Defining the Fear of the Lord
The fear of the Lord is the perquisite to countless blessings and benefits, the best of all being friendship with God! But fearing the Lord sounds like we ought to be afraid of Him, and if we define it that way, we won’t want anything to do with it and then we’ve lost out on countless blessings just because we were misinformed. So let’s work on defining the fear of the Lord with a Biblical foundation (and not our assumptions). Then when we dive into the blessings of fearing God tomorrow, you’ll see why fearing the Lord is the foundation of everything that is good and true and beautiful.
The Lord casts out all fear with His love, after all! So let’s make sure we have a good understanding of this going forward and weed out any assumed and false definitions.
The fear of the Lord is not often taught in churches and even when it is, definitions for it can feel vague and hard to understand sometimes. So let’s give it a go today and try to answer a foundational question for a believer: What is the fear of the Lord?
There are so many benefits and blessings that pour out when we fear the Lord (and we’ll do a deep dive on that next!) But the quick overview is this. The fear of the Lord brings wisdom, long life, angelic protection, provision, and blessing. Yep. This is something you in your life! But the number one motivator for me to press into the fear of the Lord is that He reserves His friendship for those who fear Him. And I sincerely cannot think of any better thing than the sweet constant companionship that is friendship with God. [More on that here!]
How to Find the Definition.
I love the Amplified Version because it helps flush out the true deeper meanings of the root words, nuances that can easily be missed in translation. When it comes to verses on the fear of the Lord, I found the Amplified Version to be most helpful when trying to define what is the fear of the Lord.
As I read through countless Scriptures on the fear of the Lord in the AMP, many of them flushed out a definition right there in the Word! So those are the ones I pulled here to use towards defining the fear of the Lord.
Scripture on Fear of the Lord.
If you seek skillful and godly wisdom as you would silver
And search for her as you would hidden treasures;
Then you will understand the [reverent] fear of the Lord [that is, worshiping Him and regarding Him as truly awesome]
And discover the knowledge of God.
For the Lord gives [skillful and godly] wisdom;
From His mouth come knowledge and understanding
The [reverent] fear of the Lord [worshiping, obeying, serving, and trusting Him with awe-filled respect] prolongs one’s life…
O Lord, who shall sojourn in your tent?
Who shall dwell on your holy hill?…In his eyes an evil person is despised,
But he honors those who fear the Lord [and obediently worship Him with awe-inspired reverence and submissive wonder].
He keeps his word even to his own disadvantage
and does not change it [for his own benefit]…
Defining the Fear of the Lord.
Now, let’s pull just the expanded definitions of these verses and look for common threads as we work on defining the fear of the Lord…
- the [reverent] fear of the Lord [that is, worshiping Him and regarding Him as truly awesome]
- the [reverent] fear of the Lord [worshiping, obeying, serving, and trusting Him with awe-filled respect] prolongs one’s life…
- fear the Lord [and obediently worship Him with awe-inspired reverence and submissive wonder].
Common threads I see in defining the fear of the Lord are: reverence, awe, worship, obedience, submission.
After reading these verses, if we thought the fear of the Lord had to do with actually being afraid of Him, we can see that we got it all wrong if that’s the case! These verses that define the fear of the Lord show us that it’s a next level type of worshipping God.
As we study these verses, we can use these commonalities to create a working definition. I’ll try putting it together in my own words here:
The fear of the Lord is a deep appreciation, wonder, and awe for the Lord in all His glory, which overflows in worshipping, obeying, trusting, and revering Him.
If you put all these Scriptures together in your own words, what would your definition of the fear of the Lord be? I’d love to hear it!
Til next time… Toodle-loo, and Peace be with you.
If you want to walk in full forgiveness and the full power of the Holy Spirit, here’s a prayer to ask Jesus to wash you clean and lead you in a new life.
If you decided to give your life to Jesus today, please let us know so we can share in your new joy! And seek out someone in your area who loves Jesus and walks in humility who can help show you the way.
If you have any questions, you can drop in comments below. That’s what I’m here for!
