Whoever fear the Lord are afraid of nothing/ and are never discouraged, for He is their hope. Happy the soul that fears the Lord! In whom does he trust, and who is his support? The eyes of the Lord are upon those who love Him; / He is their mighty shield and strong support,/ a shelter from the heat, a shade from the noonday sun,/ a guard against stumbling, a help against falling./ He lifts up spirits, brings a sparkle to the eyes,/ gives health and life and blessing (Sirach: 34:16-20).
....I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God did not give us a spirit of fear, but a spirit of power, of love, and of self-control (2 Tim. 1:7).
There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The man who fears is not made perfect in love (I Jn. 4:18).
Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death--that is, the devil--and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death....we have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure (Hebrews).
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"Happy the soul that fears the Lord!" (from Sirach 34, quoted above). I have a friend who hates the term "fear the Lord," as if fearing the Lord has anything to do with being afraid of the Lord. She says, I cannot fear and love at the same time. And yet, in the passage from Sirach, as well as in the other passages above, fear of the Lord and love seem to blend in a marriage of joy and of rejoicing! "Fear of the Lord" is coupled with "those who love Him," and both bring confidence, reassurance, peace, and safety. There is a famous saying: Those who fear the Lord fear nothing else; those who don't fear the Lord fear everything else.
This same friend always says, "Whenever I feel the Spirit moving, I feel afraid," quoting the well-known Gospel hymn. But this "afraid," it seems to me, has nothing to do with either "fear of punishment," as in the passage from I John, or with the "fear of death," as in the passage from Hebrews. This kind of "fear" (when I feel the Spirit moving) is more related to the "fear" that Peter felt when Christ walked on the water and Peter said, "Depart from me, O Lord, for I am a sinful man." This is the kind of "fear" that led Isaiah to cry out when he saw the great vision of the Lord seated in the temple, surrounded by angels: Woe is me! I am ruined, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty (6:1-5).
The "fear" that we feel when the Spirit is moving is not a bad thing; something good is always about the happen when the Spirit is a-movin', but we always think we are not "up to" the wonderful thing that is about to occur. We are conscious of our sinful nature and really do not want a visitation from the divine -- but never in Scripture is an angel sent to punish or to cast fear into someone; never does God appear to threaten mankind. He sends prophets to warn man, but His appearance --like that to Moses in the burning bush -- is always for a great event, to benefit man. "Be not afraid," the angel said to Mary, and we have to believe that his words to her brought peace, not fear.
Very early on in my walk with the Lord, I realized that I had never been 'afraid' of God -- I was very fortunate not to have grown up in a culture of fear. But the Scriptures like the ones above extolled the benefits of "fear of the Lord." I did not really understand what it meant to fear the Lord, so I asked in prayer for God to show me what it meant to 'fear the Lord.' (From my own experience, one reason I do not usually press forward with trying to explain spiritual truth is that I know it does not come by reasoning or explaining, but through the inner instruction given by the Holy Spirit to those who seek for it. Yet, St. Peter tells us, "Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope, but do it with gentleness and reverence...."(3:15-18). So, when asked, I try to explain, all the while knowing that only the Holy Spirit can really reveal spiritual truth.)
Anyway, my understanding from the Scriptures of "fear of the Lord" is related to the words reverence and respect. Husbands are urged by Paul to "love their wives as they love themselves," while wives are instructed to "respect" their husbands. That is an interesting passage to reflect upon, for women are more prone to the emotion of love, and in the 21st century, less to the action of respect. When someone says to me, "I love you," without respect for me, I have a hard time 'hearing' those words. Reverence for the other person is the mark of real love, in my opinion. Without respect, love is impossible!
The book of Deuteronomy commands the Israelites, as does Jesus, to love the Lord your God with your whole heart, your whole mind, and your whole strength. And yet, all of Scripture exhorts us at the same time to "Fear the Lord, and walk in His ways." Obviously, since God speaks as if we were capable of both love and "fear" at the same time, He evidently considers us capable of both, for He does not command the impossible. If our love for Him is not combined with worship, reverence, and respect for His commands, we cannot say we love Him. Jesus said, "If anyone love Me, he will keep my commands, and the Father and I will make our home in him."
The "fear" involved in love is really fear of loss from lack of respect. If I "respect" my husband, I do not do things that will offend him. Recently, a husband of less than a year took all of his new bride's savings out of the bank to buy a boat that he wanted. Needless to say, his lack of respect for her destroyed their marriage immediately. He could not say he loved her and show such a lack of respect at the same time.
Typically, teenagers may be "afraid" of their parents' punishment, but they do not "respect' their parents so much at that age, as they are exerting their own independence and identity. As Mark Twain observed, however, his father, who knew nothing when Twain was 15, amazed him with how much he had learned when Twain was 21. If we are "afraid" of God, could it be that we have not yet grown beyond the teenage period in our relationship with Him? Are we still trying to exert our own independence and identity, apart from Him?
At the last supper, Jesus spoke to us as "no longer servants, but friends." He assumed that we were assimilated to Him and in union with Him as equals. In fact, after the Resurrection, He told Mary Magdalene to go to "my brothers and tell them, 'I am returning to My Father and your Father, to My God and your God." How beautiful an expression He used there! Perfect love casts out fear! If we reverence and respect God, as Jesus did, we "fear" Him, but have no reason to be "afraid" of Him ---ever!
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