The fear of the Lord is clean
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Have you ever noticed that people never really stop fearing?
We simply trade one fear for another.
We fear losing money.
We fear getting older.
We fear rejection.
We fear public opinion.
We fear elections.
We fear disease.
We fear missing out.
We fear being canceled.
We fear failure.
We fear death.
The world says,
“Don’t fear anything.”
We live in an age that promises to eliminate fear.
Parents are told, “Never let your child be afraid.”
Schools promise “safe spaces.”
Therapists help people overcome fears.
Advertisements tell us to “Fear nothing.”
Politicians promise security.
Technology promises control.
Every message is the same:
Fear is the enemy.
Yet the Bible comes along and says something almost shocking:
There is one fear you should never lose.
Not only is it good…
It is clean.
The problem is not that mankind fears too much.
The problem is that mankind fears everything except God.
The reverence Scripture produces builds faith that cannot be shaken.
“The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever.”
It appears to me that the author is using “the fear of the Lord” as a synonym of Scripture.
The Law of the Lord
The testimony of the Lord
The Statutes of the Lord
The commandments of the Lord
The fear of the Lord.
These references are used synonymously.
Why reference the Fear of the Lord?
May because of its origin…
The law comes from Sinai with thunder and smoke and fire. God is holy and to encouter his will WORD, PRESENCE and POWER, are a reality shattering experience.
And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off. And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die. And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not. And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was.
It is a result of his word…
Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.
Many commentators understand these expressions as poetic synonyms describing different aspects or effects of divine revelation. Thus, “the fear of the LORD” in verse 9 likely refers not merely to the believer’s attitude, but to Scripture viewed as that which produces reverence for God.
In other words:
The Scriptures are called “the fear of the LORD” because they teach, cultivate, and sustain the fear of the LORD.
Reverence is not fear that drives us away—it is awe that draws us closer. When Scripture shapes our view of God, it produces a faith that endures storms, seasons, and suffering.
Note the primary theme of this excerpt.
The Scriptures are Clean
therefore they endure forever.
Clean-
The Psalms, Vols. I–V Ver. 9
It is so, because it is the only true and sound basis of a due social regard to man, and the only valid bond of union, whether domestic, private, or public. Every believer ought to bear witness to the cleansing, purifying power of the fear of the Lord.
Enduring-
The Psalms, Vols. I–V Ver. 9
It enters into the man, and goes with him wherever he goes. He cannot and would not shake it off. And its effects are eternal, they can never pass away. And all may possess it, through Christ. It shall be for your peace here and happiness hereafter. (Thomas Dale, M.A.)
Clean in its character - Permanent in its Power
Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
CIT: The reverence Scripture produces builds faith that cannot be shaken.
The “fear of the LORD” in Psalm 19:9 is best understood as God’s revelation viewed in its power to produce reverence for God, and II Timothy 3:14–17 explains how that same inspired Scripture accomplishes that work by making believers wise, correcting them, instructing them in righteousness, and thoroughly furnishing them for every good work.
“The reverence Scripture produces builds faith that cannot be shaken.”
What does reverence or Fear of the Lord look like. It looks like one who considers himself after he considers God.
The Psalmist demonstrates the Fear of the Lord the Result of trusting Gods word right here in the passage.
Reflection in light of His requirements.
“who can understand his errors.”
Fearing God requires that I see myself in light of Right. Error is the humility to undestand that there is a measure that is greater than yourself. I have erred from what - From what is right.
The world lives with the moto…
There is no God - No need be delivered.
The Psalmist says, God I don’t want there to be an error in me.
His Solution is to look like John in 1John 1.9
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
“Cleanse thou me from secret faults.
2. Boundaries set up to prevent falling.
We once called these standards. If I could sin by looking with lust. Standards say don’t go or be or voluntarily look at the thing that is lustful.
Standards say that if complaining or lying or folly are sin that I will prevent my tongue from going down that path by changing my crew, my surroundings or saying nothing at all.
I want to fear the lord enough that I can be ruled by my desires or I can surrender these to him.
3. A sensitivity to what pleases him.
Can I tell you a little secret. there is one sure fire thing that brings God joy. His beloved Son. We know it because at the baptism of Jesus and the Mount of Transfiguration God declared it. “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.”
Notice the heart cry of the Psalmist… “let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight.”
That Word “acceptable” is a religious word. It is the word of offering and Sacrifice. The Psalmist sees the words he says and the thought in his heart to be a kind of offering to the father.
Paul said it this way.
I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
You and I can leave here to day imagining that what God want are a bunch of people just scared to move or he will be mad. What he is calling for are a people that stay in the word and daily take up a Cross. and surrender themselves to Jesus words, kindness, thoughts, to live this life the way Jesus would if he were here.
This is not a you get all the actions right but rather that you die to self and live this life as a result of a life that puts him first, considers what pleases him and even gives up rights to put his love for other and his hatred for sin above our own.
The reverence Scripture produces builds faith that cannot be shaken.
