Who Among You Fears The Lord?

Who Among You Fears the Lord?

—Isaiah 50:10

Perhaps no Christian discipline is as forgotten as the idea of living in “the fear of the Lord.” Who is doing this today? Who among us could define what it even means to walk in the fear of God?

We are living in what has become a “no fear culture.” A couple of generations have basically grown up without being given any moral absolutes. The rampant relativism that has resulted feeds the “no fear” mind-set. There is even an apparel company that markets to this ideology with caps and shirts with only two words emblazoned across them: No Fear. Tragically, even the church can be a place of no fear. Instead of the church influencing the culture, all too often the culture slips into the church and influences it away from the fear of God. And now we find ourselves living in a “no fear culture” where the thought of living in the fear of God is a forgotten subject. Thus, Isaiah’s question is as relevant today as it was more than twenty-five-hundred years ago: “Who among you fears the LORD?” (Isaiah 50:10).

Without having God on the throne, without having a priority to honor and glorify Him, without living in a spiritually healthy fear of Him, we are allowing the New Testament gospel to be pushed aside by the New Trendy gospel. The New Testament gospel emphasizes self-denial, but the New Trendy gospel emphasizes self-fulfillment. The New Testament gospel is focused on Christ and His life, death, resurrection, and plan for man’s redemption, but the New Trendy gospel is focused on man and his desire for happiness and purpose. These two gospels are in diametric opposition to each other. The question of Isaiah will never be asked among those with a new trendy mind-set.

However, a thread woven throughout the fabric of the Bible is this: every man and woman used of God walked in the fear of the Lord. Noah was “moved with godly fear” as he built the ark (Hebrews 11:7). The Proverbs 31 woman “fears the LORD” (v. 30). The same is true in the gospels. The young virgin Mary praised God, whose “mercy is on those who fear Him” (Luke 1:50). In Acts, the fear of the Lord is mentioned on practically every page. We read that the community birthed at Pentecost, for instance, “continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine. . . . Then fear came upon every soul” (Acts 2:42–43). The epistles are replete with the same theme. Paul said we are to submit to one another “in the fear of God” (Ephesians 5:21). And, finally, in Revelation, John told of a loud voice coming from the throne, saying, “Praise our God, all you His servants and those who fear Him!” (Revelation 19:5).

Yes, Isaiah’s question is very relevant today. The Old Testament saints, the faithful mentioned in the Gospels, the members of the early church, the writers of the New Testament epistles—all of these people knew the importance of living in the fear of God. Why is it a forgotten subject in the modern church today?

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO LIVE IN THE FEAR OF GOD?

Does fearing the Lord mean living in a constant state of fright or concern that if we say something or do something wrong, God will zap us with some big bolt of retribution? Nothing could be further from biblical truth. The most common biblical word for fear means to stand in awe before God with such reverence and respect that that reverence becomes the controlling motivation of our lives.

When I was a teenager, my pastor taught me to walk in the fear of God—and he carefully explained what that fear was and wasn’t. Oh, God wasn’t calling me to live my life in fear that He would extend His strong hand of discipline toward me if I didn’t cross every t and dot every i just right. Rather, walking in the fear of God meant living so that He will not take His hand of blessing off me. Fearing God is to live with the conscious awareness of His presence, and wanting to do nothing that might cause God to remove His hand of blessing and anointing from us. Living with that awareness makes an incredible difference in what we do, what we say, where we go, and how we live.

HOW CAN WE BEGIN TO WALK IN THE FEAR OF GOD DAILY?

We begin at the place where we begin with everything in the Christian life: the Word of God. King Solomon answered this question well as he prophetically spoke on God’s behalf:

If you receive my words,

And treasure my commands . . .

So that you incline your ear to wisdom,

And apply your heart to understanding;

Yes, if you cry out for discernment,

And lift up your voice for understanding,

If you seek her as silver,

And search for her as for hidden treasures;

Then you will understand the fear of the LORD.

—Proverbs 2:1–5 (emphasis added)

In your devotional Bible reading, start noting every mention of the fear of the Lord that you encounter. You will be amazed by how often you come across that important concept. And every time you see that phrase, remember that this fear is not the fear that He might put His hand of retribution on you, but the fear that He might take from you His hand of blessing and anointing.

Q & A: “Who among you fears the LORD?” Unfortunately, far too few of us who claim to follow Jesus actually live in fear of the Lord. Determine today that you will—like those saints all through recorded history throughout the Bible—learn to walk in the fear of the Lord. After all, “the secret of the LORD is with those who fear Him, and He will show them His covenant” (Psalm 25:14).