THOSE THAT FEAR THE LORD

We have seen that one of the greatest privileges of the godly is to have access to God. Yet is there not a danger that such a privilege can be taken for granted? Such high favour, granted to us on the grounds of free grace, could cause an undue familiarity in drawing near to God. Such considerations lead us to think on the meaning of the fear of the Lord.

The Psalms always emphasize the necessity of reverence and godly fear. This was built into every feature of the Jews’ religion. “I the Lord am holy” is repeated many times. There is a significant word in Psalm 34. 11, “Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the Lord”. That we have to learn what fear means suggests that it is not natural for men to give reverence and fear to God. When we speak of fear, we are not speaking of terror, dread, servility; we mean that the character of God demands that we tread reverently, as the lesser would approach the greatest, the lower to the highest, even the sinful to the purest and the holiest of all. We have much to learn in this school, and in our irreverent and blasphemous age, it can only be for our good.

Let us consider three great blessings which the psalmist links with the fear of the Lord.

1. There is intimacy. “The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him”, 25. 14. This opens up to us the lovely possibilities of communion with the Lord. He shares the counsels of His mind with those who reverence His presence. We can remember Abraham, as the Lord was about to destroy Sodom, Gen. 18. 17-19. God was ready to reveal His purpose to this man, the friend of God. He will unfold His covenant, those sacred ties that bind the godly to the Lord; cf. John 15. 14-15.

2. There is instruction. “What man is he that feareth the Lord? him shall he teach in the way that he shall choose”, 25. 12. A reverent approach to the Lord lays the foundation for a safe walk with Him—the blessing of a guided path. Each command from the Lord is treasured as a word from the Highest.

3. There is intelligence. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom”, 111. 10. The mind that reverences most in God will learn most from Him. There is an intelligence that is born alone of the Spirit of God; we need it, 1 Cor. 2. 16.