There is very little literature about the fear of God available. It is not a popular topic in the church. The modern choruses emphasize 'O, O, O, How good is the Lord' and never such old hymns as 'Before Jehovah's awful throne'. Yet the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord (Proverbs 1:7). It is not to know yourself but to fear God. How often the fear of the Lord is mentioned in Scripture! It is here that the Book of Proverbs, which is a teaching book, starts. Few in our world would begin there. They would inquire within or among their own, but this wisdom does not lead to God (1 Corinthians 1:21).

There are two types of fear in the Bible, both with relation to God: We read that when Moses and the tribes of Israel came to Mount Sinai God appeared. Hebrews 12 describes the mountain burning with fire, darkness, gloom and storm, a trumpet blast and a voice — 'The sight was so terrifying that Moses said "I am trembling with fear".' Here all Israel are simply afraid of God. But Moses knew another fear, namely the awe, respect and concern to obey which is to be found in those possessing a saving knowledge of who God is. Such a fear was with Isaac, and Jacob bore witness to it (Genesis 31:42, 53).

To know God is to fear Him, to fear Him truly is to begin to know Him. The saints of the Old and New Testaments declare this. We do not deny the knowledge of God in love and praise, joy and fellowship but we believe that fear complements all these.

Fools despise wisdom and discipline. This is the testimony of Proverbs 1:7. They do so because wisdom equals the fear of God and discipline is obedient living before Him. In Hebrew thought a fool was someone who lacked godliness and self-control and yet was ignorant of himself. All who truly know God know their imperfections — an imperfection to be measured by the standard of Christ. They have been taught that failure to obey God leads to certain judgment and they are not strangers to conviction of sin and a sense that God would be just if His wrath descended upon them. So they were forced to flee to the cross for forgiveness and peace and reconciliation with God. The fear of God has driven them not to despair, except of them­selves, but to salvation!

If we need encouragement to believe this, then look at Proverbs 1:20. Wisdom is crying aloud in the streets, 'How long will you simple ones love your simple ways'. By 'simple' is meant 'lacking in moral direction'. Wisdom is questioning, pleading and appealing to the ungodly and immoral, seeking to wake them up to their state and to drive them to Christ. They are con­demned and they must begin anew, living in the fear of God. The Philippian jailor came to faith after an earthquake. He trembled with fear and was pointed to Christ. Not all are converted in this way but, in some measure, a fear of God preparatory to conversion, which actually makes us afraid, and a fear of God after, that leaves us in awe all our christian lives, is vital to true religion.

The first use of fear, then, is in salvation though, as Scripture says, it does not end there. Fear which is the beginning of wisdom goes on, as Psalm 111:10 indicates:

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, a good understanding have all those who practise it.

Yes, practise the fear of the Lord! It will lead to a good understanding of spiritual things and especially of God. This practice of fear will serve in governing our lives before God.

The American theologian William Shedd wrote: 'Next to a deep and absorbing love of God, there is nothing so well adapted to protect against sudden surprisals as a profound and definite fear of God'. The young Augustine found that only fear kept him obedient to God until he could obey out of love. St Bernard wrote: 'Well would it be if the youth, in the moment of violent temptation, could lay upon the emotion that entices him to sin a distinct and real coal of hell-fire'. Fear, then, is instrumental in bringing us to Christ, in granting understanding, and it must remain as a part comple­ment of that love which is to govern our life before God. It is to disciples that our Lord says, 'Fear him (God) which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell' (Matthew 10:28).

The fear of God will also keep us from evil. In Proverbs we read that the fear of the Lord is hatred of evil, and that by the fear of the Lord a man avoids evil. If we know how God hates evil we will seek to avoid it. Such a fear is a part of Christian holiness. Yet another use of the fear of God is to cast out all other fear. Those who fear God will lack nothing. Psalm 34 confirms this: 'The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him and delivers them. O fear the Lord, you his saints, for those who fear him have no want'. It is also good for the church.

In Acts 9:31 we read:

So the church throughout all Judaea and Galilee and Samaria had peace, and was built up, and walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, was multiplied.

I have examined many books on church growth but never found reference to this. To walk in fear and comfort are not contradictions for the church or the individual believer. It is in this state that the church knew growth. Look also to Acts 2:42-43, which ends, 'and fear came upon every soul'. And 5:12ff where there is discipline in the church from God through the Apostles. 'Great fear' again came upon the church, for they were seeing how a great God dealt with men and has called His people to obedience. Would that such discipline were known in the church today, yet with much talk of 'restoration' and of a return to 'primitive christianity' this is never mentioned! We would have the comfort of the Holy Spirit but not the fear of the Lord.

The fear of God is also to have a part in our prayers. In this Christ Himself is our example. Hebrews 5:7 tells us: 'In the days of his flesh he offered up prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears and he was heard for his godly fear'. The Old Testament predicted that His whole life would be given over to God, with fear as part of the life he would lead (Isaiah 11:3).

Scripture appeals to us to fear God — to reverence His power and auth­ority, to know His justice and perfection and to discipline our lives and to be obedient. We need have no slavish fear as those at Mount Sinai, for we have come to Mount Zion, as Hebrews 12 tells us. There is no condemnation for those that are in Christ. We speak to the Almighty One as Father. We know that perfect love casteth out fear. Yet He shall one day be our judge, and saints still have reason to say, 'My flesh trembleth for fear of thee and I am afraid of thy judgments' (Psalm 119:120 and 2 Corinthians 5:10-11). We are not afraid of God but we continue to fear Him and to work out our salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:13). Our God is utterly sovereign, omnipo­tent, God only wise. If we do not fear Him can we expect non-christians to do so? 'There are none righteous', says Paul in Romans 3, quoting Psalm 36, 'no one searches for God, they have all turned away, their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness, they are swift to shed blood and do not know the way of peace'. And why is this so? 'There is no fear of God before their eyes'. The Psalmist saw men whose lives declared that they possessed no fear of God. Does the church today show forth the fear of God in her life and pronounce­ments and especially her preaching, and do the members of the church show forth the fear of God in their lives? Oh, that we might recover this! Let us be wise in our evangelism, in our prayers, in our christian lives, in our churches and before God. And to be so we must begin with the wisdom which cries out to us, Fear the Lord, O Fear the Lord!