The Fear of the Lord

  This year, I am participating in the G3 reading challenge (you can find this challenge HERE).  One of the books that I have read so far is Edward T. Welch’s When People are Big and God is Small.  (I definitely recommend this book and the whole reading challenge in general.)  One of the main points of this book is that when people have a proper fear of the Lord, then we will fear nothing else.  Since fear of man is something I struggle with, I decided to do some looking into fear of the Lord and share my findings with you.


Several times in Leviticus, we are commanded to fear the Lord (Leviticus 19:14, 31; 25:17, 36, 43; etc.).  Deuteronomy 6:13 says, “Yahweh your God you shall fear; and Him you shall serve; and by His name you shall swear,” and verse 24 says, “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 10:20 says, “Yahweh your God you shall fear; Him you shall serve, and to Him you shall cling, and by His name you shall swear.”  Obviously, we are the fear the Lord.  So how do we do this?  Scripture helps us understand.  For example, in Deuteronomy 17:18-20, instructions are given to the king, 

“Now it will be when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write for himself a copy of this law on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests.  And it shall be with him, and he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear Yahweh his God, to carefully observe all the words of this law and these statutes, that his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers and that he may not turn aside from the commandment, to the right or the left, so that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he and his sons in the midst of Israel.” (emphasis mine)

One of the many reasons we are to study the Word is to learn the fear of the Lord.  How does studying Scripture help us to fear the Lord?  It helps us to know Him.  Scripture tells us all about the Lord - His character, His actions, His love for us and His expectations of His children.  Scripture teaches us about Jesus, whom the Spirit is sanctifying us to be more like.  Hebrews 4:12 tells us, “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”  Scripture changes us because it is God’s Living Word.  One way it changes us is by teaching us to fear the Lord properly.



The Lord’s people are also told repeatedly not to fear people (Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, etc.).  This is something I really struggle with.  It isn’t that I am “afraid” of people, but that I struggle with being a “people pleaser” rather than only a “God pleaser.”  I don’t want to try new things in front of others for fear they will laugh if I fail.  My mistakes make me angry and embarrassed.  This is all pride.  In this season of my life, pride and arrogance are something the Lord has been working on in me.  He has shown me important lessons.  Fear of people is pride.  Fear of the Lord is humility.  You cannot fear both God and man.  So, do I need to focus on not fearing people?  No.  I need to focus on fearing the Lord.  When we focus on what we are supposed to be doing, what we are supposed to be focused on, everything else takes a backseat.  Nothing else matters.  So I need to be in the Word, with my eyes fixed on the Lord, learning to fear Him only.  Will you join me?



(All Scripture taken from the Legacy Standard Bible at https://read.lsbible.org/ )

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

I am not . . .

OK, it has been a while since I blogged, but today I am feeling a little inspired. I am struggling mightily, again. Guilt. All the mistakes of the past. All the mistakes of the present. Guilt. I was listening to some music this morning, trying to focus on praise, when a song came on talking about how much I was forgiven. And grace washed over me, again. I am forgiven. Right there in the laundry room, while folding to mountains of clothes, I said it, out loud - "Go away, Satan, and take your guilt with you! I am forgiven, and that is all there is to it!" Peace. Followed quickly by my usual need to find a friend of my childhood. I do some googling, again. Maybe success this time, maybe not. But why do I have this terrible need to keep looking to people of my past? What am I clinging to? What am I running from? This week is a restful break. Don't get me wrong, there is still work to do. But instead of having school, we are just going to do some cleaning and relax a little. Y
Read more

Crushed, but not broken

Anyone who really knows me (the few there are), knows that I love children's literature. One thing I love about really good, usually older, children's books is the parallels that God reveals about Himself to me through these timeless treasures. The more I study God's Word and commmune with His heart, the more I see these. Here is my most recent discovery: The Velveteen Rabbit, by Margery Williams is a great example. Hebrews 5:8 says "Although He was a son, He learned obedience through what He suffered." As I pondered this truth, and the truth that our own suffering is for our good and His glory, I was a little confused. Why do we have to suffer and what does that really mean? Then I read this book, and the Spirit spoke clarification to my heart. In this book, a young boy receives a stuffed rabbit for Christmas. The rabbit is beautiful and nice, however, not played with at first. Then, as the boy loves the rabbit, it becomes shabby and suffers because of its missha
Read more

Psalm 127

  127   (Biblical text in italics) This is a “wisdom psalm” written by King Solomon.   The ESV Study Bible gives a few helpful themes: “without the Lord’s blessing, human toil is worthless” and “diligence is neither greed nor restless anxiety.” 1 Unless Yahweh builds the house, They labor in vain who build it; Unless Yahweh watches the city, The watchman keeps awake in vain. When we try to do things ourselves, be it control things about our home or protect those we love, we end up failing.  We must trust the Lord to do all these things and be about the business of obediently following Him, no matter what He asks us to do.  We must work in faith, trusting God with the outcome of our labors. 2 It is in vain that you rise up early, That you sit out late, O you who eat the bread of painful labors; For in this manner, He gives sleep to His beloved. The Lord doesn’t want us to be focused strictly on busyness and “getting ahead” or even on protection of those around us.  He give
Read more