Just as there is a sanctifying effect in the truth of God’s word (John 17:17), so there is a sanctifying effect in the fear of God. It causes us to discipline and restrain our tongues, so that, we are careful about what we say and how much we speak (Prv. 10:19; Eccl 5:2, 6-7; Mat 12:36). It protects us from the defilement of our consciences and the breakdown of our moral resolve. The fear of the Lord is pure and cleansing (Ps 19:9), holy and redeeming in its effect.
(6) The fear of the Lord causes us to serve God with a sober single-mindedness that enables us by faith to enter into God’s promises (2 Cor 7:1; Heb 4:1; 11:7).
(7) Finally, the fear of the Lord is accompanied by assurance and unspeakable spiritual comfort for God’s people. The NT directly links the fear of the Lord with the encouragement of the Holy Spirit (Acts 9:31). On the one hand, those who live without fearing the Lord have no promise of His presence, favour and protection (see Deut 1:26); on the other hand, those who fear God and obey Him from the heart experience spiritual security in their lives and the enabling grace and power of the Holy Spirit. They can be sure that God will “deliver their souls from death” (Ps 33:18-19). The person who fears God need not fear anything else; but the person who does not fear God is vulnerable to fearing everything else.
Conclusion
Our God is a God of mercy (Ps 123:3; Eph 2:4, 4-9). The fear of God does not make us cower in terror before Him or afraid of His lash…He is a potter who works with the clay of our lives, digging out the grit, forming and shaping it. He is a potter who reforms our lives until they are in accord with His good and wise purposes.
The fear of God is a redeeming fear. The fear of the Lord is a loving reverence for God that includes submission to His Lordship and the commands of His word (see Eccl 12:13).
The awesome benefits that we appropriate for fear of the Lord are:
• It enables us to obey even in the most difficult times.
• It moves us to say “no” to sin and to depart from evil.
• It manifests itself in a wholesome dread of God’s holy displeasure and wrath.
• It provides the necessary perspective for God’s people to reverence and honour God.
• It has a sanctifying effect on God’s people.
• It causes us to serve God with a sober single-mindedness that enables us by faith to enter into God’s promises.
• It is accompanied by assurance and unspeakable spiritual comfort for God’s people.
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