Some people struggle with the concept of the fear of the Lord. They run to what John has to say about fear and how perfect love drives out all fear, and think that settles the matter. Only to discover this is the same John who was so stricken at the sight of the glorified Christ that he needed to be raised from his collapsed state, as he was at the sight of Christ and was awestruck. This is the same John who heard Jesus inform him, when going out, not to fear the one who can take the soul, but to fear the one who can take the soul and take it to hell.
Portraying the fear of the Lord properly is crucial to knowing God. Especially as Isaiah notes that the one who has the Spirit of the Lord settled on Him took delight in the fear of the Lord, getting this aspect of knowing God right will significantly support the relationship with God.
Incredibly, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. It’s incredible because you might have thought something else would prompt that. Maybe the love of God, maybe the worship of God, maybe the adoration of God. But no, wisdom starts with fearing the Lord. That fear is awe and acknowledgement of what can strike dread in the heart; such is the immense nature of what we’re viewing. Remember, we’re talking about God. No trifling being, and insofar as He calls us to know Him in the most intimate sense, that sense begins with acknowledging He is holy, He is mighty, and He is beyond our comprehension. Acknowledging that is why so many who encounter Him fall to their knees and bow before Him, thinking they’re not worthy of being in His presence.
Relating to God in this way is why we should take delight in the fear of the Lord. We should take delight because this fear removes every other effort of intimidation. How can what a man does to the body compare with the awesome nature of God? How can sickness and disease compare with the Creator of the universe? How can bills and debt have any hope against the magnitude of the Most High? How can earthly rulers and authorities, with their threats of violence, confiscation of goods, imprisonment and the deprivation of essential aspects of physical living, truly compare with the Alpha and Omega, who crushed countries with the merest snort of His nostrils, whose very presence causes mountains to quake? This is God. If angels bow before Him, we cannot take Him lightly.
In appreciating the presence of the Spirit of the fear of the Lord, we understand why reverence is due to Him, and we also understand why worshipping anything or anyone else insults the reality of the Almighty. Idolatry in any form negates the fear of the Lord by making something else seem more important. The One who saves us and restores us gives us the Spirit to see things in their proper perspective. Nothing and no one comes anywhere close to the awesome nature of God, and knowing Him in Spirit and truth is all the more amazing when you consider who is doing this and how it aligns with this acknowledgement of the holy and almighty God we’re called to revere. In the light of this God, humility is natural, obedience is understandable, honour is desirable, as our entire being is oriented to Him by His Spirit.
Thank God for the amazing Holy Spirit. We appreciate what it means to say God is awesome in this place through the Spirit of the fear of the Lord. We appreciate what it means to acknowledge His wonder and magnitude through the Spirit of the fear of the Lord. We know there’s nobody greater than God, nobody better than God, nobody comes close, and nobody deserves the awe and reverence because of the Spirit of the Fear of the Lord.
For His Name’s Sake
C. L. J. Dryden
Shalom
