“Are we really supposed to fear God?” asked one of my neighbors recently. We were sitting on his front porch, discussing religion. I can’t remember how the concept of fearing God came up, but he reacted immediately and negatively. Perhaps the concept of fearing God seemed contradictory with a loving and merciful God. Perhaps he was concerned about the negative outcomes when people act in fear instead of with confidence. I responded that the “fear of the Lord” is a different emotion from everyday fear, more like reverence than panic, and that it is compatible with love, trust, and peace.
I still think that’s true, but my subsequent scripture study has both complicated and enriched my understanding of this important concept.
The exact phrase “the fear of the Lord” appears 26 times in the Old Testament, 14 of those in the book of Proverbs. Related phrases, such as “fear the Lord,” “fear of God,” and “he that feareth the Lord” add another 50 or so. Some of those references strongly suggest a qualitative difference between fearing God and fearing other things.
For example, I highlighted in a post last week that Psalm 112 couples the statement, “Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord,” with the promise, “He shall not be afraid of evil tidings,” and “His heart is established, he shall not be afraid.” Another example is Proverbs 14:26: “In the fear of the LORD is strong confidence.” How can fear generate confidence? For that matter, Proverbs teaches that “the fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge” (Proverbs 1:7; compare Proverbs 9:10) and that “the fear of the Lord tendeth to life: and he that hath it shall abide satisfied” (Proverbs 19:23), which are not outcomes we typically associate with fear.
Isaiah speaks of arrogant people retreating into “the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth” (Isaiah 2:19; see also v. 21). This belated fear behaves more like the fear we are familiar with, leading them away from God rather than toward Him. When Nephi quotes this passage, he adds the active clause, “for the fear of the Lord shall come upon them” (2 Nephi 12:19, 21), a phrase that becomes strongly associated with conversion stories in the Book of Mormon.
After King Benjamin relayed to his people a message from an angel about their need for a Savior:
He cast his eyes round about on the multitude, and behold they had fallen to the earth, for the fear of the Lord had come upon them.
Mosiah 4:1-2
And they had viewed themselves in their own carnal state, even less than the dust of the earth. And they all cried aloud with one voice, saying: O have mercy, and apply the atoning blood of Christ that we may receive forgiveness of our sins, and our hearts may be purified; for we believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who created heaven and earth, and all things; who shall come down among the children of men.
This sounds like the familiar form of fear: they were anxious and distressed, pleading for mercy and for deliverance. But when their prayers were answered soon after, when they had been “filled with joy, having received a remission of their sins, and having peace of conscience, because of the exceeding faith which they had in Jesus Christ” (Mosiah 4:3), Benjamin told them that they must not lose the perspective which had caused them to fall to the earth in the first place:
I would that ye should remember, and always retain in remembrance, the greatness of God, and your own nothingness, and his goodness and long-suffering towards you, unworthy creatures, and humble yourselves even in the depths of humility, calling on the name of the Lord daily, and standing steadfastly in the faith of that which is to come,
Mosiah 4:11
This sounds like a sustainable fear, a fear which can coexist with hope and with joy, a fear which a follower of God can carry “all the day long” (Proverbs 23:17).
Two other significant conversion stories in the Book of Mormon — King Lamoni with his servants, and Alma with the sons of Mosiah — both include people falling to the earth when the fear of the Lord comes upon them (see Alma 19:15; 36:7). In both cases, they were intentional about remembering the feelings that had led them to seek help from God (see Alma 24:15; 36:24-29).
And this persistent perspective must be related to the frequent reminders in the Book of Mormon about the Final Judgment. Sometimes these references are sobering (2 Nephi 33:14-15; Alma 5:16-25), others are more optimistic (Enos 1:27; Moroni 10:34), and at least one is mixed (Jacob 6:13), but in all cases, it’s clear that these authors believed that an anticipation of that event would be helpful and motivating to their readers. No wonder the author of Ecclesiastes ends the entire book with this conclusion: “Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment” (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14).
The story of Enos illustrates the role of godly fear in an upright life. After praying all day and having his guilt “swept away” (Enos 1:4-6), he observed the need for harsh preaching to stir his people up continually, “to keep them in the fear of the Lord” (Enos 1:23). Yet his description of the Final Judgment expresses confidence and joy:
I soon go to the place of my rest, which is with my Redeemer; for I know that in him I shall rest. And I rejoice in the day when my mortal shall put on immortality, and shall stand before him; then shall I see his face with pleasure, and he will say unto me: Come unto me, ye blessed, there is a place prepared for you in the mansions of my Father.
Enos 1:27
The fear he wanted his people to feel was a genuine concern about a real danger. But as the proverb teaches, that awareness results in “strong confidence,” as God’s children find “a place of refuge” and as that fear becomes “a fountain of life” to them (Proverbs 14:26-27).
So how would I answer my neighbor today? I would say that fear isn’t always a bad thing. That fear evoked by genuine dangers can lead to productive actions, including asking for help. That when fear is coupled with trust in a merciful Deliverer, it transforms from despair to confidence. I would tell him that I fear God because I know that compared with Him I am nothing, and I trust God because I know that in His sight I am everything.
Today I will remember God’s greatness and my nothingness, and His goodness and long-suffering towards me, as I call on His name and stand firmly in my faith.
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