The Fear of the Lord

The fear of the Lord is mentioned 27 times in Scripture. Add to that another 10 references to the fear of God, and we have a bit of a crowd here. On one hand, the Bible is full of the good things revolving around the fear of the Lord. It is the beginning of wisdom (Psa 111:10; Prov 9:10) and the beginning of knowledge (Prov 1:7). It prolongs life (Prov 10:27), hates evil (Prov 8:13) and gives confidence (Prov 14:26). And more. On the other hand, David warned that "there is no fear of God before their eyes" (Psa 36:1) and Paul felt the need to repeat it (Rom 3:18). Not a good thing. But what is it?

Most people will try to tell you it's "reverential awe." Apparently it can't be ... you know ... fear. No, no, that will never do. So it's something ... else. Part of this comes from a misunderstanding of a verse in 1 John.

There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. (1 John 4:18)

So, if perfect love casts out fear, and God's love is perfect, well, then, we can't fear God, right? Logical, except that wasn't what the verse was talking about. God's love was not in view; ours was. When we love perfectly, we have no need for fear. Why? Fear has to do with punishment, but if we love perfectly ("Love the Lord your God" and "Love your neighbor as yourself") we will have no fear of punishment because we will be perfected in love. Paul said that the whole law is fulfilled in one word: love (Gal 5:14).

So what is the fear of the Lord? The word in that Psalm 36 passage is פַּחַד -- pachad. It means to be startled or alarmed. It refers to fear, dread, or terror. The parallel word in Greek in Romans 3 is φόβος -- phobos -- the source of our word, "phobia." It means ... wait for it ... alarm, fright, fear. So fear is involved. But what form? Now, we know that fear can paralyze people. Clearly this is not the fear in view. Other fears are simply irrational. This isn't it, either. In English, the word "awe" used to mean, "an overwhelming feeling of reverence, admiration, fear, etc., produced by that which is grand, sublime, extremely powerful," but it included "accompanied with fear or dread." Ah, now that is closer to the fear of the Lord. That kind of "reverential awe" works.

Any rational person who encounters God is overwhelmed by Him. There is reverence and there is admiration and it would be senseless to have no fear. But it's not the fear that paralyzes, nor is it irrational. It is a fear built on the realization of who God is, who we are, and the gap that stands between. It is the xenophobia that we all have, the fear of that which is other. It doesn't stop us; it motivates us. It keeps us safe, prevents us from straying, keeps us in line. It crowds us to Him.

We are quite proud of the fact that we have no fear of God. Scripture considers that a bad thing. Perhaps we should reconsider. There is a wise and healthy fear that accompanies a personal, up-close look at God. If we actually have no fear, I would submit we have never had that personal, up-close look.