What Is the Fear of God?

“Aslan is a lion- the Lion, the great Lion.” “Ooh” said Susan. “I’d thought he was a man. Is he-quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion”…”Safe?” said Mr Beaver …”Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.”
― C.S. Lewis, from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

My guess is that many people do not know, or at least have questions about the real nature of the fear of God.  I have heard recently the fear of God watered down to the idea of respect or reverence alone, which is simply inaccurate.  Others characterize the fear of God as a constant and overwhelming terror, which also is not accurate.

These ideas rise from extremes in perceptions of God Himself. To some, God is an angry and capricious being who is watching them very closely, eagerly waiting for them to step out of line so He can rain down judgment on them for their disobedience. These people are always waiting for the worst—waiting in deep fear of the next horrible surprise God will send their way.

To others, He is a nice guy who loves us and always wants what is good for us. About 10 years ago I was driving locally in my car listening to the local news talk station when the host began talking about his experience in church the previous Sunday.  I perked up as the host said this:

“I looked around the church and realized that there were people on their phones and tablets surfing the net during the sermon.  I thought to myself that this is great!  No one should have to give 100% attention to anything.  I think God is perfectly happy with something like 50% of our attention.  Yes, I think that is about right.  50% is good.” 

This is also a completely unbiblical concept of the nature and will of our God. 

Fear means fear 

This is an important concept to note. It is often difficult to get the nuance of a word in translation from one language to another.  Sometimes words overlap and sometimes there simply isn’t an exact word in the new language to communicate the idea.  Fear is used throughout scripture, but many times in Proverbs means, well, fear.  Sometimes it is translated as terror and it certainly includes the idea of respect but is not limited to that idea. The respect that we show God is not so much like the respect we show the elderly as it is the respect an electrician shows for an extremely high-voltage power line.

Terror is one way it is often translated, but that gets skewed in our modern culture.  Terror for many is the fear of being surprised by something extremely harmful. It is the terror that people experience vicariously while watching a horror movie.  The fear of the Lord is not like that.

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. (Proverbs 9:10-11)

The fear of the LORD starts with a knowledge of the Holy One.

Having a cognitive understanding of how the Bible represents God is a good starting place.  He is holy, just, loving, merciful, gracious, forgiving, unchanging, immense, omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient, faithful, true, sovereign, active, and so much more.  Each of these characteristics of God lends to our balanced fear of God.

The fear of the LORD looks different depending on the circumstances.

Of course, the fear of God differs depending upon our relationship with Him.  To those who are unbelievers, there should be a real terror of eternal judgment.  To a believer walking in disobedience, there should be a fear correction.  To an immature believer, there is a fear of the real-life consequences of potential future disobedience.  To a mature believer, there is a fear of the disapproval of the LORD who so lovingly sent His son to die in our place.  This is why it is hard to define the fear of God because it looks different at various times and places.

The true fear of God always produces a focused believer.

As a child, I remember watching Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. on afternoon TV when I got home from school.  It was a sitcom spin-off of the Andy Griffith Show that featured a goofy private played by Jim Nabors.  A commonly reoccurring scene in the show was the drill Sgt. Carter getting into the faces of the Marines and screaming at them.  The comedy was the goofy look that Pvt Pyle had on his face—it was as if he liked being yelled at.  Drill sergeants do yell at recruits.  They get in their faces, intimidate them, scare them, and make them cry if they can.  There is a purpose in it all.  That DI wants that recruit to get to the point where there is only one thing that marine or soldier is thinking about—doing what the DI wants.  What mom wants no longer matters, what friends back home think doesn’t matter.  The world gets very small and pleasing the DI is the only goal.

The fear of God is like that.  Not God yelling at us and intimidating us, but it is a deep understanding of the nature of God and His active attention on us and active participation in our lives that focuses our attention completely on Him.  The true fear of God does not drive us to uncontrolled panic.  It has the opposite effect. The fear of God is a fear that focuses.  All that matters is pleasing Him.  That focus can be motivated by the fear of the consequences of disobedience or by a loving desire to please our Master.  A young man in love can have a deep and healthy fear of disappointing or hurting his wife.

That kind of fear is not a sense of dread and terror, but a driving fear, a good fear, that impacts the way we think and everything we do.

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