What does fear of the Lord mean?

The spirit of fear of the Lord could be defined as “our humble position before God.” It says in Isaiah 11:3 that Jesus’ delight will be in the fear of the Lord. It would be the center of all things. Fear of the Lord is not necessarily the first thing that comes to one’s mind as something that makes you a better believer, but I believe scripture shows us that it is the beginning of who we are. The theme of fearing the Lord is explicitly spoken of throughout all of the Old Testament and is heavily implied throughout the New Testament.

What is the fear of the Lord? We know it is a holy reverence for God, but I believe it goes further and should make you shake in your boots with fearful respect. Have you been in the presence of something so huge or enormous, like the Grand Canyon, that you feel small and insignificant? Or have you been in the presence of something so powerful that it makes you tremble because it could destroy you in a blink of an eye, like standing too close to the rocket shuttle when it launches? We have to understand how the bigness of God reveals the smallness of us. The right fear of the Lord puts us where we belong; humbled. Real humility keeps you as the fragile creation and rightly puts God as the mighty creator. If believers don’t have this beautiful quality about themselves, then it will be almost impossible to lead others to God.

In addition, we see God proclaim in Job 1:8 that the people who are blameless and upright in His eyes are people that fear the Lord and turn away from evil. Proverbs speaks the most on what the fear of the Lord is.

Proverbs 1:7 - The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge

Proverbs 8:3 - The fear of the Lord is the hatred of evil

Proverbs 9:10  The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom

Proverbs 14:27  The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life that one may turn away from the snares of death.

Proverbs 15:33  The fear of the Lord is instruction in wisdom

These are just a few nuggets on what the fear of the Lord is. Imagine how much more effective we would be as believers if we navigated through these supernatural promises of God regarding the Fear of the Lord. Can you ponder this list and ask God, “Where is my fear?” I believe He will tell you, and by following the leading of the Holy Spirit, you can experience even more fear of the Lord and be able to lead others to the same place.

James Noriega is the executive director of the Bonner Gospel Mission, 208-263-263-6698 or bonnergospel@outlook.com.