FEAR OF THE LORD

By Charles N. Spence, Jr.

The wise man says much about godly fear. The word "fear" carries with it the idea of being in awe of or having great respect or reverence for. In the case of Scripture, to fear the Lord is to live one's life in respect of God's awesome power and overall nature. The one who has such respect for God will demonstrate it in his manner of life. Let's notice how, according to Proverbs, godly fear impacts the life of the one who has it.

The one who has godly fear will depart from evil (Pro. 3:7; 8:13; 14:16; 16:6). As Christians, we have experienced times when those who knew us refrained from using foul language or coarse jesting out of respect for what we believe. How much more ought we to refrain from evil out of respect for who God is? Fear of the Lord brings knowledge and wisdom (Pro. 1:7; 15:33). When one fears the Lord, he is declaring that he has knowledge of who God is and will seek to increase that knowledge. Then he will begin to conduct himself in accordance with what he knows about the Lord. We may have had a prejudice about a person and did not treat that person respectfully. However, when we came to know the person, we showed that person respect and treated that person accordingly.

If you truly know God and respect Him, you will have no problem doing the things that He says (Luke 6:46). Godly fear will also bolster one's confidence (Pro. 14:26); prolong one's days (Pro. 10:27) and bring true satisfaction and happiness (Pro. 19:23; 28:14). For what the fear of the Lord produces, is it any wonder that such is a part of the “Whole duty of man?” (Ecc. 12:13).