Mar
18
2010
The fear of the Lord
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.” Proverbs 1:7
Why the fear of the Lord? Because he is not safe, but he is good. Therefore, we long to be “fully pleasing to him” (Colossians 1:10). Not moderately pleasing. Fully pleasing, with “that affectionate reverence by which the child of God bends himself humbly and carefully to his Father’s law,” according to Charles Bridges, Proverbs (Edinburgh, 1987), pages 3-4. An atheist observer of Christians recently described what she saw in them: “. . . a constant internal pat-down of conscience.”
The fear of the Lord takes us way beyond technical compliance with biblical law. It’s possible to obey the Ten Commandments while resenting them deep inside. Fools who despise wisdom and instruction might also go along with it, for their own reasons. Flannery O’Connor, Wise Blood (New York, 1990), page 22: “There was already a deep black wordless conviction in him that the way to avoid Jesus was to avoid sin.”
But the fear of the Lord creates a heart of total openness: “Father, I am yours. How can I actively, fully please you right now?”
6 Comments
I love that picture!
[...] via The fear of the Lord – Ray Ortlund. [...]
What a wonderful picture and a marvelous thought about openness! Thanks. Who painted it?
“Father, I am yours. How can I actively, fully please you right now?”
That’s also a wonderfully practical question to ask ourselves throughout the day. I needed this. Thank you.
[...] The fear of the Lord – Ray Ortlund [...]
[...] Fear of God (Ray Ortlund) I borrowed this from Ray Ortlund’s blog over at the Gospel Coalition web site. “The fear of the Lord is the [...]