The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: a
good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth
for ever (Psalm 111:10).
In Hebrew, “Fear of the Lord” is translated Yirat Adonai. The
root word Yirah expresses many
different aspects of how we should regard God: with awe, reverence, wonder,
amazement, fear, astonishment, devotion, and awareness of the sacred and
awesome mystery of our relation to an omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient God…
When taking into consideration the many ideas expressed by
the word “yirah,” having a “fear of the
Lord” becomes very reasonable. It
is actually a call for us to acknowledge God’s awesomeness -- in the universe,
and in our lives. It is a declaration of our faith in Him, and how we should
love and revere Him. It reminds us
to experience Him with ever-evolving, daily-renewed love and commitment…to
realize and worship with gratitude the preciousness of our relationship with
our Creator.
In other words: having a “fear of the Lord” is
daily-remembering not to take God, and our relationship with Him, for granted.
When we respect and regard Him in this manner, it gives our Father His proper
place of sovereignty over our lives.
Having this kind of “fear of the Lord” is not a command to
consider Him as a terrifying, unforgiving, or wrathful God. “Fear of the Lord”
doesn’t mean being scared of God.
When people think, “God is scary!” this perception comes
from a distorted perception of the who God is. God has revealed His nature in
His Word. From cover to cover in
your Bible, you will find that God loves His children and seeks their highest
and best good. The apostle Paul
described God’s nature as having these hallmarks in addition to love: joy,
patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control
(Galatians 5:22 – 23).
However, we must never lose sight of the fact that we are
the created; He is the Creator.
We are finite; He is infinite.
We are bound by time and space; He is eternal and
ever-present.
We know things in part; He knows things in full.
We are wise when we welcome the presence of God into our
lives. We are wise when we consult
God about who we are and what He has planned for us. We are wise when we realize
that God is in control.
This is why the Bible tells us that “fear of the Lord is the
beginning of wisdom,” and we are commanded to follow His Word and praise Him in
all things, and for all things.
So rejoice daily in having a healthy “fear of the Lord.” It
is a truly a profound expression of our faith in Him – and it brings us into a
deeper, fuller, more intimate relationship with our Father, the great “I AM!”