The Fear of God
The fear of the Lord is not a slavish fear but rather a wholesome dread of displeasing God. Proverbs supports this: "Happy is the man that feareth alway" (28.14). The fear of God is like a filial fear. A young man may respect and love his father so much that he does not wish to do anything that would displease his father. The Lord Jesus showed His fear of God by bringing Him into every circumstance of His earthly life, in fulfilment of Isaiah 11.1-5 - "….And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins".
Joseph brought God into it when he was tempted day after day to commit sin with his master's wife (Gen 39.9). In Genesis 39.12, "…she caught him by his garment, saying, lie with me; and he left his garment in her hand, and fled, and got him out". Because of this Joseph lost his coat, his job, his freedom, and his reputation with his masters, but he never lost his character. It is better to lose all that, and more if need be, than to lose one's character. So what Joseph said in Genesis 42.18, "I fear God", was no empty boast for he had proved it when God allowed him to be tested on it as described in 39.7-20.
God's second word of rebuke through Nathan came after David's double sin regarding Bathsheba in 2 Samuel 12.10 - "…because thou hast despised me…". Although David thought highly of the Lord most of his life he was not thinking highly of the Lord in the days and likely weeks prior to his fall.
Years ago I read a profitable little book called Nervous Christians by Dr Lyttle, a Christian psychiatrist. He points out that although most lay persons (which includes most of us regarding psychiatry) think that a crisis causes a nervous breakdown, that is not so. The crisis is really rather the last straw that breaks the camel's back. A nervous breakdown never happens overnight. It has been building up for weeks or months. A fall like David's similarly does not usually happen overnight. Living at a distance from God, neglecting real prayer and daily reading of His Word will precede most moral and spiritual falls.
The fear of God will keep us from sin. To begin with, we will hate sin: "The fear of the Lord is to hate evil" (Prov 8.13). Proverbs 16.6 states, "by the fear of the Lord men depart from evil". 2 Corinthians is of value: "Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God" (7.1). There is nothing like the fear of God to regulate our thinking. No one knows what we are thinking (unless we blurt it out with our mouth), but God knows!
In Deuteronomy 17.14-20 God gave Israel instructions regarding having a king. In v.18 the king was to write out a copy of the law, and v.19 records instructions about that copy of the law: "And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life: that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statues, to do them". We have the Word of God and the fear of God working together.
I admired the knowledge of the Word of God from the first time that I heard a particular ministering brother. While he was gaining that knowledge his fear of God increased. Sadly, after gaining a good knowledge of God's Word, he did not always act in the fear of God. He fell into unbecoming behaviour. It did not require assembly discipline or excommunication but it could easily have led to such a situation. He was asked, "How is it, that a man with such knowledge of the Word of God could do such a thing?". He admitted that knowledge of God's Word alone would not keep one from sin but that the fear of God would.
Christ had perfect trust and dependence on God in His perfect fear of God. How much more do we need it to be preserved from the weakness of our flesh and the wiles of the devil. No person ever lived who was so dependent on his God and Father as our Lord Jesus Christ. "Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall (1 Cor 10.12). We always need to take heed to that exhortation, no matter how well we have gone on for God and no matter how many years we may have done so.
Paul stated that, "having therefore obtained help of God, I continue unto this day" (Acts 26.22). With what encouraging words Jude concludes his epistle in v.24: "Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling…". Any child of God can fall, but if we do, it is because we were not looking to Him to keep us from falling.
We praise God for the example of our Lord Jesus Christ who overcame the devil's temptations by the word of God, by the will of God, and by the fear of God.
Concluded.
