Today's Favorite Verse: Joshua 4:24

Today's Favorite Verse: Joshua 4:24
"That all the people of the earth might know the hand of the Lord, that it is mightly: that ye might fear the Lord your God for ever."

Today I pondered on what it means to "fear the Lord".

I know I must fear the Lord, but yet at the same time Satan will motive by fear. So how do I reconcile what fear is?

The bible dictionary tells me, Fear can have two meanings:
(1) to fear God is to feel reverence and awe for Him and to obey His commandments
(2) to fear man, mortal dangers, pain, and evil is to be afraid of such things and to dread them.

I went through a scriptures looking up all the verses for "fear the Lord" and pondered on what they meant. These are some of my favorites.

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever." (Psalm 111:10)

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction." (Proverbs 1:7)

"Ye that fear the Lord, trust in the Lord: he is their help and their shield." (Psalm 115:11)

"Bless the Lord, O house of Levi: ye that fear the Lord, bless the Lord."  (Psalm 135:20)

"Ye that fear the Lord, praise him; all ye the see of Jacob, glorify him; and fear him, all ye the seed of Israel."  (Psalm 22:23)

"Then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God." (Proverbs 2:5)

"Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil." (Proverbs 3:7)

"And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul." ("Deuteronomy 10:12)

"And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding." (Job 28:28)

"Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters." (Revelation 14:7)

"And behold, he spake unto us, as it were the voice of thunder, and the whole earth did tremble beneath our feet; and we all fell to the earth, for the fear of the Lord came upon us." (Alma 36:7)

"But it is they who do not fear me; neither keep my commandments but build up churches unto themselves to get gain, yea, and all those that do wickedly and build up the kingdom of the devil - yea, verily, verily, I say unto you, that it is they that I will disturb, and cause to tremble and shake to the center." (Doctrine & Covenants 10:56)

"And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord;
And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: (Isaiah 11:2-3)

From pondering these over I think before I can love the Lord I must fear him. I must come to know His power and glory. All shall fear the Lord, the righteous and the wicked. The difference is in how I come to love, trust and reverence Him. As I keep his commandments he will reveal himself to me. His power and glory that will make men tremble will instead impart to me wisdom, knowledge, protection, and grace. I will come to understand I am as the dust of the earth beneath him. He is omnipotent, yet he loves me. I won't fall to the earth for fear of him, it will be to reverence Him.

In this chapter the fear of the Lord is to understand God's power.


Day 766