The Fear of the Lord

Proverbs

Proverbs 1:7 “The fear of Yahweh is the beginning of knowledge; Ignorant fools despise wisdom and discipline.”

Proverbs 1:29 “Because they hated knowledge And did not choose the fear of Yahweh.”

Proverbs 2:5 “Then you will understand the fear of Yahweh And find the knowledge of God.”

Proverbs 8:13 ““The fear of Yahweh is to hate evil; Pride and arrogance and the evil way And the mouth of perverted words, I hate.”

Proverbs 9:10 “The fear of Yahweh is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.”

Proverbs 10:27 “The fear of Yahweh prolongs life, But the years of the wicked will be shortened.”

Proverbs 14:26 “In the fear of Yahweh there is strong security, And his children will have refuge.”

Proverbs 14:27 “The fear of Yahweh is a fountain of life, To turn aside from the snares of death.”

Proverbs 15:16 “Better is a little with the fear of Yahweh Than great treasure and turmoil with it.”

Proverbs 15:33 “The fear of Yahweh is the discipline leading to wisdom, And before glory comes humility.”

Proverbs 16:6 “By lovingkindness and truth iniquity is atoned for, And by the fear of Yahweh one turns away from evil.”

Proverbs 19:23 “The fear of Yahweh leads to life, So that one may sleep satisfied, not visited by evil.”

Proverbs 23:17 “Do not let your heart be jealous of sinners, But be zealous in the fear of Yahweh always.”

Psalms

Psalm 2:11 “Serve Yahweh with fear And rejoice with trembling.”

Psalm 5:7 “But as for me, in the abundance of Your lovingkindness I will enter Your house, At Your holy temple I will worship in fear of You.”

Psalm 19:9 “The fear of Yahweh is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of Yahweh are true; they are righteous altogether.”

Psalm 33:8–9 “Let all the earth fear Yahweh; Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him. For He spoke, and it was; He commanded, and it stood.”

Psalm 34:11 “Come, you children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of Yahweh.”

Psalm 86:11 “Teach me Your way, O Yahweh; I will walk in Your truth; Unite my heart to fear Your name.”

Psalm 103:11–13 “For as high as the heavens are above the earth, So great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him. As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us. As a father has compassion on his children, So Yahweh has compassion on those who fear Him.”

Psalm 111:10 “The fear of Yahweh is the beginning of wisdom; Good insight belongs to all those who do His commandments; His praise stands forever.”

Psalm 115:13 “He will bless those who fear Yahweh, The small together with the great.”

Psalm 119:38 “Cause Your word to be established for Your slave, As that which produces fear for You.”

Psalm 119:63 “I am a companion of all those who fear You, And of those who keep Your precepts.”

Psalm 119:74 “May those who fear You see me and be glad, Because I wait for Your word.”

Psalm 128:1–4 “How blessed is everyone who fears Yahweh, Who walks in His ways. When you shall eat of the fruit of the labor of your hands, How blessed will you be and how well will it be for you. Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine In the innermost parts of your house, Your children like olive plants All around your table. Behold, for thus shall the man be blessed Who fears Yahweh.”

Prophets

Isaiah 11:2–3 “The Spirit of Yahweh will rest on Him, The spirit of wisdom and understanding, The spirit of counsel and might, The spirit of knowledge and the fear of Yahweh. And He will delight in the fear of Yahweh, And He will not judge by what His eyes see, Nor render a decision by what His ears hear;”

Isaiah 33:6 “And He will be the stability of your times, A wealth of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge; The fear of Yahweh is his treasure.”

Isaiah 63:17 “Why, O Yahweh, do You cause us to stray from Your ways And stiffen our heart from fearing You? Return for the sake of Your slaves, the tribes of Your inheritance.”

Malachi 3:16 “Then those who feared Yahweh spoke to one another, and Yahweh gave heed and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear Yahweh and who think upon His name.”

Malachi 4:2 ““But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings; and you will go forth and skip about like calves from the stall.”

Pentateuch

Deuteronomy 6:24 ““So Yahweh commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear Yahweh our God for our good all our days and for our survival, as it is today.”

Deuteronomy 8:6 ““So you shall keep the commandments of Yahweh your God, to walk in His ways and to fear Him.”

Deuteronomy 10:12–13 ““So now, Israel, what does Yahweh your God ask from you, but to fear Yahweh your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments of Yahweh and His statutes which I am commanding you today for your good?”

History

2 Chronicles 19:9 “Then he commanded them saying, “Thus you shall do in the fear of Yahweh, faithfully and wholeheartedly.”

Nehemiah 5:9 “And I said, “The thing which you are doing is not good; should you not walk in the fear of our God because of the reproach of the nations, our enemies?”

Nehemiah 5:15 “But the former governors who were before me laid heavy burdens on the people and took from them bread and wine besides forty shekels of silver; even their young men exerted their power over the people. But I did not do so because of the fear of God.”

New Testament

Acts 9:31 “So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria was having peace, being built up. And going on in the fear of the Lord and in the encouragement of the Holy Spirit, it continued to multiply.”

2 Corinthians 7:1 “Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.”

1 Peter 2:17 “Honor all people, love the brethren, fear God, honor the king.”

Revelation 14:7 “And he said with a loud voice, “Fear God, and give Him glory, because the hour of His judgment has come; worship Him who made the heaven and the earth and sea and springs of waters.””

Intro

The fear of Yahweh = 43 times throughout the OT

Another fear (Hebrew word) = > 360+ times throughout the OT.

The fear of God = many times throughout the NT.

What is it?

2 sides of the ditch. Fear of an earthly father, unpredictable and sinful. The other side is no fear at all, bringing God down to our level.

Genesis 20:11 “And Abraham said, “Because I said, surely there is no fear of God in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.”

Abraham was afraid that Egypt did not have it.

Job 1:1 “There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job; and that man was blameless, upright, fearing God, and turning away from evil.”

One of the great traits listed in Job’s resume.

Jeremiah 32:40 ““And I will cut an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; and I will put the fear of Me in their hearts so that they will not turn away from Me.”

God promised to put the fear of Him in our hearts for the New Covenant.

Proverbs 22:4 “The reward of humility—the fear of Yahweh— Is riches, glory, and life.”

Why is it important?

Many categories of what the Fear of God causes:

1. It gives us wisdom.

2. It keeps us from sin.

Exodus 20:20 “And Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid; for God has come in order to test you, and in order that the fear of Him may be with you, so that you may not sin.””

Joshua 24:14 ““So now, fear Yahweh and serve Him in integrity and truth; and put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve Yahweh.”

Job 28:28 ““So He said to man, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; And to turn away from evil is understanding.’””

3. God blesses those who fear Him.

Luke 1:50 ““And His mercy is upon generation after generation Toward those who fear Him.”

Proverbs 22:4 “The reward of humility—the fear of Yahweh— Is riches, glory, and life.”

4. It gives us confidence.

Job 4:6 ““Is not your fear of God your confidence, And the integrity of your ways your hope?”

5. Causes us to keep our eyes on God.

The Negative side effects:

Job 6:14 ““For the despairing man lovingkindness should be from his friend; But he forsakes the fear of the Almighty.”

Job 15:4 ““Indeed, you annul reverent fear And cut off musing before God.”

How do we grow in it?

1 Samuel 12:24 ““Only fear Yahweh and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for see what great things He has done for you.”

Ecclesiastes 12:13–14 “The end of the matter, all that has been heard: fear God and keep His commandments, because this is the end of the matter for all mankind. For God will bring every work to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.”

1 Peter 1:17 “And if you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your sojourn,”

Hebrews 12:28–29 “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe; for our God is a consuming fire.”

Philippians 2:12 “So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling;”