Fear of the Lord
During my daily Bible study, I will read a chapter of Proverbs with my other readings. This is something that I highly encourage you to do if you are not already. The book of Proverbs is filled with so much financial advice, words of encouragement, and advice for all stages of life. This last month as I was reading I began to notice something that caught my attention. Throughout the book of Proverbs you will read many “fear of the Lord” statements, as I began to notice these I was curious about what they would all say. So I wrote them down in a list and want to share them with you.
The first statement is found in Proverbs 1:7, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.” This is a stage that we have all been in at one point. When we begin to understand our own sinfulness, our own lack of not being good enough to be called righteous, we begin to realize how short we have fallen from what God wants. But in this fear of the Lord there is grace, and that grace allows us to have the knowledge to understand His saving plan. Before reaching this point, we have all been fools who do not wish to understand what the Bible says. We despise wisdom and instruction and instead wish to try to accomplish life on our own accord.
Chapter one in Proverbs speaks of what wisdom is. It describes wisdom as a woman who is lifting her voice for all to hear so that they will turn to her and find all kinds of precious things. This is where we find our next “fear of the Lord” statement. “Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; They will seek me diligently but will not find me, 29 Because they hated knowledge And did not choose the fear of the Lord.” Proverbs 1:28-29. Here we have a warning. For those who do not heed when God calls to them, they will search for wisdom but be unable to find it. And the reason for this is because they hated the instruction that comes with the fear of the Lord. No one likes to be corrected, but if you refuse correction then you cannot refuse the consequences that will come. The last verse of chapter one shows what happens to those who do listen when the Lord calls. “but whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm.” Proverbs 1:33. When we listen to the instructions we find in the Bible, we can live without fear because we know the promises of God.
Our next statement is found in Proverbs 2:4-6, “if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, 5 then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. 6 For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;” Whenever I read this verse, it always brings to mind James 1:17 “17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” We know that all good things comes from the Father, it is within His character to shower those who belong to Him with good things. And this includes wisdom. When we come before Him in prayer, we need to be asking for wisdom. Not as the world defines it, but we need to be asking for wisdom to understand what God wants for us to do. I am reminded of King Solomon who asked God for wisdom over riches. God was so pleased with this request, that He granted Solomon the ability to be wise beyond his years. When he was faced with the task of deciding who was the true mother of a child Solomon was able to lean on this wisdom and came up with, albeit an unorthodox, solution (1 Kings 3:16-28). When we are spending time in the Word and meditating on it, we need to be asking God for wisdom as only He can give. This is what it means to seek wisdom like silver. Humans are often looking for things that can hold a monetary value, it is how we can survive through buying and selling goods. This “fear of the Lord” statement shows that without wisdom, we cannot survive.
Chapter 10:27 holds the next statement, “The fear of the Lord prolongs life, But the years of the wicked will be shortened.” This verse goes beyond the benefits of living a righteous life and not having sinful consequences shorten our lives. Instead it goes further and means that when we die we will not parish. We will live on with our Lord. This is different for those who are not born-again believers, their hope is gone when they pass away. “The hope of the righteous brings joy, but the expectation of the wicked will perish.” Proverbs 10:28. The born-again believer can have hope because we know what the Bible promises and our hope is in the everlasting God, the unbeliever will place their hope in a world that will only perish.
Chapter 14 holds two statements, but I wish to look at them separately. The first is from 14:26, “Whoever fears the Lord has a secure fortress, and for their children it will be a refuge.” I can personally attest that this is a very true statement. Whenever I am faced with a trial, it is my hope in Jesus Christ that gives me the strength to carry on. This is true for small things such as a move across the country, to large things such as a loss. When we are leaning on the Lord, He gives us strength and refuge to make it through our trials. He is our fortress when we are faced with the challenges of life. The second statement in chapter 14 is, “The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, that one may turn away from the snares of death.” This statement ties back into the one from Proverbs 10:27, we see that the fear and knowledge of the Lord gives life and through this we will not face eternal death away from our Lord.
“Better is a little with the fear of the Lord Than great treasure, and turmoil with the treasure.” Proverbs 15:16. Chapter fifteen is a comparison of those who are upright, compared to those who are wicked. In this statement we can see that even though we may only have a little, if we have the fear and the knowledge of the Lord we are happier than those who have much but face turmoil for not wanting to follow after the Lord. This is again because our hope is in greater things then what this world possesses.
“Wisdom’s instruction is to fear the Lord, and humility comes before honor.” Proverbs 15:33. Wisdom comes when we fear the Lord. But before we can understand what He is calling for us to do, we need to humble ourselves to allow Him to work through our lives. When we humble ourselves then we receive honor because we have been redeemed by Christ’s righteousness. This then allows the Holy Spirit to work in us to understand the Word of God more.
“By steadfast love and faithfulness iniquity is atoned for, and by the fear of the Lord one turns away from evil.” Proverbs 16:6. It is only through our Father’s love and faithfulness that we are redeemed through the blood of His Son. When we accept this fact and study the Word of God we have a guiding light to steer us away from what could lead us into temptation. “Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.” Psalm 119:105
“The fear of the Lord leads to life; then one rests content, untouched by trouble.” Proverbs 19:23. Here we see again that when we have the knowledge of God and His Word, we will be able to rest content. This is not saying that we will have an easy life, but it is instead saying that when we place our trust in God we are able to rest in Him during hard times. “He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters.” Psalm 23:2
“The reward of humility and the fear of the Lord Are riches, honor, and life.” Proverbs 22:4. Here we see that we are rewarded when we have the fear of the Lord. I do not believe that this verse is talking about physical riches, although that can definitely be the case. Instead, I believe that this is talking about the rewards that we will have when we reach heaven by following after God. We know that when we accept Jesus Christ as our savior that we will have eternal life, it is entirely possible that we will have other rewards as well. Paul throughout his letters gives evidence for us to look forward to the Bema Seat Judgement.
“Do not let your heart envy sinners, but always be zealous for the fear of the Lord. 18 There is surely a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off.” Proverbs 23:17-18. I think the placing of this statement is interesting. This is the last of the “fear of the Lord” statements and has always stood out to me because it is a reminder not to be jealous of the world. We as believers have no hope in the world. Our hope is in the Lord and that is something that will never be cut off.
I hope that this list has helped open up a little more into the awesome power of our God. Jesus Christ is more than just love, He is also all powerful, His attributes are beyond anything we can handle or fully understand. However, we have the promises of God to embolden us to seek the Lord, this path must first start with the fear of the Lord which only comes from being humble and knowing that we are sinners. The fear of the Lord will lead to knowledge of the Holy One which is Jesus Christ. If you are here now thinking of salvation, know that it is only possible for those who are willing to admit that they are not capable and are in need of a savior. No works, no religious acts, no good deeds will get you to Him. Proverbs clearly indicates that the fear of the Lord is the first steps in an amazing adventure for those who seek the Lord.
Seek the truth and encourage one another,
Alex