The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge of the Holy One is insight.
ESV: Proverbs 9 vs10.
Most often, when we use the word fear, we mean “to be afraid of ” something or someone, as when we say, “I fear snakes—especially the poisonous ones that hide in the grass.”
The list of fears (phobias) that we humans have goes from A – ablutophobia to Z – zoophobia.
But in the Proverbs’ verse, that’s not what fear means. Simply being afraid of God may make you scared, but it won’t make you smart. Instead, when Proverbs speaks of fearing God it means to respect God. It means to respect God for who He is—the God who is all-powerful and eternal; who is holy and just; God who hates sin and must punish it, as well as being God who loves you and forgives you for Jesus’ sake. Hand and hand with that, respecting God also means to respect what God wants and what He doesn’t want.
When you begin to respect God as the God He is, and when you begin to respect His will—that’s when you start to get smart!
No, not in a “smarty pants” way—in a way that shows off your ego, nor in a way that boasts your genius. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of getting smart that we “fear, love, and trust in Him above all things”—that we consider all He has done in creation, in redemption, in sanctification— to give all glory and praise to Him as our God and, place His Word above every other word.
Proverbs 8 verse 13 has this to say about fearing God: “To fear the Lord is to hate evil.” Certainly we have every reason to fear God and to hate evil. He set us apart (as holy) in His beloved Son so that evil would not do us in and deliver us unto eternal death. Our Father in heaven sent His Son to die for us to save us from evil and save us for Himself. And He’s faithful in bringing us to believe in Jesus as our Savior by the working power of the Holy Spirit.
Indeed, real “fear” is closely linked to believing and trusting—that respects God. If I respect you—if I respect who you are—what you say, how you act, it follows for me to trust you, to trust your opinions, to trust your judgment, and so on. And so it is in our faith that trusts God!
Yes, if you respect Him, you’ll also make every effort to trust Him: to trust what He says, to trust what He does, to trust Him for who He is as your loving Lord and Savior, and to entrust your life to Him— your life here and your life in the world to come. And this we are able to do with God’s help.
That kind of fear, respect, and trust can only result in many blessings for you. The Psalmist put it this way: “Fear the LORD, you His saints, for those who fear Him lack nothing.” (Psalm 34 vs. 9)
Each month a member of the Cook County Ministerium will offer Spiritual Reflections. This week our contributor is Reverend Dean Rudloff, Life In Christ Lutheran Church in Grand Marais.
Leave a Reply