“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; A good understanding have all those who do His commandments. His praise endures forever” (Psalm 111:10).

To the world, fear and God are not closely related, and should not be joined together in conversation. This used to not be so. The societal moral decline supports this truth. When the fear of God is absent, immorality and every evil thing is there. Yet, when the fear of the Lord is present, there is the foundation upon which success is built. And to the wise man, success is defined as fulfilling our created purpose, which involves the fear of God (cf. Ecclesiastes 12:13). In order to be pleasing to God, one must fear God.

A mistake is made when one assumes fear and love are incompatible – that they mix as well as water and oil. However, while we read that “God is love” (1 John 4:8), we also read that “holy and reverend is His name” (Psalm 111:9, KJV). God is love, and reverend is His name. Reverend means “to fear; morally to revere” (Strong). The fear of God, like the love of God, comes from an understanding of who He is, and how He relates to us. It is the temper of spirit demanded in the appearance of the created before the Creator; of the imperfect before the Perfect; of the sinful before the Holy One. When the magnitude of His existence is noted, the only proper responses are love AND fear. Just as Jesus said, “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15).

The path of fearing of God does not foment terror and torment, but is the very path which leads away from such things – “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me” (Psalm 23:4). Such comfort only comes from a healthy reverence for our Shepherd.

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