The Foundation of the Fear of the LORD and Humility

The “fear of the LORD” isn’t talked about much in Christian circles these days, including sermons. Why? Possibly because the Mighty LORD has been essentially reduced to a cuddly teddy bear in the sky or perhaps a genial genie. The idea that the Almighty Sovereign God—the Creator of all things in Heaven, Earth & the Universe—is to be feared, respected and awed seems to be unhip. But what does the Bible say about the fear of the LORD, both Old and New Testaments?

The fear of the LORD is foundational to the Spiritual Warrior. Foundational to what? See for yourself:

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge,

but fools despise wisdom and discipline.

Proverbs 1:7

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom;

all who follow his precepts have good understanding.

Psalm 111:10

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom,

and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

Proverbs 9:10

These verses show the connection between knowledge, understanding and wisdom. Knowledge, of course, is factual information, whether mundane or spiritual, while understanding has to do with comprehension. It’s possible to know something, including trivia, but not really understand the subject. Meanwhile wisdom is the application of what you know and understand. Many people know & understand certain important things, but they fail to live it or live in light of it, which means they lack wisdom.

Observe what these passages say is the beginning of all three—the fear of the LORD. If the fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, understanding and wisdom then a person who seeks to attain these without the fear of the LORD is off track from the start! Consequently, the conclusions they’ll come to in their journey of enlightenment will be off. We see this today with all these highly intelligent and “educated” people who are trying to reinvent morality: What is bad is now good and what is good is bad (Isaiah 5:20). Their journey has brought them to a place of twisted understanding because they failed to start with the fear of the LORD, which is acknowledging the Creator and respecting God.

Someone might argue that the “fear of the LORD” is an outmoded Old Testament principle, but Christ himself said we are to fear God:

“Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.”

Matthew 10:28

For more proof, Revelation 19:5 depicts a scene in Heaven in which a voice coming from God’s throne says: “Praise our God, all you his servants, you who fear him, both great and small!” Furthermore, after Ananias and Sapphira were slain by the LORD for their unrepentant lying “great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events” (Acts 5:5,11). Great fear of whom? God!

Furthermore, when Paul noted that all believers will have to stand before Jesus Christ and give an account of our lives at the Judgment Seat, he followed it up with “since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:10-11). Why do we fear the Lord? Because we’re going to stand before Christ and give an account of our lives for what we did in the body, whether good or bad. Of course, any deeds repented of beforehand will not be evaluated because God forgave you when you ’fessed up and “purified you from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:8-9). Those sins were cast into the sea of forgetfulness (Micah 7:19). Isn’t that awesome?

The type of fear Paul was talking about—led of the Holy Spirit—was obviously fear of being held accountable to something negative. In other words, fear of punishment (Proverbs 16:6, 3:7 & 8:13). This is the most elemental kind of fear, which compels people to stay on the straight and narrow. For instance, a guy might not believe in God, but he won’t commit murder because he fears going to prison for decades or the death penalty. A married woman might find a man attractive, but she refuses to entertain adultery because she doesn’t want to ruin her family and life. Of course, the Lord wants us to grow past fear of punishment on our spiritual journey and be motivated by love of God led of the Holy Spirit (1 John 4:16-18 & Romans 8:14). This naturally comes with spiritual growth.

So, the fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, understanding and wisdom, and it’s not just an Old Testament principle, but what exactly is the fear of the LORD? Since fear is another word for reverence and worship, this suggests that knowledge and wisdom begin when we properly acknowledge God and offer our Creator the reverence and adoration due. The writer of Hebrews put it like this:

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.”

Hebrews 12:28-29

There’s also the respectful fear that a son or daughter has toward the just correction and discipline of his/her loving father. It’s a healthy respect for authority; in God’s case, the ultimate authority.

A key trait of the fear of the LORD is, of course, humility, the attitude that we’re not all that and a bag of chips, which brings to mind a simple yet potent passage:

God opposes the proud but gives grace [favor] to the humble.

James 4:6; 1 Peter 5:5; Proverbs 3:34

This is quoted three times in the Bible, once in the Old Testament and twice in the New. God’s trying to get something across to us! He “opposes” the proud, which means he resists them. Proverbs 16:5 even says “The LORD detests all the proud of heart.” Those who are arrogant resist God and the Lord resists them in return. They resist, God resists. It’s a doomed cycle.

The good news, of course, is that the LORD gives grace to the humble, the meek, not the weak. This means his favor! God says:

“These are the ones I look on with favor:

those who are humble and contrite in spirit,

and who tremble at my word.”

Isaiah 66:2

God’s favor, blessing and enlightenment only flow to the humble who genuinely acknowledge their Creator, not the arrogant who are stubborn, hard-hearted and think they know it all. The latter includes religious leaders, like the Pharisees and teachers of the law, who put on airs that they knew and honored God when nothing could’ve been further from the truth. The Pharisees, for instance, claimed to be God’s children but the Messiah told them point blank that they were children of the devil (John 8:41-47)! Don’t think that such religious leaders only existed in Christ’s day. They’re all over today, just open your eyes; they even go by the tag ‘Christian’ and say “Lord, Lord” (Matthew 7:15-23).

What can we conclude from all of this? If we want freedom we have to want truth, which means the way it really is. Why? Because truth is the very thing we need to set us free, as Jesus taught (John 8:31-32). Truth consists of knowledge, understanding and wisdom from God’s Word and the foundation of these is the fear of the LORD.

Needless to say, let’s be wise sons & daughters of God and cultivate a healthy reverence and awe of the Holy One. Always strive for humility, which is the opposite of stubbornness and arrogance. Cultivate the attitude of an unworthy servant who’s only doing his/her duty (Luke 17:10). If you do this, God’s favor will surely flow to you. But please understand that persecutions will increase (2 Timothy 3:12). Higher levels, bigger devils.

This article is available in book form as the opening section of chapter 4 in…