Understanding the Fear of the Lord (Part 3)
We have come the last part and so far we have seen several facets about the fear of the Lord. We have seen the fear of the Lord is our treasure, it will continue even through eternity, whatever you fear becomes your god. In Part 2 we saw that the fear of the Lord is to hate evil and now in part 3 we add a few more layers to our understanding.
The fear of the Lord is learned
This would not be a thorough teaching without taking a time to consider how we can acquire this virtue called the Fear of the Lord. The way we become people that fear God is by learning to. It has to be learned. The Holy Spirit makes the first reference to this in Psalms 34:11;
“Come you children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord.” Psalm 34:11 NLT.
The fear of the Lord has to be taught. If we listen to the Holy Spirit, He will teach us. If we don’t listen, He won’t teach us. The Holy Spirit goes on in Psalms 34:12 -13 to describe the type of person you have to be to experience the fear of the Lord. He says;
“Does anyone want to live a life that is long and prosperous? Then keep your tongue from speaking evil and your lips from telling lies! Turn away from evil and do good. Search for peace, and work to maintain it.” Psalm 34:12–13 NLT
One thing that will continue to mark us out as either people who fear God or people who do not is the way we use our mouths. God finds human speech so important that it reveals to him our attitude toward him.
In Proverbs 6:16–19, the Holy Spirit reveals 7 things the Lord hates and a reference is made again to the way we use our mouths.
There are six things the Lord hates — no, seven things he detests; haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that kill the innocent, a heart that plots evil, feet that race to do wrong, a false witness who pours out lies, a person who sows discord in a family.
Again, reference is made to a lying tongue and speaking evil. We have already seen that the fear of the Lord is to hate evil. This confirms the truth we have already seen. If we will learn to hate evil (lies and every evil speech), then we will learn the fear of the Lord.
In God’s journey with the children of Israel, He was so foresighted. He knew that though He wanted to be the King of the children of Israel so that they wounded be under any human king, looking at those around them, the Israelites would soon demand for a human king.
God, through His servant Moses, therefore gives them prior instructions that they would have to follow in the way they would run a kingdom, particularly the way the King was to conduct himself while he reigned.
“When he [the King] sits on the throne as king, he must copy for himself this body of instruction on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests. He must always keep that copy with him and read it daily as long as he lives. That way he will learn to fear the Lord his God by obeying all the terms of these instructions and decrees.
This regular reading will prevent him from becoming proud and acting as if he is above his fellow citizens. It will prevent him from turning away from these commands in the smallest way. And it will ensure that he and his descendants will reign for many generations in Israel” Deuteronomy 17:18–20 NLT
Notice what routine the King had to build in his daily life if he was to learn to live in the fear of the Lord all of his life. This routine involved daily studying the scriptures. By reading the Word of the Lord, the King would learn to fear the Lord. This proves again that the fear of the Lord has to be learned.
Why did the king have to make this reading a daily routine? Why didn’t he just read it once, know what it says and then never read it again? This was because living or walking in the fear of the Lord was and still is a continual virtue. So, whatever afforded this virtue had to be continuous too and God revealed that it was daily reading of the scriptures that would teach the King to daily walk in the fear of the Lord. In the same way, you can make the resolve today to build a habit of daily studying God’s Word in your own life and thereby you will learn the fear of the Lord.
The fear of the Lord has to be chosen
The last layer we are considering in our understanding of the fear of the Lord is that it has to be chosen. We have the choice to make whether to or not to fear the Lord. God, in his creation of man, chose to give him the power to make his own choices. Because He is a good God, He will always reveal to us the best thing to do, the best path to take, through His instructions. But ultimately the choice is ours whether we heed His instructions, in other words, whether we choose to fear him or not.
In Proverbs 1:25–29, God goes through a narration of the consequences of departing from His instructions and his commands. It’s such a revealing portion of scripture I would want us to study.
“You ignored my advice and rejected the correction I offered. So I will laugh when you are in trouble! I will mock you when disaster overtakes you — when calamity overtakes you like a storm, when disaster engulfs you like a cyclone, and anguish and distress overwhelm you.
When they cry for help, I will not answer. Though they anxiously search for me, they will not find me. For they hated knowledge and chose not to fear the Lord.” Proverbs 1:25–19 NLT
God is talking to the children of Israel, and really, He is talking to us. These words are first addressed to the children of Israel because they were the first group of people to receive God’s instruction and counsel. Today, through the Bible, the entire world has received God’s instruction. But God speaks about those that first heard His instructions. He says you ignored my advice; you rejected my correction. And because you ignored me, trouble is coming and you know what, I will laugh and mock you for it.
Notice something else here in this passage, as they go through the consequences of their disobedience, God says He will not hear their cries and when they search Him to bail them out, they will not find Him. Notice why He does this, because they hated knowledge, in other words they did not want anything to do with what He spoke to them. Lastly, they chose not to fear the Lord.
After God has revealed to us His truth, the best pathway for our lives, He now sits back to watch whether we will obey Him, whether we fear Him enough to obey Him. God knows its in our best interests to obey whatever He tells us. However, He will not force us to do the right thing. He only hopes we will be wise enough to choose to do the right thing. No wonder Job 28:28 says;
“And this is what he says to all humanity: ‘The fear of the Lord is true wisdom; to forsake evil is real understanding.’” Job 28:28 NLT
Daily, you and I have the choice to make. Whether we will fear the Lord or not. It is in our best interest to choose to fear God. How will you live today?
