What Does It Mean To Fear The Lord?

I used to not understand what it meant to fear the Lord. I associated the word fear with the word scared. I was puzzled why I was supposed to fear a God that was compassionate, loving, and kind. If God wanted good for me, why would He want me to fear Him?

When I think of the word fear, I think of harm done to me, evil, and distress. There is definitely that kind of fear, but fear of the Lord is different. While it may bring us distress sometimes, it is not evil, and God does not intend to harm us.

The phrase fear the Lord appears over 100 times in the Bible and it means reverence or awe. When the unbeliever thinks of fearing the Lord, they fear God’s judgement or wrath for their sins. The believer looks at fear of the Lord, much differently. We see it as reverence and that He is worthy of our worship and obedience.

I have been studying the Old Testament this year; particularly the Israelites, God’s chosen people. They were called to fear the Lord and live out God’s will in their lives. Instead of doing that, they worshipped false idols, lived life according to their own desires, forgot how God delivered them out of slavery, and allowed the evil of the world to dominate their way of life. Does any of this sound familiar to the world’s lifestyle today?

I feel like Christians today tend to only look at the positives in the Bible and forget the judgement day that is coming. How to fear the Lord properly has been forgotten.

I heard on a podcast recently how a man feared sharing the gospel. He was in college and played on the football team. There was one player on the team that was a big partier and lived a life of rebellion and pleasure. This man shared Jesus with many of his teammates, but not this guy. He feared this teammate. He wondered what would be thought of him if he shared Jesus with him. He thought he would be made fun of or even beaten up for speaking about Jesus. One night he was in the hall of his dormitory. There were a lot of people in the hall, and he got pushed into a dorm room that was not his. He was the only one in the room, so he just sat down on the bed and took a breather. In walked the teammate he was so scared of; it was his dorm room. He felt a tug to talk about Jesus with him and the thought came to his mind, “Who do I fear more, God or this teammate?” He decided he feared God more and that teammate accepted Jesus as his Savior because this man allowed his fear of the Lord to drive him to obedience.

When we show reverence to someone or something, we place them or it above ourselves. When we give reverence to God, we see His ways above our own, trust Him, praise Him, remember His goodness towards us, and fully surrender to Him. Through each of those actions comes a reaction, obedience. Through surrender and fear of God’s mighty power, we are called to obedience and a life of seeking God’s will. We want God’s will for our lives more than our own desires.

I think an easy way of thinking about fearing the Lord, is simply placing God on His throne, and keeping Him there. Remembering who He is, focusing on His attributes, and knowing there is someone to answer to for our sinful behavior. When we go through life as if there is no consequence for our sin or forgetting that one day we will have to answer for our decisions, we are making God equal to ourselves. There is no fear for who He is, His power, and His authority.

Deuteronomy 10:12 says, “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, to serve the Lord your God with all you heart and with all your soul.” God asks us to fear Him because He loves and cares for us. He desires us to live a life according to His good and perfect will.

As I learn more about who God is and always will be, the thought of fearing Him is much more pleasant. He is not one more thing to be afraid of; He is the One to live in obedience to because He has our best interest at heart. Just like a parent has authority over their children and their children fear them when they do wrong. The parent displays that authority because they want what is best for their child. They want the child to be safe, learn and mature, and live a life that is not full of hardship. Our fear of the Lord is the similar but on a much grander scale. To fear God is to love Him, stand in awe of Him, and worship Him.

Digging Deeper:

Read Hebrews 12:5-11, Hebrews 12:28-29, and Proverbs 1:7

What do you think of when you hear you are to fear the Lord?

How do you show God the reverence He deserves?

Which areas of your life have you forgotten to fear the Lord?