The fear of the Lord does not need to do with fear or trepidation, but rather refers to suitable amazement and reverence for who God is. It’s a quality that we as Christians should seek and nurture. Though we do not hear the expression frequently enough today, it may still be a great compliment to be known as a God-fearing woman or man. To fear God produces all demeanors of fruit in the Christian’s life. It leads to our hating evil as God does, and the Bible also tells us the fear of the Lord is the start of knowledge (Psalm 111:10 ).

The more we obtain divine understanding, the larger will be our love for the Bible and God’s commandments. As well as all these assets, we find that the person that learns to fear God will have a powerful family (v. 2), with children who grow to be bold for the truth. God-fearing folks also find that “light arises in the darkness for the upright” (v. 4).

This doesn’t suggest that we won’t ever have dark times or times of trouble in the valley – we’ll have trials, headaches, and tears like the remainder of humankind. But in our problems, we are guaranteed the light that comes from God’s angels of deliverance. These protecting messengers encamp around those who fear the Lord. They surround followers above and underneath so that nothing can get at you without divine authorization. Ask God to help have a correct, reverential fear of Him. It’s a request He’s going to be thrilled to receive.

Folk are often puzzled by talk which has to do with fearing God. On the one hand, Scripture scolds us to be afraid of the Lord, but at the same time, we are told that God hasn’t given us a spirit of fear. So how are we to appreciate this phrase? Fearing God does not mean always looking over your shoulder in stress to see what he’s going to do next. The fear of God is something positive and healthy and is obviously outlined in several different scriptures.

A particularly useful one is Proverbs 8:13, where we are told that “the fear of the Lord is to detest evil.” many folks are worried by the idea of hating anything. Yet God announces we are to hate evil as he Himself hates it in all of its forms.

He detests it as he obviously sees its corrupting and destructive influence. We frequently can’t see any corruption at all. In fact, we occasionally look at what is malicious and think that it is not actually too bad. The Devil’s job is to camouflage wickedness till it seems quite trusting or perhaps enticing. The enemy is such a success in his deception that we frequently fall into his snares with out any compunction.

That is why we must learn how to view things as God sees them. We want to develop such a holy loathing for iniquity that we shun and refuse it at each turn. When we get the Lord’s view of misdemeanor, the Devil will be stymied in his attempts to seduce us. Though it might not be a popular position, we will decide to love God and hate evil.

There are a great many times in life when we are overpowered by feelings of hopelessness and despair. We find ourselves beset by uncontrollable circumstances that are fully beyond our control. In our weakness and dismay, we become so fretful and fearful that we even lose sight of the guarantees of God.

We cry to Him for help and adhere to the hope that he’ll change our outward circumstances. Even in our moaning and supplications, we barely know what to ask because our vision is so limited. In times like these, it’s a great comfort to recollect that we’ve got a Guide, a Governor, a Caretaker who sees what we actually need. His timely interventions are typically inward rather than outward.

That is, while we would like to see things change, He wants us to modify. In our weakness, we cry out for relief while the sanctified Holy Spirit is sieving our moaning thru the will of God. As our advocate, He has a commitment to interceding with the Father on our behalf. And His petitions are always heard because they perfectly fit God’s great purposes for our lives.

That is why the apostle Paul was so certain about all things collaborating for good to people who love God. He revealed, “we know,” not “we hope.” He talked with guarantee, not in terms like “maybe,” “if,” or “but.” Likewise, this certainty takes in “all things,” not just some things. What confidence we should all have! Our heavenly Father, the sovereign God of this universe, is exercising supervisory control of each single affair in our life.

Across the Bible, we see God reaching out to His creation to attempt to save and revive. Naturally, nowhere is this more obvious than in the New Testament and particularly in the Gospels thru the life of His Son. Jesus came to earth to find and save those that were spiritually lost and bound by sin.

By His very own profession, He makes this clear when He tells His followers that He didn’t come to judge humankind, but to save the lost from an eternal death (John 3:17). Frequently we are almost convinced to think that God is too wrapped up in the small print of the universe to be worried about our issues. But this isn’t true. Jesus was and still is completely curious about the lives of every one of us. Even after His crucifixion, His intimate concern was for those He loved.

One example of this is the compassion He had for Mary as she searched for Him at the empty crypt. Jesus hadn’t yet ascended to the Father.

He witnessed Mary’s deep sorrow and was moved with compassion. “Mary!” Jesus called out to her. “Rabboni!” that means “Teacher!” was her answer. When she saw the Lord she knew her requests had been answered. Jesus was alive! This was her best need – to understand that what He had guaranteed was true. What’s your best need? Call out to the Savior, and he’ll meet that need.