What is "The fear of the Lord"?

Chapter Fourteen:

When I first heard the phrase "The fear of the Lord" I was unsure as to what it really meant.  Since I knew God was a loving and kind Father, it puzzled me as to why I was to fear Him...was I being told to be afraid of Him?  I decided to find out for myself what this phrase really meant because it seemed to be at odds with my idea of what God was like and it confused me.

The first scripture I read was Psalm 111:10 which says, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow His precepts (a commandment or instruction) have good understanding."  Proverbs 1:7 goes on to say, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline."  Proverbs 2:1 - 5 says, "My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find knowledge of God."  What I was seeing was that the fear of the Lord doesn't mean I'm to be afraid of Him.  It actually turned out to be a good thing for me to have in my life because it would help me grow in my relationship with Him and find wisdom.  Having the fear of the Lord helps us to become wiser when we follow what we are taught in the Scriptures.  

 The fear of the Lord also means that we're to be in reverent awe of Him and who He is.  We're to fall upon our knees before a mighty and holy God.  It means we submit to Him and give Him the respect, praise and adoration that He deserves.  Psalm 30: 4  tells us to "Sing to the Lord, you saints of his, praise his holy name."  Psalm 11:4 goes on to tell us that "The Lord is in his holy temple, the Lord is on his heavenly throne.  He observes the sons of men; His eyes examine them."  Our God is indeed a Holy God that is to be worshiped!

Then I read Proverbs 8:13, which says, "The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil..." Again, the phrase doesn't mean we're to be afraid of God, but that we should have the same intolerance for sin that He does.  God will not compromise with sin as it goes against His very nature.  Just knowing this caused me to pause and remember the great sacrifice He has made for all of us by sending Jesus to the cross to die for our sins.  Sin is that abhorrent to God...He hates what it does to us and how it separates us from Him.  

If we live with the fear of the Lord in our own lives, it should produce in us that same attitude towards sin, which is to hate it.  It also gives us a deeper respect for the power of God to overcome sin, and a greater understanding of the holiness of God.  But it doesn't stop there.  Leviticus 19:2 says, "You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy."  God wants us to live holy lives, too.  Living a holy life means not tolerating or allowing sin in your life, being totally obedient to Him, and being more concerned about what God thinks of you than of what others think of you.  It means we're living a prayerful, consecrated life because we want Him to trust us.  It means we're set apart for God's purpose so He can use us here on earth. We're to live a life of submission, availability, dependence and faith.   We are to chose holiness not only in our thoughts but also in our words and our deeds. 

Since mankind no longer seems to fear God, they do whatever they want, without any second thought. The concern of consequences do not enter their mind and does not stop them from going against that which God would disapprove.  Therefore, if sin holds any fascination or enjoyment for us in any form, we must realize we need the fear of God in that area of our lives so that we can repent of it.  Repentance means a change of mind, a change of heart and a change of life toward sin.  Proverbs 28:13 says, "He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy."  

Living a holy life before God means we must not  conceal our sin but confess it and allow God to help us fight it, if it continues to bother us or tempt us.  In order to get free of it, we must hate it as much as God hates it.  Otherwise, we will have a difficult time trying to live a holy life before God.  In the next few chapters, we will look at where temptation comes from and how we can overcome it with God's help.