The Fear of the Lord

     The Bible tells us to “fear not” 365 times but also has almost 200 verses that encourage us to “fear God” (The Awe of God, John Bevere, xv).  Clearly the Bible teaches that there is good fear and bad fear.  Bad fear is worry or anxiety on steroids.  But good fear is different.  Good fear is the fear of the Lord and it’s a virtue.  King Solomon in the Scripture wrote that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge (Proverbs 1:7).  And after his wandering, complex life filled with spiritual dead ends he writes, “. . . here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind. For God will bring every deed into judgement, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil” (Ecclesiastes 12:13).
     The fear of the Lord is multi-faceted but primarily it is a deep reverence and respect for God, understanding that God is our final judge.  The fear of the Lord is giving God the place of supremacy in our lives.  If we fear God there is no need to fear anything else.  The prince of preachers Charles Spurgeon says it this way, “The fear of God is the death of every other fear; like a mighty lion, it chases all other fears before it.”  The fear of the Lord is a virtue that should mark His people.            
     Part of this reverence for God is having a profound sense of awe when we think of God.  For many of us, examining and enjoying nature helps us.  When I gaze on the majesty of Mt. Denali it invokes in me a sense of the grandeur of God who made it.  When I begin to understand the complexity of the human body I am amazed at the Lord as the ultimate engineer.  How the various pieces of the human eye work together to give us sight is stunning. Even pain, which many consider God’s great mistake, is powerfully helpful.  Dr. Paul Brand, who worked with lepers who feel no pain, points out how pain protects us.  A leper can constantly injure themselves because they have no pain, and they keep using that hand they injured without protecting it because they do not feel the warnings.  Lepers often go blind because they forget to blink and remoisten the eye; whereas we start to feel pain if our eye begins to dry out.  Dr. Brand often thanks God for pain because it is so beneficial.
     Another part of this reverence for God is remembering that He is our ultimate judge.  He sees everything we do.  Often in this world it looks like people get away with evil, but ultimately, they do not.  All of us answer to God for how we live our lives.   That uncle that molested you when you were a little girl and got away with it; he will pay dearly.  All will be judged. 
     Sometimes people struggle to put together the love, mercy, kindness of God with the justice, holiness and anger of God.  I do not really struggle with this.  I had both a remarkable grandfather and father.  Both were winsome and delightful in many ways.  Both were very loving with a great sense of humor.  But both were strong authority figures who expected children to obey.  My cousins and I even had what we called the “who is afraid of granddaddy club.”   He viewed delayed obedience as disobedience and punished quickly but fairly.   My father was the same way.  These were winsome, kind, loving and delightful men yet as their child or grandchild I was expected to obey.  I loved them and felt close to them, in addition I respected them immensely.  Both served as a glimpse of an appropriate relationship with God our maker and ruler.
      I encourage you to fear God, it is a powerful key to living a successful life. 
Pastor Derek Dickinson