The Fear of the LordTuesday, August 23, 2016

“And to man He said, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, And to depart from evil is understanding.’”  Job 28:28 (NKJV)

God says that the essence of wisdom is to fear Him. So before we can go any further, we need to learn what it means to fear the Lord.

Fear. We usually think of that as being a negative thing. When we talk about fear, we’re usually talking about being afraid-afraid of losing someone, losing something, being hurt, being sick, being incapacitated, being fired, going broke, dying. The list goes on and on. Just the word fear itself may conjure up images of danger, dark alleys, nightmares, and strange people following us. It’s not something we look forward to.

Worldly fear is about losing, but the fear of the Lord is about gaining. Take a quick look at what the Word of God has to say about some of the benefits of fearing the Lord:

 

“The fear of the Lord adds length to life...” Proverbs 10:27 (NIV)

“Whoever fears the Lord has a secure fortress, and for their children it will be a refuge. The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, turning a person from the snares of death.” Proverbs 14:26-27 (NIV)

“The fear of the Lord leads to life; then one rests content, untouched by trouble.” Proverbs 19:23 (NIV)

“Humility is the fear of the Lord; its wages are riches and honor and life.” Proverbs 22:4 (NIV)

 

Sounds pretty good, doesn’t it? Who would have thought that being afraid of God could bring such positive results!

Actually, the fear of the Lord has nothing to do with being afraid of God. It has to do with respecting Him. If we’ll substitute the word respect for the word fear whenever we come across the phrase the fear of the Lord in the Scriptures, we’ll start to gain a better understanding of what it really means.

The fear of the Lord is about having an awesome reverence for His greatness. It’s about honoring Him as the Source of all we have and all we are. It’s about esteeming His opinion so highly that we allow Him to speak into our lives and tell us what to do. It’s about loving Him so much that we would do anything to keep from displeasing Him. It’s a positive thing.

It’s also a necessary thing. Fearing God is not only the essence of wisdom and knowledge, it’s the starting point.

 

Excerpt from Pastor Blunt's Book: "Wisdom's Winning Ways".