Fear of the Lord

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There’s probably a LOT in tradition about this phrase, including Jewish tradition.

But Pope John Paul the Great of most blessed memory said that the fear of the Lord is like the fear of harming a very small child.

God is so loving and so humble that he came to us as a Man and died for us . . . and when we fear the Lord we do not desire to drive nails into his body on the cross with our sins.

We could not actually “harm” the Divinity of God, but His Holiness’ analogy makes sense in our Incarnational faith.
 
May I suggest you read through Proverbs looking for these verses in context.

Proverbs 1:7
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.

Proverbs 1:29
Since they hated knowledge and did not choose to fear the LORD,

Proverbs 2:5
then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God.

Proverbs 3:7
Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil.

Proverbs 8:13
To fear the LORD is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech.

Proverbs 9:10
"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

Proverbs 10:27
The fear of the LORD adds length to life, but the years of the wicked are cut short.

Proverbs 14:2
He whose walk is upright fears the LORD, but he whose ways are devious despises him.

Proverbs 14:16
A wise man fears the LORD and shuns evil, but a fool is hotheaded and reckless.

Proverbs 14:26
He who fears the LORD has a secure fortress, and for his children it will be a refuge.

Proverbs 14:27
The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, turning a man from the snares of death.

Proverbs 15:16
Better a little with the fear of the LORD than great wealth with turmoil.

Proverbs 15:33
The fear of the LORD teaches a man wisdom, and humility comes before honor.

Proverbs 16:6
Through love and faithfulness sin is atoned for; through the fear of the LORD a man avoids evil.

Proverbs 19:23
The fear of the LORD leads to life: Then one rests content, untouched by trouble.

Proverbs 22:4
Humility and the fear of the LORD bring wealth and honor and life.

Proverbs 23:17
Do not let your heart envy sinners, but always be zealous for the fear of the LORD.

Proverbs 24:21
Fear the LORD and the king, my son, and do not join with the rebellious,

Proverbs 28:14
Blessed is the man who always fears the LORD, but he who hardens his heart falls into trouble.

Proverbs 29:25
Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is kept safe.

Proverbs 31:30
Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.
 
GOd is justice, so you should fear God as if you were scared of Him, but fear Him out of respect and love of His perfect justice. If God gave us what we truely diserve (which He’d be totally justified in doing), we’d all be sent to Hell. Forunately He sent His Son to suffer, die and rise for us!

~Praise Him~
 
Santa Cruz:
Whar does fear of the Lord mean?
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In addition to the other verses already posted, it might be worth noting this: ‘There is surely no fear of God in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.’ (Genesis 20:11)

I.e., fear of the Lord is the motivation to avoid unrighteous action.
 
From the Navarre Bible Commentary on the Book of Sirach:
From: Sirach 1:1-10
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All Wisdom Comes from the Lord
------------------------------
[1] All wisdom comes from the Lord and is with him forever. [2] The sand of
the sea, the drops of rain, and the days of eternity–who can count them?
[3] The height of heaven, the breadth of the earth, the abyss, and
wisdom–who can search them out? [4] Wisdom was created before all things,
and prudent understanding from eternity. [6] The root of wisdom–to whom has
it been revealed? Her clever devices–who knows them? [8] There is One who
is wise, greatly to be feared, sitting upon his throne.
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**God Imbues All His Work with Wisdom
----------------------------------- **
[9] The Lord himself created wisdom; he saw her and apportioned her, he
poured her out upon all his works. [10] She dwells with all flesh according
to his gift, and he supplied her to those who love him.
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Commentary:**
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The first question posed is: Where does wisdom come from? And the answer is
quite, definite from the very start “All wisdom comes from God and is with
him for ever” (1:1). There is no source .of wisdom but the one true God:
“There is [only] One who is wise” (1:8). He created all things and “he
poured (wisdom) out upon all his works” (1:9). Therefore the study, of
nature and of man (God’s works) is the way to discover wisdom. More will be
said about this in the introduction to the second part of the book
(16:24-18:14).

Every created thing is designed in a particular way and the Lord’s wisdom
can be seen from the order that exists in creation and from the laws
governing the nature and activity of man. In the case of human beings, a
person will attain happiness and wisdom if he or she adheres to these rules
laid by God. This leads Ben Sirach to say this is the main contribution his
book makes), “If you desire wisdom, the commandments” (1:26). A person who
approaches God in all simplicity, ready to listen to his precepts and puts
them into practice will discover the meaning of the things and events of
the world around him, which he so greatly desires. In the introduction to
the part of the book these ideas are developed further (24:1-34).

It follows that a person who wants to be wise should logically show grateful
respect to the Creator by acting in line with the “instructions” wisely
imprinted on created things (man included). This is what in the tradition of
Israel called “fear of the Lord”, which is therefore “wisdom and
instruction” (1:27). The expression “fear of the Lord” does not, then, in
any sense mean being afraid of God. On the contrary, it is a reverent way of
referring to the religious attitude of man towards Him who looks after him
with great solicitude.
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From todays “Just a Word of Encouragement” by Mark Shea & Jeff Cavins:

CatholicExchange.com/church_today/message.asp?sec_id=5

Psalm 139:14
I praise thee, for thou art fearful and wonderful.
Wonderful are thy works! Thou knowest me right well.​

Fear is one of those things we don’t normally think of as good. We fear dentists, muggers, terrorists, and cancer. We spend a lot of time trying to reduce fear in our lives. So when Scripture speaks of “fearing the Lord” we can tend to think this is the language of savage primitives who felt they had to bow and scrape before the face of Raw Power. Indeed, many modern people will say things like, “I don’t believe in an All Powerful God of Fear. I believe in a God of Love!” Yet if we stop to think about it, everybody, if they’ve been fortunate, has had some opportunity in their life to experience the exhilaration of “good fear.” Often that experience comes to us as children during a thunderstorm. As adolescents, it might come to us as we look up at the depths of the universe on a summer night and realize our own infinitesimal tininess. As adults, we can know something of “good fear” as we witness the birth of a child or look out upon the world from our first airplane flight or from mountaintop. It’s scary, but we wouldn’t trade the awe of it for the world. We’ve all known moments where we realized the unfathomable power that pulses behind the world and known our own puniness. It is this puniness, this utter fragility, this danger, this dependence on God who hold it all together that today’s verse celebrates. And it celebrates it because the God who is All Powerful is Love.
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The fear of the Lord is what keeps me from committing certain mortal sins.
 
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anawim:
Reverential awe.
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I think so too. I heard that to Fear the Lord means the awe of the created for it’s Creator.
 
She has the courage of a lion.

She is as fast as a horse.

She has the fear of the Lord. She has GOD’s fear in her.

She fears the same things that God fears, evil. She fears pride, lust, anger, greed, gluttony, envy and sloth.

Proverbs 8:13
To fear the LORD is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech.

We have the love of God. We have God’s love in us.
 
Proverbs 9:10
"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
acknowledgement of God as He truly IS, as He has revealed Himself, and attitude of offering all praise, worship and obedience to Him.
 
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