Fear of the Lord #3 – A Positive.
Fear of the Lord #3 – A Positive.
“Praise the LORD! Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who delights greatly in His commandments.” Psa 112:1
In the previous Blog, I wrote that fearing the Lord will keep us from sinning.
“… by the fear of the LORD men depart from evil.” Pro 16:6
That is a great motivation to fear God, because sin is bad, and carries with it consequences; all of which are bad. But even so, many people still look at fearing God as a “negative”; it is not a negative at all. Sin is the negative; not sinning is the positive!
There is a truly positive aspect to the fear of God, it results in his blessing us.
Blessed is the man who fears the Lord!
Think about it: God does not bless sin, he blesses obedience; he blesses the obedient man and woman.
This is not about earning salvation by living correctly, rather this is part and parcel with our sanctification as Christians. As born-again people, who have the Holy Spirit living in us, we want to live correctly, we seek after holiness of life; and one of several motivations to do that is that I want the blessing of God upon my life. I do not want God throwing sand in the gears of my life, I want him greasing the wheels; I want him blessing me!
Psa 112:1 links the fear of God to obedience: “Delighting in God’s commandments” means I think they are good, and so I obey.
No one will say that if we live in the fear of the Lord, there will be 100% guaranteed results of blessing every day, in all areas of life. Remember God is not a vending machine: put in a dollar’s worth of obedience, and get out a dollar’s worth of blessing.
Yet Psa 112 is clear, there are blessings which accrue to the person who fears God, and delights in his commandments, as evidenced by obedience; again, remember, the general principle is: God does not bless sin, he blesses obedience.
What are some of the blessings that we experience when we fear God and walk in his commandments?
There are blessings in the practical areas of life, and there are blessings of a more spiritual nature, and of course there is overlap, and the spiritual blessings are the most important and the best.
As Christians, would we rather be worldly rich and spiritually poor, or worldly poor and spiritually rich?
Psa 112 lists a few areas of life that are blessed: children, possessions, walking in light, generous, not afraid, etc.
“The fear of the LORD prolongeth days” Pro 10:27
“The fear of the LORD tendeth to life: and he that hath it shall abide satisfied; he shall not be visited with evil.” Pro 19:23
“By humility and the fear of the LORD are riches, and honor, and life.” Pro 22:4
A long life, during which we experience satisfaction, and are not visited with evil, but are rather honored, is a blessing indeed. We all want to be satisfied. Our world is filled with dissatisfied people. The Advertising Industry creates dissatisfaction, and then feeds upon the dissatisfaction it has created! But a promised blessing to the Christian, to the person who fears God is satisfaction:
“With long life will I satisfy him, and then shew him my salvation.” Psa 91:16
Satisfaction comes when we live in the fear of God, content with what he has given us, and not sinning to get what he has not given to us.
A few areas of spiritual blessings are:
“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge:” Pro 1:7
“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom” Pro 9:10
“The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life” Pro 14:27
We are blessed with knowledge (the facts), wisdom (how to live in light of the facts), and the fountain of life (satisfaction as we live in light of the facts).
The fountain of life, this is not physical life, it is not spiritual life, and it is not referring to the Holy Spirit. The verse is again talking about a life of quite contentment and satisfaction; a life of joyful submission to what God has allotted to me. I fear to go beyond what he wants for me; I ask him to guide me, and he does, he gives light. And it is a fountain, a spring from which blessings, joy and satisfaction, clean and fresh and new, are ever flowing.
This phrase is only found 3 times in the Bible: Psa 36:9, Pro 13:14, and Pro 14:27.
Read Psa 36, and you will see it is talking about spiritual blessings in this life, and interestingly links the fountain of life with light: “For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light.” Psa 36:9
We can over spiritualize the bible and say this refers to heaven, but the context is our life here on earth! Check it out.
And again, lest any think that the fear of the Lord is an Old Testament concept, consider Joh 10:10 “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”
Calvin’s comment on this verse is: “he (Jesus) declares that life is continually increased and strengthened in those who do not revolt from him [who obey him]. And indeed, the greater progress that any man makes in faith, the more nearly does he approach to fullness of life, because the Spirit, who is life, grows in him.”
And Act 9:31: “Then had the churches rest throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria, and were edified; and walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, were multiplied.”
The churches walked, lived, and conducted their lives, in the fear of the Lord, and so they were comforted by the Holy Spirit, and blessed with rest and edification.
There was the temporal blessing of rest, which resulted in the spiritual blessings of edification and the Holy Spirit’s comfort, and multiplication of believers!
In our troubled world, with so much turmoil, these are blessings beyond compare, for us as individuals, for our families, and for our churches.
May we walk in the fear of the Lord!
21 April 2024