Isaiah 57 continues the Lord’s invective against Israel’s flagrant idolatry, which he often describes as adultery. In verse 11 we read,

Whom did you dread and fear,
so that you lied,
and did not remember me,
did not lay it to heart?
Have I not held my peace, even for a long time,
and you do not fear me?

11a implies that their lying and forgetting of the LORD are the result of their “dread and fear” of someone else, as well as a lack of fear of the LORD.

11b implies that the fact that the LORD has withheld his wrath is actually a reason that his people ought to have feared him. This is contrary to the way we normally think about fear, and helps us to align our definition to the Bible. We are to fear Him because of His longsuffering and merciful attributes as well as his power and wrath.

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 -
5. Fear -
6. Fear (This post)
7. Fear -
8. Fear -
9. Fear -
10. Fear -