Choosing to walk in alignment with God’s will allows you to tap into a source of infinite wisdom that guides your decisions and actions. This deep connection with the divine not only brings clarity to your mind but also fills your heart with peace and contentment.
Through this spiritual journey, you gain insight that goes beyond human understanding, paving the way for personal growth and fulfillment. Embracing faith is not about following rules or rituals; it is about cultivating a relationship based on love, trust, and reverence.
As you continue on this path of righteousness and seek wisdom from above, you will find yourself blessed abundantly in all aspects of life. So as you reflect on the importance of fearing God to live a truly fulfilling life rich in wisdom and knowledge, remember that He is always by your side, guiding you every step of the way.
Referenced Verses:
Proverbs 1:7
Proverbs 9:10
Proverbs 19:23
Proverbs 3:7-8
Genesis 3:10
Proverbs 8:13
Proverbs 16:6
Romans 6:23
Video Transcript
I really hope that you have subscribed to our channels, that you’re following us on social media — and that you, if you can, please start sharing and liking and reposting our content to help reach more people.
Or copy and paste the links and send them out in an email to people that you think of when you’re interacting with our sermons or Bible verses or anything like that. Please share it with others. That’s the point of all of this.
Not for us, not for me. I don’t need me in front of more people. It’s to get these verses or these messages in front of more people. Why? Because we want more of them to come to God, to be a part of the body of Christ.
We need more people. Right now, there are more people on that side than on this side. Why? Because the world is falling away from God. We need to bring them back. That is why we are here.
And if you aren’t bringing people to Christ, if you aren’t sharing the Gospel message with others, then you’re not doing what you are called to do. Now, some of you may have turned this off already, but for those of you that are still listening, this is serious.
You have a serious charge and a serious calling on your life, and it’s to bring more people into the body of Christ. To be fruitful and multiply. Check out a sermon we have here “Be Fruitful and Multiply.”
That is what you need to do. What are we talking about? Well, it all starts with the fear of the Lord, and that’s what this topic is today. Fear God. But you’re not to be afraid of God as in, “Oh my goodness, I’m so scared of Him” like you might be afraid of some earthly fear, like a boa constrictor — or people have fears of snakes or spiders or different things like that.
No, this isn’t a deity phobia or a fear of God that way — like where you’re scared. This is something where you have a fear, but it’s like an awe or wonder or trembling of God. Let’s go to Proverbs. Proverbs 1:7, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.”
If you read Proverbs, you know that there are so many things about the fools and about foolish people. There are so many things about people who despise wisdom and about how prideful people despise wisdom. And if you’re humble, you get wisdom and knowledge. And the fear of the Lord is the beginning of that knowledge.
Let’s go to Proverbs 9:10. Proverbs 9:10 says, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. All right, so 1:7 says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.” Proverbs 9:10 says it’s the beginning of wisdom. What does this mean?
It means the fear of God, or the fear of Yahweh, is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge. Fools despise this wisdom and instruction, and this knowledge is understanding of the Holy One.
So if you get more wisdom and knowledge, you fear God. To get this wisdom and knowledge, you will start to understand, and know, God on a deeper level. The Bible is full of passages that tell you to fear the Lord, but it doesn’t mean you need to be afraid of God.
It’s a different type of fear. It’s like, like I love the ocean, the ocean to me, I would love to live there on the beach all the time. Just, I could see it in my mind. I — you know, I can feel it. It’s like that ocean to me, my soul, my spirit, is like connected to that.
And it’s not like, “Oh, I’m connected to the ocean,” you know. I’m — no, it’s like that, but at the same time. So I love the ocean, but I’m also afraid. Why? Because who knows what’s in there? You go there like you could be surfing.
True story: I was surfing one time in Hawaii years and years ago, and I’m like, “Ah this is so nice, and these people are like, yell, ‘Get in, get in,” “What’s going on? I love this. The sun setting…” “look! The sharks in the water.” “Oh my goodness!” Got to get in!
Another time, different time surfing, and I’m drifting over. They’re screaming at me, “Get over here, get over!” “Why?” As in, “What was the big deal?” Over there is like a, some drainage thing that goes from one side of the road to the other side and that’s where all the stingrays hang out. And if you ended up in there — dead.
Later on. Going over, “And by the way, don’t go that way because there’s a coral reef over there with some of the sharpest coral, and if you fall surfing there, you’re probably not going to come out very well.”
What in the world? There are all these hidden dangers beneath the surface, not to mention the waves themselves that can get like double triple overhead. Or you get out into the middle of the ocean and I just can’t even imagine, like, the vastness of some of these waves, hundreds of feet tall. Or hurricanes or things like that. Like, it’s terrifying, but at the same time, you’re drawn to it, like the power of a thunderstorm.
Thunderstorms are so incredible. The thunder and lightning and the power and you can just feel it shake your house. Shake the ground. You can see movement. You can just, the wind and the awe of a storm.
It’s so just awe — that’s the word. It’s awe and you’re drawn to it, but you’re terrified of it at the same time. That is the fear of the Lord. We’re drawn to God, but at the same time, His power and His majesty is what we’re terrified of.
It’s like in the Old Testament, where you can’t look at God because if you saw God, you’d just be smoked instantly. Fire. Just turned into a little pile of dust. Kind of like in the cartoons. It was — Moses was so close to God on the mountain, that after days and days, He absorbed God’s presence.
He was so full of the Spirit that he had to wear a veil because He was scaring the Israelites. The very people he was sent to witness to, and deliver. They were afraid of Moses because of the radiant glow of God that was coming from him.
Another time in the Old Testament, it has a story of God walking or being there, but they couldn’t look upon God’s face. So as the person looked, he saw God’s backside but he couldn’t see the front because it was so powerful and majestic. That is the type of the fear of the Lord. We can’t be scared of Him or afraid of Him in that way because God loves us more than we could ever imagine.
He is on our side, the God of angel armies is always by our side. He goes before us in battle. He delivers us. God wants us to have a healthy fear of Him, this fear is also the beginning of wisdom and knowledge but it also leads to life.
Let’s go to Proverbs 19. Proverbs 19:23. 19:23 says, “The fear of the LORD leads to life; then one rests content, untouched by trouble.” So if you fear God, you get wisdom. You get knowledge.
Alright, it leads to life. You will rest content in your life. You will know God on a deeper level because this opens up knowledge of the Holy One and you will rest content, untouched by trouble all right.?
Already I’m pretty convinced like, “Why would I not want to do this? Are you kidding me?” I get wisdom. I get knowledge. The Bible says, “Though it cost you all you have, get wisdom, get understanding.” Well if the fear of the Lord gives me wisdom and gets understanding, I don’t even need to spend all my silver and gold.
As Proverbs would say, “To get wisdom and get understanding I just have to fear God and I get it already.” Holy moly. Then I also get to know God on a deeper level. I get knowledge of the Holy One. I get to have a better relationship with my Creator. I’m in!
Also, by the way, you will rest content. Okay, that’s great. I love being content. I won’t lack anything. I have what I need. I’ll be able to sleep well. That kind of thing. But I also will be untouched by trouble. In other words, God will deliver me from trouble. Let’s continue on. Proverbs Chapter 3 Verses 7 and 8.
Chapter 3, Verses 7 and 8 says, (Proverbs 3:7-8) “Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the LORD and shun evil. This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones.”
So if all that wasn’t enough, now I can have health and nourishment. Health to my body and nourishment to my bones. So I can live in this world, and I can be healthy and nourished. Wow, the benefits just keep coming.
So how are we to fear God? Sort of like how children fear their parents when they do something wrong. Or when they are tempted to do something wrong. Now, this isn’t like bad parenting, where children are scared of their parents because they beat them or they abuse them. This is a healthy fear. This is like a fear of disappointing.
This is like if you have the best parent in the world — kind of like maybe sometimes you see on TV there’s just this ideal picture-perfect parent, and when the child does something wrong, the child is just kind of like scared to go to their parent.
Not scared because of the punishment. Scared because they know that their parent will be disappointed in what they did. They know that, like, they let them down. They’re not scared of being punished.
They’re scared of, “Man, they’re going to think less of me,” or “They’re going to be sad about it,” or “I broke their heart.” That’s the type of fear. So you think of that parent, God is infinitely better than that parent at parenting you.
God is the best parent. If there’s a word better than best. Bestest. Bester. No, greatest. God is above the best. He is the best parent to you. That’s how you are to fear Him.
You are to be afraid of when you do wrong. It eats you up because you know that in doing that you broke His heart, but you can get forgiven.
Yes, of course, you can go on and live your life, but that’s the type of fear that you have to have of God — a healthy fear. They are fearing what may happen like in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve sinned. Adam was afraid.
Let’s go there, Genesis 3, Verse 10, (Genesis 3:10) “He answered ‘I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked so I hid.’”
Okay, wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute. Adam and Eve get tempted by Satan. Alright. They eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Their eyes become opened. They get knowledge of good and evil.
They are now no longer living in pure bliss. In goodness. But they’ve learned, sort of like how children — they are just naive and innocent, and then they start to learn the ways of the world. And they learn that, “Hey, when I find money instead of turning it in to a teacher, who then just puts it in their pocket, I should have just kept that money for myself.”
They learn these ways of the world which are not God’s ways. They learn and become. They have knowledge: it’s not good knowledge, but they become devious now. And so Adam and Eve; they sinned, they get this knowledge of good and evil.
God used to walk with them in the garden — talk with them. They probably did see God at that point in time. God says to Adam, “Where were you?” Adam says, “I heard you in the garden and I was afraid,” not “I was afraid because I thought you would punish me,” not “I was afraid because I did what you told me not to do.” “I was afraid because I was naked and so I hid.”
That’s why he was afraid. So this fear of God is not a fear of punishment or wrath or condemnation. No it was, “I was afraid because I felt ashamed in my nakedness, and so I hid.” He knew he disappointed God, so he hid from Him.
Just like a child isn’t really afraid of the good parent, they’re afraid of what will happen when the parents find out. Afraid of what it will do. Afraid of losing that trust.
We’re not afraid Of God. We’re afraid of disappointing Him. Proverbs 8:13. “To fear The LORD is to hate evil. I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior, and perverse speech.”
So if you fear the Lord, not only do you get all those good things, but when you fear God, you have that deeper connection and deeper relationship with him. But in fearing God, you also start to hate the things that God hates. What does God hate?
We’re taught never to hate. God hates evil, pride, perverse speech — we had a sermon on pride. “Satan Blinded” is what it was called. Satan was blinded by his pride. You gotta check that out. There can be no room for pride in your life.
Let’s go to Proverbs 16:6. “Through love and faithfulness sin is atoned for; Through the fear of the LORD a person avoids evil.” So if you fear God, you get wisdom. You get knowledge. You get peacefulness. You get untouched by trouble. You get health. You get nourishment. You get life through the fear of the Lord. You hate evil and you avoid evil. This is pretty good.
If you have a healthy fear of the Lord, you’re not afraid of Him, you are afraid of disappointing Him. Therefore, you will hate evil because you fear the Lord’s reaction to your sin. And you should. But you shouldn’t fear that punishment. You should fear that disappointment.
Romans 6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life.” Just like how the other — the verse says, “Through the fear of the Lord,” what did we talk about? Proverbs 16:6, “Through love and faithfulness sin is atoned for.” So though the wages of sin is death, the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord through love and faithfulness.
God is love. God is faithful. He had this redemptive plan all along. He gave us the Son — Jesus. We believe in Him. That’s the faithfulness part. We have faith to believe in Jesus. Also God is faithful. He provided Jesus. He had that plan of redemption all those years. God was faithful to His promises.
He delivered Jesus exactly as all those prophecies in the Old Testament said. Sign of Jonah and Hosea, the promise of Abraham and Isaac. All of these promises throughout were testimony, and after time and time again, prophecy and prophecy, of predicting that Jesus will come and deliver the people. God was faithful. He gave us Jesus.
Now we return our faith. Believe in Jesus. And this was also an act of love. That Jesus did that for us. We love Jesus, so we put our faith and our hope and our trust in Him. Through love and through faithfulness, sin is atoned for in Jesus. It’s a gift of God. Know that God is with you, and be afraid of letting Him down. Let that fear guide your actions.
I really really encourage you to read Proverbs — the whole book. I read one proverb every day. Not one verse, one chapter of Proverbs every day. There are 31 in the book of Proverbs. There are 31 chapters, whatever the date is, that’s the one I read. So if it’s the first of the month I read Proverbs 1, 2nd: 2, 3rd: 3 — on and on and on. Now some months only have 30 days.
Well then on the 30th you read Proverbs 30 and Proverbs 31. If there are 28 days, oh guess what? You got a lot of extra reading that month. Doesn’t matter. Every day I read one, because guess what?
You will start to know these. You will learn them, but first off, I really encourage you, if you do nothing else, to check out the description and look at all of those verses we went to today.
Proverbs 9:10, Proverbs 1:7, Proverbs 19:23, Proverbs 3:7, 8, Proverbs what else — what else did we do? Proverbs 8:13, Proverbs 16:6. We had a lot of Proverbs in there about the fear of the Lord and what you get from fearing God. Let me recap all that quick.
The fear of the Lord: You get wisdom. You get knowledge. You get understanding of the Holy One. You have a deeper relationship with God by getting that wisdom and knowledge. You now know God on a deeper level. You have a more intimate relationship with your creator.
In addition, fearing God allows you to rest in peace, untouched by trouble. You won’t lack, you will just be content with your life. You will also receive life. You will receive health. You will receive nourishment to your bones. So, you will live a healthy content happy and peaceful life. You will rest. You will sleep. You will be at peace.
You will be untouched by trouble. So even your enemies or different trials in life won’t be able to come against you because you will have God with you. You have the fear of the Lord. In addition. what else do you get? We’re still going. You have love and faithfulness, and your sin will be atoned for.
The Lord will make even your enemies live at peace with you because you will have the fear of the Lord, and your ways will be pleasing to God. You will hate evil, and you will know to avoid evil because you have the fear of God. So you will hate evil. You will avoid evil. And you will know that God is with you every step of the way.
Another verse in Proverbs says the fear of man proves to be a snare. So don’t fear human things. Fear God and He will deliver you from the snares or the traps of other people on Earth. He will deliver you from your enemies, even your enemies will live at peace with you.
This is excellent. There are also tons of examples in the Bible of people who feared God and how God delivered those people from the traps of other people on Earth who didn’t fear God.
What do you need to do? You need to read more Proverbs. You need to read more of the Bible. You need to have that fear of the Lord. Understand that. Get wisdom. Get knowledge. Get understanding.
Have a deeper relationship with God and He blesses you with all of these earthly things: health, nourishment, long life, peace, content — probably, He will also bestow upon you blessings of wealth and riches and prosperity.
This is incredible, not to mention you will have a deeper connection with God. What more needs to be said? I’m convinced. I hope you are too. If you have any questions or comments, please put them below. I look forward to hearing from you. Let’s pray.
Lord, thank you so much for this message of fearing you, and I really pray that those watching and listening would understand what it means to truly fear you. That they would know that they don’t need to be scared of you but they need to have a fear of you.
That they need to behold you in the glory and awe that you command. The presence that you have, Lord, that they would be inspired to seek the fear of the Lord. To get wisdom, get understanding and have this to and that you would bless them.
With that, be faithful. Love them and give them that faithfulness. Be faithful to these promises and these verses. That they would have that contentedness. That they would have blessings. That they would have health, nourishment, that they would have peace.
That they would just have a blessed life because they fear you. That they would avoid evil. Hate evil. Turn from evil and follow your ways to please you because of that healthy fear, that they have of you in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Thanks so much for being with us. I hope you share this powerful message with others and learn more about the fear of the Lord. Have a great week and God bless.
