BLESSINGS AND THE FEAR OF THE LORD

“He will BLESS those who FEAR the LORD, both small and great” – Psalm 115:16

Divine BLESSINGS are vitally connected to the FEAR OF THE LORD: “BLESSED is the man who fears the LORD…” (Psa.112:1). Blessings flow with the Fear of God: “Blessed is everyone who fears the LORD, who walks in His ways” (Psa.128:1). The Blessed Person fears the Lord! To “fear” God means to stand in awe of, revere, and respect Him. It means also to think holily and reverently concerning God, and thereby walk in His ways. Psalm 1:1 describes the postures of one who has the Fear of God: “Blessed is the man that walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful.” This scripture confirms that the prosperity of the righteous begins with the fear of the Lord. A corollary is Psalm 119:1-2, “Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the LORD! Blessed are those who keep His testimonies, who seek Him with the whole heart!” This is the foundation on which to build a life that is blessed by God!

There are two aspects to the Fear of God. The first is Reverence: a sacred awe of God's absolute holiness. It involves the kind of respect and veneration that results in fear in the presence of such matchless majesty. The second aspect is fear of God's displeasure. Genuine faith acknowledges God's right to chasten, to punish, and to judge: “But God is the Judge: He puts down one, and exalts another” (Psa.75:7). To fear the Lord does not mean to be afraid of Him as to run away from Him. Rather it means to be in awe of His majesty so that you approach Him with great reverence. It means you take God seriously, and put Him first in your life. The fear of God is an inward attitude of humble reverence toward God that results in outward expression of Christlikeness.

Whoever pays lip-service to the fear of God will not be reckoned with: “those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me shall be lightly esteemed” (1Sam.2:30). To not fear God is to despise Him, and the consequence is divine disapproval! Scriptures affirm severally:

• “And to man He said, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to depart from evil is understanding” (Job 28:28).

• “The fear of Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Psa.111:10a).

• “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction” (Pro.1:7).

• “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding” (Pro.9:10).

A person who lacks the fear of the Lord displays superficiality and a glib casualness towards God. Such a one speaks in a flippant or frivolous manner about God, treating Him like one of the pals. There is an attitude of nonchalance towards spiritual and eternal realities. A person without the fear of God carelessly profanes His name by using worldly euphemisms to describe the Most Holy God. How do you feel when a so-called Christian uses terms like “jeeze” or “gees” as euphemisms for Jesus’ name or “the man upstairs” to describe our heavenly Father? These symptomize hearts that lack the fear of God.

A person who lacks the fear of God has a cavalier attitude toward sin and takes issues of eternity lightly. It is not unusual today for even professing Christians to have a careless disposition toward sin: “There is no fear of God before their eyes” (Rom.3:18). Sin and the fear of God never coexist: “The fear of the Lord is to hate evil” (Pro.8:13). The fear of God is non-negotiable: “by the fear of the Lord one departs from evil” (Pro.16:6). There is therefore a primacy to the Fear of God: “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man” (Eccl.12:13). Beloved, as you walk in His Fear, “May you be blessed by the LORD, Who make heaven and earth” (Psa.115:15).