What does it mean to fear the Lord? (2)

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;
fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Proverbs 1:7 (ESV)

To fear the Lord, we must love God wholeheartedly. “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul” (Deut. 10:12, NIV). You will also notice a theme running through these verses – obedience. In fearing the Lord, we take to heart what God says, love Him, and obey His will.

In fearing the Lord, we will also hate evil. “The fear of the Lord—that is wisdom, and to shun evil is understanding” (Job 28:28, NIV). This goes hand in hand with our previous point of loving God. If we love Him, we will hate what he hates. We are being asked to submit ourselves completely to a standard that is not our own. So, we must have humility in order to subjugate ourselves to the Lord and fear Him. “Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil” (Prov 3:7).  God has not asked us our thoughts about what is good and evil; He has taught us what is good and evil. He has asked us to submit to Him and His Word.

Our focus must be completely upon God. “Teach me your way, Lord, that I may rely on your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name” (Ps 86:11, NIV). It cannot be that we love something else as well as God. We have to give all of ourselves to Him. He should completely consume our heart; there should be no competition at all. Jesus tells us that our hearts cannot handle serving two masters, we must pick one or the other (Matt 6:24).

What results can we expect from fearing the Lord? Scripture tells us that we can expect to receive mercy from God. “His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation” (Luke 1:50, NIV). Mercy comes not just to those who fear God, but it is carried on through the generations. One person’s fearing the Lord can positively impact a huge swath of people because of God’s great desire and propensity to be merciful.

Another promise that we are given when we fear God is the growth of the Kingdom. “Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace and was strengthened. Living in the fear of the Lord and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers” (Acts 9:31). The Kingdom’s borders broaden when its citizens fear the Lord. In the passage above, God provides everything needed for multiplication: peace, strength, encouragement from the Holy Spirit, and all of this God provides when Christians fear Him.

Isaiah Peeler