THOSE WHO FEAR THE LORD

Scripture : Psalms 25:12 (NIV)  "Who is the man that fears the Lord?

When we speak of the fear of the Lord we are not talking about being afraid of Him as though He were a mean and hateful God, for the Lord is not vicious or abusive in any way.  Instead, God is defined as love and all that He does is motivated by the love that is within Him.  Even His correction shows His love for us.  He corrects us because He hates sin and His chastisement is meant to keep us from further sin.  It was because of God's great love that He made the ultimate sacrifice and sent His only begotten Son into the world to die for our sins.  He paid a great price for us and that indicates that is He is for us and not against us.  God does, however, set righteous standards for us.  He wants us to be so full of His Holy Spirit that we emulate Him and His kingdom in the Earth and that we show forth His glory to all mankind.

When the Word speaks of the fear of the Lord, it refers to a holy reverence towards the Lord and a respect for the things that He represents.  Proverbs 8:13 tells us that the fear of the Lord is to hate evil.  Then it goes on to list some of the evil things that God hates, such as pride, arrogance, evil behavior, and perverse speech.  If we truly fear or reverence and respect God, we too will hate the evil that He hates and we will shun the evil temptations that come against us.  We will refuse to allow ourselves to be involved in evil because God's Spirit lives within us and evil is against His holy nature.   And if we love God, we will obey His commandments.

Psalms 25:12-14 lists several things that belong to you when you choose to fear or reverence the Lord.

1)  God will instruct you in the way that has He has chosen for you.

2)  You will spend your days in prosperity.

3)  Your descendants will inherit the land.

4)  The Lord will confide in you and you will know His secrets.

5)  The Lord will make His covenant known to you.

God is not blind, deaf or naive.  He knows the ones who truly fear Him just as an earthly father knows when his own children respect and reverence him.  One of the virtues of God is that He is not a man who will lie or deceive.  You can depend upon every Word that He has spoken.  If God said it, it will come to pass.   You can be assured that He is watching for those who fear Him and He will reward them accordingly. +++