Dr. Quahana
- Nov 2, 2023
- 5 min read

"Fear God"

Psalm 111:10

"Fear of the Lord is the foundation of true wisdom. All who obey His commandments will grow in wisdom. Praise Him forever!"

Isaiah 41:10 CSB

"Do not fear, for I am with you;

do not be afraid, for I am your God.

I will strengthen you; I will help you;

I will hold on to you with My righteous right hand.”

1 Samuel 12:24

"But be sure to fear the Lord and faithfully serve Him. Think of all the wonderful things He has done for you."

[NLT version used unless otherwise noted. Scriptural emphasis mine.]

Today, let's talk about fear. Many times, in Scripture God instructs us, in fact He commands us, not to fear or be afraid and that is without question an instruction that every Believer should walk in accordance with. We have a God Who fights for us and always wins, in fact He sent His Son to win the battle over Sin, Death and the Grave. And because Jesus won, I win, you win and we win. However, there are also many times in Scripture when God does tell us to fear, but this is a fear of Him, God. While the first fear is one of mankind, circumstance or the Enemy that can understandably invoke anxiety, worry and trepidation, the latter is a special fear reserved for God alone that invokes reverence, awe and gives us correct vision toward our Creator.

Because of the complexities of the human mind, it can be easy to confuse fear of God with fear of man. Fear of God is a posture that recognizes that before the one true living Sovereign God, we must bow in submission and awe under the weightiness of His Power, greatness and majesty. This fear chooses to walk in obedience to God rather than face a broken fellowship with Him. This fear chooses to live righteously rather than suffer consequences from a life lived outside of His Will.

The original Hebrew has a variation of meanings, connotations and words for fear, but you don't have to know Hebrew. Simply look at the context for clues to the word/passage's meaning: The writer, the time, the audience and the subject. In many of the Proverbs and Psalms passages, the author, be it the psalmist, king David, king Solomon, etc., is speaking to an Israelite audience about the subject, God, during ancient Biblical times. In these passages fear means awareness or realization of God, thereby being receptive/open to His wisdom and knowledge [i.e., "fearing" Him]. Other times in Scripture, like in Joshua and Isaiah among others it is God speaking to the people and either telling them yes to "fear God" or giving encouragement and comfort as He is telling them not to fear their enemies as they faced a battle of some sort. Either way the common denominator is the Omnipotent, Omniscient and Omnipresent God.

We of course know, that like the Israelites, there are legitimate times when we might be in physical peril and rightly experience fear, trepidation or alarm [all definitions of fear] and God reminds us not to fear because He will be with us and help us during those times. And I encourage anyone in those instances to contact the proper authorities immediately [and pray at the same time, OK?!]. What I want to focus on is the gem found in the definition that reads "profound reverence and awe, especially toward God". You see when we walk in common fear, we are walking defeated and afraid that we will be hurt, harmed, maligned or destroyed by someone who is a created being or something that is a created circumstance. Heads hung low and spirits even lower we cannot function when we fear, because we are acting as if Jesus has not won the battle for us and has not left us with His Holy Spirit for protection. That is most assuredly no way to live. But when we open ourselves up to fear God, we are inviting His Holy Spirit to impart wisdom to us so as to grow in our knowledge of Him and watch as it translates to a closer walk with Him in alignment to His Will. Scripture tells us that fear of the Lord along with true humility leads to riches, honor and long life. As always, I encourage you to continue to study God's sovereign character to understand His definitions, HIs timing and His Will.

Think back to when you were a child, and you were tempted to be disobedient. What stopped you? Fear of your parents' reaction probably. While you might have loved to indulge the temptation, you loved obeying your parents and avoiding their discipline even more. Funny enough, my parents didn't spank us [no condemnation for those that do!], but they did discipline us when needed. And let me tell you, for me there was nothing worse than what I call the "disappointed momma face" or the "I hear my daddy's tone of voice" when I was out of line! A spanking was not needed, thank you very much. Because I had knowledge of my parents' character and desired to be in fellowship with them and walk in their will, I grew in wisdom and knew not to repeat my [or my older siblings'] disobedient action again. As I matured, I learned how to fear God above all else because I know as the Creator, Ruler and Keeper of all, His Power reigns supreme and He comes first. Reverence for God helps me walk the right path and graciously [but firmly] scoots me back in line when I inevitably[!] stumble or mess up. This reverence is a delight in His Power and holiness and how that translates to me as His child.

Fearing God is recognizing that ultimately only He has the power and authority to righteously and justly hold us accountable for what we do, say and think. This awareness of God as Sovereign Lord and Ruler can translate to a desire to live righteously and honor Him in all we do. Remember, fearing God is not to propagate some's idea of an angry vengeful God, but rather a God that loves the world so much that not only did He send His Son to die for them but, will correct them when they operate in ways that are harmful to themselves and/or to others.

Because I fear God, I don't have to fear man or the Devil. Now, when fear does try to creep in [because it will masterpieces] I have the opportunity to trust God and not be afraid, because He is with me, and because I know Him. Whatever frightening circumstance we might find ourselves in, be it legitimate fear or a lie from the Enemy, we can fear God above all else. Not only will He go before us, stand behind us and cover us on all sides, we will grow in our knowledge of Him and be wiser for it as we remember to reverentially fear Him by meditating on His glorious, majestic splendor and wonderful miracles.

Takeaways for you to remember:

#1 To fear God is to be in awe of, revere and know Him.

#2 Fear of God = Receiving instruction, wisdom, honor and life, while turning away from evil.

#3 Context in Scripture is key.

Yours in Christ!

Dr. Quahana

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