From my reading today:

Ps. 19:7-11

7 The law of the Lord is perfect,
reviving the soul;
the testimony of the Lord is sure,
making wise the simple;
8 the precepts of the Lord are right,
rejoicing the heart;
the commandment of the Lord is pure,
enlightening the eyes;
9 the fear of the Lord is clean,
enduring forever;
the rules of the Lord are true,
and righteous altogether.
10 More to be desired are they than gold,
even much fine gold;
sweeter also than honey
and drippings of the honeycomb.
11 Moreover, by them is your servant warned;
in keeping them there is great reward.

What does it mean for the fear of the Lord to be “clean, enduring forever”?

Luke 12

4-8

4 “I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. 5 But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him! 6 Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. 7 Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.

8 “And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God, 9 but the one who denies me before men will be denied before the angels of God. 10 And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. 11 And when they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not be anxious about how you should defend yourself or what you should say, 12 for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”

Here Jesus encourages the proper fear of the Lord, while discouraging the fear of all else, especially man. Notice that the fear he describes is not simply based on God’s ability to do us harm, but also on his ability to do us good and to protect us from harm.

In the parable of the rich fool (vs. 13-21) he describes a man who’s fear is not in God but rather in the treasures that the world has to offer, and then he reveals the folly of this man’s fear.

In verses 22-30 he continues to discourage the fear of earthly possessions or the lack thereof, reminding the disciples that God is conscious of and will tend to their physical needs.

In contrast, verses 31-34 tell us what ought to be at the center of our attention:

31 Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you.

32 “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 33 Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. 34 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

This concept of our “treasure” and the heart’s orientation to it is helpful in furthering our understanding of the concept of fear. As in so many other passages that touch on this topic, fear is described as one’s attitude toward or regard for something as having the potential to bring either great good or great harm. This is the case with treasure. With physical possessions, such as money for instance, if you have a lot of it then it seems that you will be greatly benefited; and if you have little to none, then you are subject or vulnerable to loss and harm (at least according to the way of the world). Because of this, we take great care of and pay a lot of attention to what we treasure most - because of its ability to benefit us if we keep it, as well as its ability to harm us if we lose it.

This is exactly how God addresses Israel in the Old Testament time and again.

John Newton sums up these verses well here.

Other posts of the series

1. The Fear of the LORD in Job -
2. Quotes from "The Fear of God" by John Murray -
3. Fear-of-the-LORD exemplified in 2 Chronicles 20:1-12 -
4. Fear (This post)
5. Fear -
6. Fear -
7. Fear -
8. Fear -
9. Fear -
10. Fear -