Fear the Lord

Jan 20 2023 - Eric Buresh

I was recently watching some folks ice skating at one of our local rinks that pop up in the winter. My attention was drawn to a father and young son, probably five or six years old and obviously new to the rink. The boy was trying to be independent. He would shuffle along, and the dad would skate close by him. As the boy would lose his balance, he would grab for his dad’s hand or arm and steady himself. Soon, another group of much larger boys, probably high school aged, began skating much faster around the rink and with a little more “energy” than necessary for the small setting. As the father and boy were rounding the corner where I was standing with the pack of teenagers closing behind them, the father low-growled his son’s name and the startled boy paid quick attention to the new tone. The boy drew close and was no longer grabbing for his dad’s arm but had instead surrendered his own hand fully to his dad’s grip. The father held the boy closely in place while the herd passed. The boy clearly feared his father, but it was a form of fear that drew the boy close to the father rather than a fear that pushed him away. 

Something that really bothered me as I meandered along my early faith journey was the notion that God wanted His children to fear Him. Much blessing was conditioned on our fearing the Lord. “As a father shows compassion to his children, so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him.” (Psalm 103:13 ESV) Proverbs 9:10 says, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom.” Many other versus proclaim the value of fearing God (e.g., Psalm 111:10; Proverbs 1:7; 14:27; 15:33). That seemed weird to me. What kind of father wants his kids to fear him? I had in my mind the form of fear that pushes us away from something bad or dangerous. Fear of a hot stove that keeps us from touching it. Or fear of falling that keeps us away from a cliff edge. 

We, as God’s children, have no reason to fear God in this negative sense. We bear no condemnation from our Father, He always works for our good, and nothing can separate us from His love (Romans 8:1, 28, 38-39). If we are in Christ, God is not a danger to us. Yet, there is another type of fear that draws us near into the protective arms of our Father, just like the little boy at the skating rink. Hebrews 12:28-29 is a good description of this type: “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our ’God is a consuming fire.’” 

Our God is an awesomely powerful, majestic, infinite Father who creates, sustains, protects, teaches, and nurtures His family. He is infinite in time and space. His authority and sovereignty have no bounds. God is not tame, and He will not allow us to conform Him to whatever image of a god we desire. He is the lone King of the only Kingdom in the universe. He is unchanging. He is the I Am – the eternally self-existing one from whom all else depend. We should feel confident and safe with our Father, but we should never feel so comfortable that we forget who He is. To truly know God is to hold Him in reverence and awe. In this sense, we fear the Lord. And it is this fear, just like the little boy had for his father, that leads us to surrender our wills to the protection of the Father, to walk in the wisdom and safety of obedience according to the directions He has given us. This type of fear is not negative, it is delightful and perfect. It is like a campfire burning in a quiet clearing on a cool evening. We are drawn to its warmth, its beauty, its mystery, its energy. The closer we come, the more comfort we draw. Yet, we are not loose with fire. We respect it. We treat it with reverence. How much more the consuming fire that is God. The closer we come, the more comfort we draw. Yet, we are not loose with God. We respect Him. We treat Him with reverence. This is the delightful fear of the Lord.