Aug
14
Fear of the Lord: where does it go?
Filed Under Bible, Christian Living, Holiness, Proverbs
Where does the fear of the Lord take us? What is its orientation? Proverbs maps it out for us: Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD, and turn away from evil [3:7]. The fear of the LORD is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate [8:13]. By steadfast love and faithfulness iniquity is atoned for,
and by the fear of the LORD one turns away from evil [16:6]. Let not your heart envy sinners, but continue in the fear of the LORD all the day. Surely there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off [23:17-18].
The fool has no fear of God before his eyes [Psalm 36:1]. He lives for what this moment can deliver and for what his eyes can see.
Fearing God has a lot to do with what we love and hate, i.e., our affections. In fearing the Lord we love what he loves, we hate what he hates. We are happiest when we are pleasing him. Fear of the Lord is the internal motivator of the wise person. God, his presence, his will, and his glory drive him to do what he does. He does not live for his own momentary pleasure or for what he can possess. He does what he does because God has spoken—not because someone is watching, or out of fear of the consequences, but out of a deep, worshipful love and reverence for God. The thought of knowingly and purposefully disobeying God is unthinkable.
Why are you doing what you are doing? What you really are is what you are when no one else is watching. What will keep you faithful, loving and obedient in times of temptation when no ‘authority’ is watching and when the pressure is on to step outside of God’s boundaries?
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