This is part 2 of a 3-part series. View the entire series here.
Let the whole world fear the LORD, and let everyone stand in awe of him. – Psalm 33:8 NLT
When you hear the word fear, you most likely picture some of your own fears—heights, severe weather, small spaces. You may also imagine some of your deeper emotional fears.
But regardless of what you’re afraid of, it’s safe to say that most people do not like feeling fear and will avoid anything that triggers it as much as possible.
The Bible says that perfect love casts out all fear—so why does the Bible also tell us to fear the Lord? Are we actually supposed to be afraid of God and the punishment He’ll inflict on us if we disobey Him? Is the Christian life really supposed to be characterized by such an unpleasant emotion?
Biblical Fear
The Hebrew word used for fear throughout the Old Testament is yirah (see Genesis 20:11; Exodus 20:20; Deuteronomy 2:25; 2 Samuel 23:3; Nehemiah 5:9; and many other places in the Psalms). But this isn’t fear like we typically understand it; it’s not an emotion that comes because we think something may be dangerous or harmful. Yirah means reverence or awe.
We are not meant to be afraid of God; we’re meant to fear Him. To revere and respect Him for all that He is and all that He’s done—past, present, and future. The Bible says this type of fear is the “foundation of wisdom” (Proverbs 9:10 NLT).
But before we can have true reverence and awe for someone, we have to know who they are. We have to understand their character and what makes them worthy of our fear.
God’s Perfect Character
The primary way we learn about and come to know God is through His Word, the Bible. In the Bible, we discover some pretty incredible things about Him:
- God is the Creator of all things (Genesis 1:1)
- He is love (1 John 4:8)
- He is patient (2 Peter 3:9)
- He is light (1 John 1:5)
- He is unchanging (Hebrews 13:8)
- He is eternal (Isaiah 40:8)
- He is merciful (Micah 7:18-19)
- He is righteous and just (Psalm 89:14)
- He is kind (Romans 2:4)
The other way we can know God is through communing with Him in prayer. You get to know a friend on a deeper level the more you talk to them, and the same is true for our relationship with God. The more we talk to Him and the more we listen to what He says in response, the more intimately we’ll know Him.
More Love, Greater Fear
As our knowledge of and relationship with God deepens, our fear of Him should too. God is kind, gentle, patient, and loving—we’ve experienced that firsthand. But He’s also the Creator and Sustainer of all things. He’s holier and more powerful than we can comprehend. He’s the same God who told Moses, “‘You may not look directly at My face, for no one may see Me and live’” (Exodus 33:20 NLT).
In Psalm 8:4, David says, “What are mere mortals that You should think about them, human beings that You should care for them?” (NLT). When we consider God’s magnificence and glory, it’s hard to believe He would even spare a thought for us. Yet He does, every moment. And this is exactly what brings us to our knees in worship of Him—that a God so powerful, so wonderful, so holy, would create us in His own image, choose us to rule over His creation, and desire to be in loving relationship with us for all eternity. He’s not a God we need to be afraid of, but He is and always will be worthy of our reverence and awe.
