The Fear of the Lord

Psalm 111:10 NKJV

10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; A good understanding have all those who do His commandments. His praise endures forever.

So what does the “fear of the LORD mean?

Dreadful Fear

Deifying Fear

Definite Fear (Do you fear Him at all)

A DREADFUL FEAR

Most commonly, we think of fear as being afraid of something.

There are terrors everywhere in the world.

Is God then the chief terror?

For those who do not know God, this is the type of fear a person should have.

The Bible says it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

Hebrews 10:26–31 NKJV

26 For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. 28 Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. And again, “The Lord will judge His people.” 31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

The Greek word for fearful in this text implies TERROR

A Concise Dictionary of the Words in the Greek Testament and The Hebrew Bible 5398. φοβερός

φοβερός phŏbĕrŏs, fob-er-os´; from 5401; frightful, i.e. (obj.) formidable:—fearful, terrible.

God will one day judge the living and the dead.

Those who have rejected Him will be cast into eternal hellfire.

Revelation 20:11–15 NKJV

11 Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. 13 The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. 14 Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15 And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.

So for those who are without Christ, this is the fear of the LORD which one should have.

A DEIFYING FEAR

In the Ps. 111:10 the meaning of the word fear is not a fear of terror but of reverence.

reverence = fear n. — a feeling of profound respect for someone or something, often a deity, conceived of as fear.

Webster defines Fear and Reverence as this...

Respectful, worthy of deep respect or awe

To be respectful is feeling or expressing profound respect or aw

To esteem, a feeling or attitude of admiration and deference toward somebody or something

To not go against, or violate something. To pay due attention to and refrain from violating something

Awe...

Mixture of wonder and dread

a feeling of amazement and respect mixed with fear that is often coupled with a feeling of personal insignificance or powerlessness

Ability to inspire dread or reverence

To be extremely frightened…

Electricity is perhaps an example that can be used here to describe this kind of fear.

We are to FEAR the LORD.

That is to understand who HE is.

To know HE holds the power of life and death.

We are nothing in comparison to HIM.

In our country, We do not know what it is like to be under a leader as some other countries are. We see in Egypt in biblical times, that the Pharaoh thought of himself as the morning star, and that he was god himself. And the people feared him for their lives.

You did what you were told, or you died. It was that simple. Obedience…or punishment, which typically was death.

Could you imagine that type of leadership from a parent. “Eat your oatmeal or die”

But think about it. It could be that simple.

Pharaoh killed of the children of Israel because he thought there was a threat to his kingdom. He did what he wanted and no one could contest otherwise, or it would be their death.

I’m not comparing the Almighty with a simple ruler of Egypt. But we do not live in a society where we are subject to our leader, who dictates our every move. We do not know what it is like to be subjected to a ruler who tells us what to do.

Do you fear the Lord at all? Do you have a definite fear of the Lord? And if not, how does one come to fear God.

A DEFINITE FEAR

To have a Terrifying, Reverent, Deifying and Fearfulness towards YHWH one must truly know HIM.

There are at least 10 things the name Yahweh, “I AM,” says about God:

1. He never had a beginning.

Every child asks, “Who made God?” And every wise parent says, “Nobody made God. God simply is. And always was. No beginning.”

2. God will never end.

If he did not come into being he cannot go out of being, because he is being.

3. God is absolute reality.

There is no reality before him. There is no reality outside of him unless he wills it and makes it. He is all that was eternally. No space, no universe, no emptiness. Only God.

4. God is utterly independent.

He depends on nothing to bring him into being or support him or counsel him or make him what he is.

5. Everything that is not God depends totally on God.

The entire universe is utterly secondary. It came into being by God and stays in being moment by moment on God’s decision to keep it in being.

6. All the universe is by comparison to God as nothing.

Contingent, dependent reality is to absolute, independent reality as a shadow to substance. As an echo to a thunderclap. All that we are amazed by in the world and in the galaxies is, compared to God, as nothing.

7. God is constant.

He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He cannot be improved. He is not becoming anything. He is who he is.

8. God is the absolute standard of truth and goodness and beauty.

There is no law-book to which he looks to know what is right. No almanac to establish facts. No guild to determine what is excellent or beautiful. He himself is the standard of what is right, what is true, what is beautiful.

9. God does whatever he pleases and it is always right and always beautiful and always in accord with truth.

All reality that is outside of him he created and designed and governs as the absolute reality. So he is utterly free from any constraints that don’t originate from the counsel of his own will.

10. God is the most important and most valuable reality and person in the universe.

He is more worthy of interest and attention and admiration and enjoyment than all other realities, including the entire universe.

And it is this ONE TRUE GOD who LOVES YOU, who is mindful of you.

Psalm 8:4 NKJV

4 What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him?

We should all have a godly fear of YHWH.

To Truly love HIM, is to Truly fear HIM, to truly fear Him is then to truly serve HIM.

And in order to Serve HIM, we must know HIM. And we know HIM by HIS WORD.

He has shown us by sending HIS WORD to become flesh to show us a life worth living. A life of reverence towards Him through His son Jesus.

To know the Son is know HIS ways.

Psalm 128:1 NKJV

1 Blessed is every one who fears the Lord, Who walks in His ways.

Psalm 112:1 NKJV

1 Praise the Lord! Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, Who delights greatly in His commandments.

When we have this FEAR of the LORD. This reverence and awe, we are blessed.

When we have this FEAR of the LORD, and delight in obeying HIM, walking in his ways, WE ARE BLESSED.

So how is it that we are able to know how to walk in His ways?

But where do we begin?

Start by Asking...

Psalm 25:4–5 NKJV

4 Show me Your ways, O Lord; Teach me Your paths. 5 Lead me in Your truth and teach me, For You are the God of my salvation; On You I wait all the day.