The Fear Of The Lord

[Interlude: Shai Linne] "Proverbs 1:7 says that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge What exactly is the fear of the Lord? When you think fear, what comes to mind? Well, when it comes to fearing God You shouldn't think fear In the same way a person fears snakes Or heights Or the mafia Nah, the idea is more What you think as you're staring Out into the vastness of the ocean Or standing on the precipice Of the Grand Canyon To fear the Lord is to stand in awe Before the reality of God Therein lies the problem In this sin-infected world we live in The fear of the Lord is the exception Not the rule Scripture teaches that the fear of the Lord Is hatred of evil and That it's by the fear of the Lord That one turns away from evil But it says in Romans 3:10 “None is righteous, No, not one, No one understands; No one seeks for God. All have turned aside; Together they have become worthless; No one does good, not even one.” Then it goes on to say in verse 15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood In their paths are ruin and misery And the way of peace they have not known." And what's the reason for that? What's the source of all the violence and evil? Verse 18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” So all evil in this world Can be traced back to not fearing the Lord And if the fear of the Lord is a fountain of life Then not fearing the Lord Must lead to death And that's where we all stand In the prophet Isaiah chapter 11 We find a prophecy about a Savior to come And it says in verse 3 that His delight Shall be in the fear of the Lord That savior is none other than Jesus Christ Who lived a life of perfect obedience to God's law Jesus feared God perfectly And He died on the cross And rose from the grave To save His people from their sins So that all who trust Him Can joyfully walk In the fear of the Lord Forever