What Does It Mean to Fear the Lord?
Reflecting on the Fifth Sunday of Easter: Two Days after Sunday (Year A)
Scripture
Psalter: Psalm 102:1-17
Old Testament: Proverbs 3:5-12
Epistle: Acts 7:44-56
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Prayer
Faithful God, guide us in the path of discipleship, so that, as you have blessed us, we may be a blessing for others, bringing the promise of the kingdom near by our words and deeds. Amen.
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Reflection
Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and do not rely on your own insight.
In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths.
Do not be wise in your own eyes;
fear the Lord and turn away from evil.
It will be a healing for your flesh
and a refreshment for your body.
Honor the Lord with your substance (Proverbs 3:5-9).
What does it mean to fear the Lord? The Bible says the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Does it mean to be afraid of God? Does the fear of the Lord mean trying to avoid God's anger and judgment? Some have suggested that fear is better translated as reverence, and I think that gets at some of what the Bible says in fearing the Lord.
However, what the Bible means most clearly is that to fear the Lord is the same as knowing who God is—knowing God is God, and we are not. George Bernard Shaw said that in the beginning, God created man in his image, and ever since man has been attempting to return the favor. We seem to forget that we are not God, hat we are not in charge of our own destinies. We struggle to remember that we are not the people who we like to make ourselves out to be.
The Bible repeatedly tells us that we human beings want to overreach and overextend ourselves. We are not satisfied with being creatures of God. We desired not to be like God in character (which the Bible encourages), but we desire to be God, to be in charge, to be our own Lords.
In Genesis 11 at the Tower of Babel the people said, “let us build a tower to the heavens so that we might storm the gates of heaven ourselves and take over.” That is not the fear of the Lord. That is the failure to recognize who God is and thus who we are. Notice that Proverbs 3:5 tells us not to lean on our own insight. Now, some have taken the King James translation of “insight” ans “understanding” to mean that ignorance is bliss That is a misinterpretation.
Lean not on your own insight is to understand that God’s ways are better than our ways, and so must trust in the Lord even when we believe we know better. If we know who God is, that is if we fear the Lord and we know God is God, then we will trust the Lord. God will lead wherever God guides, even if we’re not sure of the destination. We know that we don’t have to know where the journey ends. It is sufficient to know that God travels beside us and in front of us.
That is good news!
PRAYER: O God, whose Son Jesus is the good shepherd of your people; Grant that when we hear his voice we may know him who calls us each by name, and follow where he leads; who, with you and the Holy Spirit, lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
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