existence.

Confidence <
“In the fear of the LORD there is strong confidence, and His children shall have a place of refuge. The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, to turn one away from the snares of death” (Prov. 14:26-27). Notice, too, Romans 8:31: “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?” Believers who are walking in the fear of the Lord and living by the Word of God can have confidence that God is on their side. There is no reason for them to have feelings of insecurity, abandonment and fear – or to doubt their salvation. The fear of the Lord produces a strong sense of security and close fellowship with the Father. Fearing the Lord calms the anxieties of the heart.

When we walk in the fear of the Lord we are stronger spiritually than we could be otherwise. It is like a fountain that continually springs up with spiritual vitality and strength, enabling the Christian to walk more purely and closely to the Lord while avoiding the temptations and traps of the devil. Remember, “by the fear of the LORD one departs from evil” (Prov. 16:6).

Evil is all around us today, such as on billboards as we drive down the road. So where do we find strength to turn away from evil and keep from being squeezed into the world’s mold? It is only by fearing the Lord – seeking to live in the constant reality that He is present, desiring to please Him and bring joy to His heart, and walking in close fellowship with Him. If anything appears in my life that might interrupt that fellowship, I will want to confess it immediately. Walking in the fear of the Lord is the way to be a blessing to the Lord and to others in my life.

A Satisfied Life
“Better is a little with the fear of the LORD, than great treasure with trouble” (15:16) teaches us that it is better to have limited resources and be in the will of God than to have plenty and the trouble that comes along with it. The bottom line is: When you are in the Lord’s will and walking in His fear, your care is His responsibility.

In Matthew 6:25-33 the Lord Jesus strikes at our tendency to center our lives on food and clothing while missing the real meaning and purpose of life. When we walk in the fear of the Lord we realize that “my God shall supply all [our] need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:19). The life filled with “things” is a trouble-filled life, but the life lived in faith and in the fear of God is literally carefree. Paul said it this way, “Godliness with contentment is great gain” (1 Tim. 6:6).

Proverbs 19:23 reminds us that the fear of the LORD produces satisfaction and safety: “The fear of the LORD leads to life, and he who has it will abide in satisfaction; he will not be visited with evil.” The people who live in the fear of God will have one goal in life – to please the Lord. In doing so, all their needs will be met and they will be contented. When we feel that we must have other stuff, we will never be happy. Only when we learn to be satisfied with the Lord and with the privilege of walking in His fear will we be permanently satisfied. Nothing will matter but the smile of God, and it will be upon our lives.

Notice that this verse in Proverbs says that a person walking in the fear of the Lord will not be visited with evil. That means he need never fear going to hell or fear the many things troubling the world around him. God places a hedge, or protection, around him. Consider Job, who was “blameless and upright, and one who feared God and shunned evil” (Job 1:1). As a result of this Job experienced the protecting hand and blessings of God (v.10), though ours may be more in a spiritual sense.

Knowledge
Solomon said, “Then you will understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God” (Prov. 2:5). There are seven instructions in Proverbs 2:1-4 that lead up to this fifth verse. They teach us that, in fearing the Lord, the amount of Bible knowledge is not as important as the condition or attitude of our hearts. The instructions we discover are:

• Receive my words (v.1). “To receive” means “to snatch” or “to seize.” Ask the Lord to reveal one truth each time you open the Word of God, one truth that you can snatch up and live by!
• Treasure my commands (v.1). This has the idea of hiding or guarding what is valued and held dear. Consider Psalm 119:11: “Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You.” We ought to “value” the Word of God daily.
• Incline your ear to wisdom (v.2). Incline means “to lean toward.” We need to lean toward the Word of God with an open ear and heart to take in what He has for us, closing the door and removing all distraction. Being alone with the Father will have a great effect on our lives (Mt. 6:6).
• Apply your heart to understanding (v.2). Give Him your time and energy.
• Cry out for discernment (v.3). Crying out shows dependency, such as a helpless baby wanting help. Likewise, we must cry out in dependency on the Lord!
• Lift up your voice for understanding (v.3). By lifting our voice we acknowledge that there is an urgent need!
• Seek and search (v.4). We need the same kind of drive that men have in mining for precious metals or searching for hidden treasures. The tragedy is that too often men show more zeal in acquiring material wealth than spiritual riches.

Perspective
“The fear of the LORD is to hate evil; pride and arrogance and the evil way and the perverse mouth I hate” (Prov. 8:13). How do we look at sin? Often we are concerned more about the consequences of sin than committing sin. Many of us sometimes seem to see how close we can get to sin without touching or actually getting involved with it. We’ll watch it on television or the internet without realizing the effect it has on us. In His Word, God connects matters of sin to venomous snakes (Lk. 3:7), the stench of a tomb when bodies rot (Rom. 3:13), the vomit of dogs (2 Pet. 2:22), and cancer or the death of human tissue (2 Tim. 2:17). These are things from which we try to stay away. But is this how we treat sin? God hates sin and must deal with it. For the believer, God dealt with sin at Calvary! He sent the Lord Jesus to die to pay the penalty of sin – a punishment of death. In view of these things, why would we run to that from which we have been set free – and at so great of cost to Him?

Someone has once said, “What the Lord is looking for is men and women who fear God and hate sin!” These two things go together and are illustrated for us in the life of Job. We already mentioned how Job was a man of integrity who sought to please God. Later, during his trials, he said, “Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to depart from evil is understanding” (Job 28:28).

Our Walk
“He who walks in his uprightness fears the LORD, but he who is perverse in his ways despises Him” (Prov. 14:2). A man’s conduct is a reflection of his attitude toward the LORD. The righteous man is guided by what he knows will please God. His deep desire is to walk closer and closer to God. Although he had walked with the Lord for about 30 years, the apostle Paul desired to be even closer to Him, and to know Him in a much deeper way (Phil. 3:7-10).

As we consider Scripture we discover that we cannot walk with God and walk with sin (Prov. 3:7, 8:13, 14:16; 1 Jn. 1:5-10), pride (Prov. 22:4; Jas. 4:6-10) or the world (Prov. 23:17; Jas. 4:3-4; 1 Jn. 2:15-17). In Psalm 73 we find a man who belonged to God, Asaph, looking at the world with envy and seeing others who seemed to get away with sin. He thought he was missing out. He “nearly slipped” (v.2), almost compromising himself with the world. But what was the antidote for Asaph? It is the same one as for us: to go into the presence of the Lord (v.17). This cleanses the lenses of our spiritual eyes and aligns our thinking to be in tune with God’s thoughts. We begin to see things from His point of view! We hate what He hates and we love what He loves. We realize what Asaph realized, that the Lord is enough for the heart and mind to fill (vv.25-28). But it all begins with whether or not I fear the Lord!

By Timothy P. Hadley

Read part two of this article next month.