Fear of God

Isaiah 33:5-9 NLT

“5 Though the Lord is very great and lives in heaven,
    he will make Jerusalem his home of justice and righteousness.
6 In that day he will be your sure foundation,
    providing a rich store of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge.
    The fear of the Lord will be your treasure.
7 But now your brave warriors weep in public.
    Your ambassadors of peace cry in bitter disappointment.
8 Your roads are deserted;
    no one travels them anymore.
The Assyrians have broken their peace treaty
    and care nothing for the promises they made before witnesses.
    They have no respect for anyone.
9 The land of Israel wilts in mourning.
    Lebanon withers with shame.
The plain of Sharon is now a wilderness.
    Bashan and Carmel have been plundered.”

We read our verses today and wonder what life was really like in Isaiah’s day. With the cruel and destructive Assyrians getting ever closer, even to the point of reaching Jerusalem’s gates, fear must have been with them constantly. Fear of death, starvation, and thirst, just for a start. Then there is the fear of the unknown, and the feelings of helplessness that prevailed throughout a nation unable to protect and defend itself from the ravages of the Assyrians. Isaiah points the people to God, reassuring them that “He will make Jerusalem his home of justice and righteousness”. When that will happen, though, must have been the uppermost thought in the Judean’s minds. Again we read “In that day”, but surely that is no help, they must have thought. Does that mean tomorrow, or the next day, or next week? We need the Lord’s help now, they must have told Isaiah. But “In that day he will be your sure foundation, providing a rich store of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge. The fear of the LORD will be your treasure” (Isaiah 33:6).

But the people must have wondered more, because Isaiah added another “fear” to the rest of them – the “fear of the Lord”. This is where there is relevance for us pilgrims today. The “fear of the Lord” is something we must carefully and completely embrace, because of who He is. It is much more than simply being afraid of the Lord, as the people were of the Assyrians. The Hebrew idea behind “fear” includes genuine fear or awe, but in Scripture it commonly describes reverence, respect, humility and submission before God because of who He is. The people needed something more dependable than military strength or political alliances, so Isaiah points them to God Himself. The “fear of the Lord” becomes their treasure because it establishes the right relationship with God.

To fear the Lord is to recognise that God is infinitely greater, holier and more powerful than we are. Psalm 111:10 says: “Fear of the LORD is the foundation of true wisdom. All who obey his commandments will grow in wisdom. Praise him forever!” The starting point of wisdom is recognising that God, rather than ourselves, is Lord. Another facet of fearing the lord was discovered by Isaiah in his Temple vision. He suddenly took God’s character seriously during his encounter with God. We read in Isaiah 6:3: “[The seraphim] were calling out to each other, “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of Heaven’s Armies! The whole earth is filled with his glory!”” . His response was not casual familiarity but humility before a holy God. Two verses on we read, “Then I said, “It’s all over! I am doomed, for I am a sinful man. I have filthy lips, and I live among a people with filthy lips. Yet I have seen the King, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies“”.

Biblical fear is demonstrated by how we live. It means wanting to please God and being willing to turn away from what displeases Him. Proverbs 8:13 says: “All who fear the LORD will hate evil. Therefore, I hate pride and arrogance, corruption and perverse speech.” So the fear of God is not merely an emotion; it affects our choices. Then we have the thought that for someone who belongs to God, fearing Him does not mean constantly being frightened that He will destroy them. There is a distinction between fear of God’s judgment and reverent trust in God. Psalm 103:13 expresses this beautifully: “The LORD is like a father to his children, tender and compassionate to those who fear him”. The person who fears God can therefore approach Him with confidence while still treating Him with profound reverence.

We read in Isaiah 33:6 what is perhaps the most striking part of fearing the Lord: “The fear of the Lord will be your treasure”. A treasure is something valuable that you deliberately keep and protect. Isaiah said that reverence for God is itself a source of spiritual wealth. It has to be, fellow pilgrims, because we value God for all that he is, for all that He has done for us, and will keep on doing until the day when He calls us home. Isaiah 33:6 defines the treasure as being our salvation, wisdom, knowledge, spiritual stability and security. In other words, when God is properly valued, His people gain something far more valuable than the things they normally consider security.

Did the Judeans get all this? Well, we read what God did in 2 Kings 19:37-36, “That night the angel of the LORD went out to the Assyrian camp and killed 185,000 Assyrian soldiers. When the surviving Assyrians woke up the next morning, they found corpses everywhere. Then King Sennacherib of Assyria broke camp and returned to his own land. He went home to his capital of Nineveh and stayed there“. And it didn’t end well for Sennacharib, because in the next verse we read, “One day while he was worshipping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer killed him with their swords. They then escaped to the land of Ararat, and another son, Esarhaddon, became the next king of Assyria“.

To sum up our little journey into what the “fear of the Lord” means, we must look at two other Scriptures. Psalm 27:1, “The LORD is my light and my salvation— so why should I be afraid? The LORD is my fortress, protecting me from danger, so why should I tremble?” And then we have Proverbs 14:26, “Those who fear the LORD are secure; he will be a refuge for their children”. So the fear of the Lord changes what we are afraid of. When our lives are dominated by fear of circumstances, people, illness, financial uncertainty or the future, Isaiah directs our attention back to God. We recognise His greatness, trust His character, submit to His authority and find our security in Him.

Dear Father God. Thank You that You are dependable and trustworthy, and that You are building a Heavenly home for us. So, from a place of spiritual strength, we can look at the mayhem in the world around us, knowing that You have everything under control. Please forgive us for the times when we doubt You. Instead, please strengthen our faith in You, day by day. Amen.

“They have no fear of God at all.”
Romans 3:18 NLT
“Sin whispers to the wicked, deep within their hearts. They have no fear of God at all.”
Psalms 36:1 NLT

Paul ends his list of Old Testament Scriptural references with a quotation from Psalm 36. He simply points out, as David did so many years before when he wrote this Psalm, that sin and wickedness have a root in a lack of fear of God.

There are many things to be fearful about with God, not the least that one day all humanity will have to stand before Him to give an account of their lives. That alone should be enough to strike fear into even the most defiant person. The second verse of Psalm 36 is, “In their blind conceit, they cannot see how wicked they really are”. There is this tendency for human beings to deny that God will cause anything bad to happen, even if they accept that He exists. They rationalise or excuse their behaviour by saying that a God of love will never send anyone to hell. The doctrine of Universalism, which has gained popularity in recent years, maintains that everyone will ultimately be saved. This doctrine is based on verses like Acts 3:21, “Heaven must receive him until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets“. It would perhaps be a nice thought, but the context of Scripture is that salvation and eternal life is only gained through our belief in, and obedience to, Jesus. John 3:36, “And anyone who believes in God’s Son has eternal life. Anyone who doesn’t obey the Son will never experience eternal life but remains under God’s angry judgment.” And so, if there is to be no penalty for wickedness and sin, the Universalists say, how they behave in the end won’t matter. But we pilgrims know that, ultimately, sin has to be judged and dealt with by our righteous God. And for those who are unrepentant, their future will not end well.

But fear doesn’t just mean a negative emotion resulting from an event or situation that will do us harm if carried out. That type of the fear of God only applies to the unbeliever, because one day they will be judged and will experience eternal death somewhere most unpleasant. For a Christian, the fear of God means the respect He is due because of who He is. It is a reverence of Him, supported by such Scriptures as Hebrews 12:28, “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe”. That reverential fear should also extend into our behaviour as Christians, because, as His children, we have our responsibilities too. As our natural parents disciplined us, so does our Heavenly Father. Hebrews 12:5-6, “And have you forgotten the encouraging words God spoke to you as his children? He said, “My child, don’t make light of the Lord’s discipline, and don’t give up when he corrects you. For the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes each one he accepts as his child””‭‭.

I can just imagine the Apostle Paul shaking his head in disbelief with the realisation that there were those in the Roman church who had “no fear of God at all”. And, according to the verse Paul quoted, it’s all down to sin. Thankfully, his detailed letter contained everything needed to get the errant Roman Christians back on track. Paul’s words are timeless, and apply, with the same weight, today.

Dear Father God. In deep reverence we bow before You today. We worship You, our loving Father. Amen.

Isaiah 33:6 – Why the Fear of the Lord Is Our Greatest Treasure

No Fear