Psalm 19:9 Proverbs 9:1 – 12 – The Fear of the Lord is Wisdom
Not many people would consider fear to be something desirable, and in the sense of terror that is absolutely true, but the Word of God does say that it is a good and necessary thing to fear the Lord. The Scriptures teach men and women that God is to be feared and how that fear is to be manifested. The fear, or reverence of God is brought about through the eternal ‘clean’ or holy word through its true and righteous judgements. When once the holiness of God and the utter sinfulness of man have been understood through the Word, the immediate reaction should be that of the prophet Isaiah when confronted with the overwhelming holiness of God; ‘Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.” That fear, however, is not a terrifying fear, but a recognition of the majesty and glory of God and a desire to serve and obey him as sovereign as Saul of Tarsus realised on the road to Damascus, ‘So he, trembling and astonished, said, ‘Lord, what do You want me to do?’.
So valuable is the law of the Lord and the godly fear that it can produce in the life of a man or a woman who accepts it and lives by it, that it is compared in verse ten in its preciousness to the finest gold, and in its sweetness and desirability to the finest of gold. The richness and sweetness of the Word compared to the good things of the world is well summed up by William Plumer in his commentary, ‘Wealth can heal no wounded spirit, cheer no sinking soul, give hope to no desponding mind, defend against none of the worst ills of life, point no weary traveller to the way of rest, give no assurance of happiness beyond the grave. God’s Word can do all these things, and a thousand times more’.
Questions
- What do you understand by the ‘fear of the Lord’?
- How can you show the preciousness of the Word of God?
Prayer Points
- Pray for a godly fear of the sovereign God.
- Pray for a deeper love of the Word.
- Use prayer points from your congregation.
- Pray for family matters.