2
0
The fear of the lord. What is it to fear the Lord, why are we commanded to fear the Lord, what exactly is meant by the word fear?
Should we be knocking our knees together in fear whenever we apprehend the divine, is this what is meant by the term, ‘fear the Lord?’ Or does it mean something else? Does it instead mean, a deep and abiding respect of the Lord, the Lord God loves you, he loves us all, so is it natural for us to be frightened of a being that is so very deeply loving of us.
Could it simply mean instead a sense of awe, the type of feeling that I often get whenever I cast my gaze upwards into the heavens on a cold winters night to see those distant stars ablaze with glory, individual, widely separated emanations of light, isolated and alone against eternity, not unlike ourselves but nevertheless part of a grand tapestry, as we are too. Is this what is meant by the commandment to fear the Lord? I think that it is, to be in awe of creation and our creator is the deepest form of comprehension or respect that any man can pay to God. It’s a form of prayer that makes us thankful for our existence. So, I think it must be this. We pay God the greatest compliment whenever we attempt to comprehend his ineffable nature, with the result being that we become friends with God, not for a moment, a day, a week or even a lifetime but for eternity. There is no greater prize than this and it all begins in awe. That’s how we fear the Lord.
“Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.”
Ecclesiastes 12:13
