Understanding What The Fear Of The Lord Is: Biblical Explanation

"The fear of the Lord" I bet you've heard this biblical phrase countless times during sermons and even outside church activities. But do you know what this phrase means in real sense?

It's quite obvious that this Biblical term is still confusing to some as to what it means in real sense.  Many often wonder if fearing God means being afraid of God or just showing Him some respect (as some would say). Even now, you might just be wondering, why God would want us to feel in such a way towards Him despite what the Bible say that He love us.

Anyways, there are lots of other questions this post is going to address and of course I promise to make it as simple as possible with biblical references and examples. This is because I've come to know that, most people don't understand what this is all about and their awareness of God sometimes become so weak that they take God for granted and even mess up with His things.

So let's dive in, by first understanding why we feel fear toward God i.e. His fearsomeness and how this attribute bring us more closer to Him.

Understanding God's Fearsomeness

Basically, if you and I can fear our fellow human being because of who and what they are, or because of what they've been able to acquire (i.e. power, authority, wealth, or wisdom) or because of some rear characteristics they portrayed. Then, how much more shall we fear the Living God, whose attributes are incomprehensible, unmeasurable and incomparable?

Apparently, it must be of a greater degree – a greater fear that knows no boundaries and that is without measure. One that is stronger and powerful than every other fear, and that subdues all fears.

This is because the Sovereign God has absolute power and majesty. His supremacy, omniscience, omnipresence, omnipotence, awesomeness, immutability, immortality, holiness, faultlessness, and all other divine attributes that He has, which other gods can never possess, makes Him fearsome and the only awesome God (Deuteronomy 10:17, Psalms 47:2). And we, being one of His creatures, can not but fear Him(Psalms 33:8, Psalms 119:120).

Evidently, there are many things about God that we do not know. And am very sure you'll agree with me that, God is far more greater than what we've all imagined Him to be, as it shows that, we only know Him by what He chose to reveal to us through miracles, judgment, dreams and visions. And with that simple statement, you should of course, be able to register the fact that no man or gods can share His attributes with Him (Psalms 86:8).

What makes Him even more fearsome is that His wrath is eternal, yet, His mercy is endless and inexhaustible. No wonder Hebrews 10:31 says, "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." Yet king David said, it's better to fall into God's hand than to fall into the hand of man because God's mercies are great (2 Samuel 24:14).

Fine, God is fearsome and awesome. And the only thing we can do, to be on a safer side, is to pay extra attention to all His Words and obey Him dearly. But why should we fear Him?

Understanding Why We Need To Fear God

There are lots of verses, examples and teachings in the Bible that asked us to fear, obey and reference God, one of which is Psalm 33:8-9, where David said;

Let all the earth fear the LORD; Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him. For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast.

Obviously, it is very easy to deduce from the two verses that; God does not only want us to know that He exist, but also want every man to serve Him in fear and love. Why? Because He want us to know Him and have a close relationship with Him so that we can be sustained.

It is only the fear of the Lord that can help us develop a deep sense of reverence towards God, so that we can freely interact with Him while our mind is kept holy, just and righteous. So then, what is this FEAR all about? Does it mean being afraid of God? No.

Understanding What The Fear Of The Lord Really Means

Literally, we can say the fear of God means being afraid of God and being frightened in His presence. Which of course, we can link to the fact that He's fearsome.

Similarly, we can say since we all have the tendency of being afraid of certain things that are beyond our control, imagination or reach, then we cannot but be afraid of Him.

But in real sense, God doesn't want us to be afraid of Him. Instead, He wants us to freely interact with Him in love and trust Him with our whole heart.

He loved us so much that He wouldn't put us in bad situation (like being afraid) except we provoke Him to do so. Even when he does, its always for our own good; to correct us and make us up. For he said: "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end." (Jeremiah 29:1)

Thence, God is really concerned about our well being and His thought towards us are good because all He want for us is absolute peace of mind, even in the midst of the storms of life.

So, contrary to the view that the fear of God means being afraid of God. We can say that, the fear of God is a way of knowing and interacting with God. How?

Logically, when we fear God, we run away from sin and keep all His commandments. Thence, making us fit to stand in His presence and become His friend.

Before you can see beyond the cloud and operate in the realm of God's mysteries, you have to fear God with all your heart – John Remi Olagunju

So, how do we define the fear of the Lord?

Having looked through the Scripture, I come to define the fear of the Lord as a Holy fear that governs our relationship with God and with man (please check Deuteronomy 6:2 & Leviticus 25:17).

That is, it is the Fear that controls our mindset (Genesis 22:12), influence the way we think (Daniel 3:16-18), and that rules our conduct (Genesis 39:9, Exodus 1: 15-17, Leviticus 19:14).

The fear of the Lord is a healthy type of fear. It is a Holy Fear! And understanding what the Bible say it is, will help you to please God in all your doings and to stay active even when faced with tough situations.– Gideon Oluwafemi

Meanwhile, the Bible already gave us some definitions of what the fear of the Lord is. For instance:

• Proverbs 8:13 & Proverbs 14:2, described it as hating evil and loving good or being upright.

• Proverbs 10:27, Proverbs 14:27 & Proverbs 19:23, all explained it to be the reason why we live and the source of life.

• Also, Psalms 111:10, Proverbs 1:7, Proverbs 9:10 & Proverbs 15:33, tells us more about it and defined it as the beginning (source) of wisdom and knowledge.

Therefore, we can say the fear of God is a Holy Fear;

• that helps us to know who God is

• that enables us to know, understand, and to follow the will of God

• that empowers us to emulate Christ and become God's friend

• that help us to live in love 

• that enables us to understand God's Word and laws

• that strengthen us to live a holy life

• that help us to surrender all to God while we reverence Him in deep love

• that allow us to live in absolute peace as we fear nothing else but Him

• that make us do things rightly

• that make us to be aware of God's judgment in all that we do

• and that make us to be knowledgeable about the harmfulness of sin.

Which all summed up to sound wisdom (Proverbs 2:5-7) and sound doctrine (Hebrews 12:28 & 29).

Then, we can simply say that, the fear of the Lord is the fear that makes us to live our whole life in total submission unto God. In other words, it is a thing we need in our heart, in every place and at every given time.

Now that you know what the fear of the Lord is, I think we should go deeper into the topic (i.e. the purpose of writing this article), and see what it means to fear the Living God so that we can have a more wholesome understanding about the subject.

What It Means To Fear The Living God

Many people today are just carefree; they take sin (or some kind of sin) lightly and hold God in low regard simply because they lack the fear of God in their heart.

And according to Exodus 20:20, Moses made us to know that, it is only the fear of God that can prevent us from sinning, such that, we fear the judgment of God in all that we do. So it's very obvious that God is well interested in keeping us away from sin with His Fear – Fear & Love in action. But I still don't know why some people choose to see it as a negative thing.

Look, the fear of God is not like the fear of man or the fear of the world that immobilizes us from taking action, which of course can cause death in itself.

Rather, it's a Healthy, Holy Fear that brings about confidence, life, love, zealousness and that quicken us to take proper actions. (Proverbs 29:25, Proverbs 19:23, Proverbs 14:26, Psalms 25:12). 

Some will even say, "the fear of our Holy God is only felt when we are in sin and by those in darkness or the principalities of darkness". Yes, that's true! Those who choose to disregard or disobey God often live in fear of God's judgment just as in Exodus 9:20, Isaiah 25:3 and Act 5:11. But whether you agree with me or not, we are all bound to fear the Living God, irrespective of what and who we are (Psalms 33:8).

The main thing is just to have the right kind of fear toward God – the healthy type if fear.  Hence, the fear of the Lord is never to be absent in the mind of those who commit themselves unto Him (check Psalms 89:7).

So back to the question, "what does it mean to fear God?". To fear God means to live a life of total submission unto God, not by the word of mouth or by public display, but by our actions and our mindset i.e. by living a godly life. 

In other words, it means living everyday rightly by obeying Him, doing His will and by thinking rightly, which of course will earn us His friendship.

For instance, you're in a secluded place where no one is watching you, yet you chose to do the right thing because of the fear of God in your heart.

Or watch this: you're to choose between two tight options or held within a strain..... yet, you choose to do the right thing, to say the right words and to be in the right place, simply because you have the fear of God in your heart.

In essence, to fear God means to approach all of life from God's point of view; to live rightly by considering His holy standard and judgement; and to believe in Him for everything.

Okay, let's dig even more deeper.....

Does Fearing God Also Means Reverencing Him? 

Yes, but as you can see from the beginning of this lesson; fearing God is more than just reverencing Him.

While I was trying to write on this topic, I did some searches on Google and even watched some videos to help me better understand this topic, but one thing I discovered was that some preachers are trying to downplay what the fear of God means and a few even described it some other way.

Am not judging anyone, but the fact that the Bible says perfect love expels all fear (1 John 4:18) and that God has given us the power and spirit of love and sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7) doesn't mean we should start limiting His fear to mere respecting or reverencing Him.

Obviously, fearing God is not exactly the same as reverencing Him; it's more than just showing God some respect in a scared manner. In fact, there's no way we can fully reverence God without first fearing Him.

Besides, it's always clear and very clear that, each time the Bible says "fear the Lord", it means FEAR and nothing less! So it shows the Bible isn't using the two words ("fear" & "reverence") interchangeably, even thou the two words are somewhat related.

Fine, then how do we fear him?

How To Fear God

For we to fear God, we have to allow ourselves to continually feel His presence. We have to:

• continually walk with and in Him

• love Him and serve Him with the whole of our heart

• pay close attention to His Words

• obey His laws and commandments to the fullest

• flee away from sin

• hate all forms evil

• rely solely on God (trusting in and depending on Him alone)

• fear nothing else but Him

• make godly decisions and 

• always make ourselves available for God.

By the way, how long should we fear God?

Fearing God has no time limit because we are to fear Him throughout our lifetime. Besides, if you've taken your time to read the above explanation, you should be able to recall that I mentioned the word "continually"– to continually walk with and in Him.

Hence, we have to continually fear God throughout our whole life by always putting Him first and considering His judgement in all that we do (even in our thought).

Benefits Of Fearing God

Now you might just be wondering, "why do I have to fear God? And is it not tasking if I have to do it my whole life?, Is there any benefit in fearing God?"

Short Answer: Fearing God your whole life shouldn't be taxing if you truly love Him. Because once you gain His friendship, His fear automatically becomes a part of you. And to the second question, yes, there tons of benefits in fearing God.

Besides, the benefits you derive for fearing Him far outweigh your loyalty to Him or whatever price you're paying. So yes, there are lots of great benefits in fearing God and the reasons why you should fear Him is that, you need to have a close relationship with Him so that you can be sustained.

And on this note, I'll like to let you know or to remind you that, having the fear of God in your heart is for your own Goodman and you're not in anyway helping God increase His supremacy – His Supremacy is already established. So then, what are the benefits of fearing God?

Some of the benefits you can derive for fearing God (as written in the Bible) include, but not limited to:

• God's Friendship (Psalms 147:11; Psalms 25:14)

• Power Over Sin (Proverbs 16:6; Exodus 20:20; Proverbs 3:7; Proverbs 8:13)

• Sound Wisdom & Knowledge (Proverbs 9:10; Proverbs 1:7; Proverbs 15:33)

• Divine Security/Protection (Psalms 33:18; Psalms 34:7)

• Pure Sense Of Confidence (Proverbs 14:26)

• Great Blessings (Psalms 112:1-3; Psalms 115:13; the whole of Psalms 128; and Psalms 145:19; Proverbs 22:4)

• Salvation (Psalms 85:9)

• Good & Eternal Life (Proverbs 10:27; Proverbs 14:27; Proverbs 19:23)

• Mercy (Luke 1:50)

• Happiness (Proverbs 28:14)

• Peace (Proverbs 14:26, Proverbs 16:7)

• Good health (Proverbs 3:7&8)

So now, you can see how important the fear of God is. Not only that this fear is unavoidable, it is also a necessity for you and I. Thence, instead of seeing it as a barrier, see it as a chance for you to have a closer relationship with Him. 

God hates evil! And the only way we can relate with Him is by hating evil as well! Evidently, no one can enjoy the goodness of God beyond his degree of understanding about the fear of God.

In other words, the level of our understanding of what the fear of the Lord is, determines the level of our relationship with Him. Thus, our victories and successes in life is in how much we know, fear, obey, and love God.

And now that you have a good understanding of what the Bible say the fear of the Lord is, you should be able to have a good and lasting relationship with God while you enjoy all the benefits there of.

In fact, sin should no longer be your master. Even so, you're not to be subjected to the fear of the world because you have a greater fear in you – The Fear Of THE LORD.

Respect everyone irrespective of who they are, but do not fear them. Fear only the Lord your God, and learn to please Him at all times.

On a final note, I'll like to ask you these questions: Do you truly fear God? What is the evidence that you fear God? Have you been keeping His commandments and have you been considering the judgment of God in everything you do? Or you have just been taking God for granted?

Just think about it. Think about all the benefits you've been missing and how you've been neglecting His friendship.

I want you to address everything today by having the fear of God in your heart, by loving Him and considering Him in all that you do.

I hope you've been truly blessed by this message. If yes, I implore you share it your friends and families.

Or do you have some other questions unanswered in this article? Please kindly drop a comment below. I promise to respond to all of them. And please, kindly subscription to our newsletter so that you can always get more updates like this.