Making Sense of “The Fear of the LORD”

Another reason to acknowledge and retain the doctrines of both the universal and redemptive Fatherhood of God is that doing so brings clarity to our understanding of the fear of God.

Fear of the LORD is reverential awe. For example, in Psa. 96:4 it says, “For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; he is to be feared above all gods.” Hebrew poetry makes use of parallelism, where often the second line or phrase mirrors the first but is said differently for variety. In other words, in this case, the first line—praising him for his greatness is a similar thought to fearing the LORD.

But as the late philosopher Dallas Willard observes:

[Fear of the LORD is] more than “reverential awe” . . . fear is the anticipation of harm. The intelligent person recognizes that his or her well-being lies in being in harmony with God and what God is doing in the “kingdom.” God is not mean, but he is dangerous. It is the same with other great forces he has placed in reality. Electricity and nuclear power, for example, are not mean, but they are dangerous. One who does not, in a certain sense, “worry” about God, simply isn’t smart.[1]

According to Proverbs, where “fear of the LORD” is the motto of the book, it is:

  • “the beginning of knowledge” (1:7)
  • “the beginning of wisdom and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight” (9:10)
  • “a fountain of life that one may turn one from the snares of death” (14:27)
  • “instruction in wisdom” (15:33)
  • “how one “turns away from sin” (16:6)
  • something that “leads to life and whoever has it rests satisfied; he will not be visited by harm” (19:23)

The New Oxford Annotated Bible, in assessing the examples above as well other ways “fear of the LORD” is used, defines  it as “reverence for and obedience to God that motivates virtuous behavior and fosters individual and communal well-being.”[2]

Many question how the fear of the Lord can be the beginning of wisdom (Pr 1:7), and yet, at the same time, how “perfect love casts out fear” (1 John 4:18). This is easily answered when both the universal and redemptive Fatherhood of God are considered: God as the Maker, Creator, and Establisher of all humans—the universal Father—should be feared. He is the Potter with authority over the clay. He gives life, and He can take it. He has the power to create and destroy both body and soul in hell (Matt. 10:28). These are sobering facts for all, and whoever does not fear God at some level, as Willard observes, is just not smart. On the other hand, in Christ, believers come to know “Abba,” their Father God, according to His special redemptive love (John 1:12–13). Here blood-washed saints learn that God’s wrath is fully satisfied (1 John 1:2), that they have been given the robe of Christ’s righteousness, and that they can boldly come to His throne of grace (Heb. 4:16). Now, as recipients of the extravagant redemption of the Father, we experience His perfect love which casts out fear. The fear of the Lord was a beginning, but now more and more it is our Heavenly Father’s goodness that leads us to repentance (Rom. 2:4). 

[1] Dallas Willard, Renovation of the Heart (Colorado Springs, CO: Navpress, 2002), 51.

[2] The New Oxford Annotated Bible: Fifth Edition, NRSV, (Oxford University Press: 2018), 907.