Fear the Lord!

[mullenpm]

Psalm 111 says that:

“To fear the Lord is the first stage of wisdom; all who do so prove themselves wise.”

I do not find myself “fearing” the Lord. Is this psalm saying we must be “afraid” of the Lord?

What exactly is “fearing the Lord”?

 

[tobinatorstark]

Here is from the Haydock Bible Commentary

Ver. 10. Fear. Hebrew, “is the chief part of wisdom.” (Jansenius) — This fear intimates the virtue of religion, to which the Israelites gave the preference over prudence, &c. (Josephus, contra App. 2.) — This distinguished them from other nations, Deuteronomy iv. 8. (Calmet) — Fear is the beginning, charity the end of wisdom. (Eusebius) — Beginning with fear, we ascend to true wisdom, which are the first and last of the gifts of the Holy Ghost. (Worthington) — Do it. Act conformably to this fear. (Haydock) — Speculative wisdom is good, but not sufficient, Romans xi. 13. (St. Chrysostom, &c.) — Many read ea, “those things,” with the Hebrew, while the Septuagint have eam, this wisdom. But Houbigant adheres to the Vulgate. (Berthier) — His. God’s, (St. Chrysostom) though some would refer ejus to intellectus. (Berthier) — He shall be praised for ever who has been so well informed as to adopt the fear or wisdom of the Lord for his guide. (Haydock)

I think the fear is a virtue to adopt wisdom not to be physically afraid. See what you can come up with from this.

 

[Blade_and_Blood]

Literally, it’s fearing the Lord, the last time I checked. You have to obey…

I always saw it as “respecting the Lord,” though, because I felt safe with him, not afraid. Then again, that did lead me to being spiritual, so maybe that was bad advice.

Ironically Yours, Blade and Blood

 

[mullenpm]

Blade, I also always felt safe with the Lord and can’t get my head around the “fearing the Lord.”

But, your comment:

"I always saw it as ‘respecting the Lord,’ though, because I felt safe with him, not afraid. Then again, that did lead me to being spiritual, so maybe that was bad advice.

Are you saying that becoming spiritual was a bad idea?

 

[juliamajor]

Blade, I also always felt safe with the Lord and can’t get my head around the “fearing the Lord.”

But, your comment:

"I always saw it as ‘respecting the Lord,’ though, because I felt safe with him, not afraid. Then again, that did lead me to being spiritual, so maybe that was bad advice.

Are you saying that becoming spiritual was a bad idea?

Actually “fear” of the Lord implies more of an awe or reverence for the power of YHWH

 

[NotWorthy]

Actually “fear” of the Lord implies more of an awe or reverence for the power of YHWH

If you were to be face to face with Jesus today, what would you do? Would you fall on your knees in awe and reverence, even though you love Him dearly? Would you consider all your sins as proof that you are not worthy to stand in His presence?

That is a good indicator of whether you fear the Lord or not.

 

[06convert]

In th Summa Theologica written by Saint Thomas Aquinas he lists out the gifts of the Holy Spirit. One of the gifts of the Holy Spirit was traditionally called “Fear of the Lord”, but Aquinas described it instead as “Awe and Wonder of the Lord”.

He went on to describe it as a fear of separating oneself from God. He describes the gift as a “filial fear,” like a child’s fear of offending his father, rather than a “servile fear,” that is, a fear of punishment. Also known as knowing God is all powerful.

 

[ryanoneil]

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fear_of_the_Lord

Fear of the Lord is one of the Seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, as described in Isaiah 11:2-3 (also known as wonder and awe).

The Catholic Encyclopedia explains that this gift “fills us with a sovereign respect for God, and makes us dread, above all things, to offend Him.”[1]

 

[mullenpm]

Thank you posters who helped me to understand the “fear” of the Lord as “wonder and awe”.

Now I understand.

 

[cheeto1]

I’m afraid I’ll be late. I’m afraid I’ll offend Jim if I don’t go to the
party. I’m afraid if I don’t go to sleep now, I’ll be too tired to wake up in the morning. I’m afraid there will be a fire if I leave the stove on. I’m afraid if I don’t get some gas, I’ll run out. I’m afraid my loved one will die. I’m afraid I’ll be embarrassed, or rejected.

I can be afraid about what to eat, what to wear, where to live.
Jesus said not to worry even about someone who wants to kill
you because, He said, they can only kill your body.

What about these: I’m afraid the company will close, I’m afraid
the 401K will go bankrupt, I’m afraid terrorists will strike again,
I’m afraid Joe will lose the lawsuit, Carrie will get divorced, and
Sam won’t keep the baby.

Wisdom comes when fear of the Lord comes above all other fears. If I fear anything more than the Lord, then I won’t act
wisely.

When I say fear, I don’t mean fearing punishment, or a
withholding of love, God doesn’t do that. I just mean thinking
of His feelings first, above all the other fears of life. Just be
afraid of hurting His feelings. Yes, He does have feelings.

 

[mullenpm]

Cheeto,

I absolutely agree with you in this paragraph (not that I disagree with the rest); but this paragraph was exceptional.

“When I say fear, I don’t mean fearing punishment, or a
withholding of love, God doesn’t do that. I just mean thinking
of His feelings first, above all the other fears of life. Just be
afraid of hurting His feelings. Yes, He does have feelings.”

 

[blackst]

I’m afraid I’ll be late. I’m afraid I’ll offend Jim if I don’t go to the
party. I’m afraid if I don’t go to sleep now, I’ll be too tired to wake up in the morning. I’m afraid there will be a fire if I leave the stove on. I’m afraid if I don’t get some gas, I’ll run out. I’m afraid my loved one will die. I’m afraid I’ll be embarrassed, or rejected.

I can be afraid about what to eat, what to wear, where to live.
Jesus said not to worry even about someone who wants to kill
you because, He said, they can only kill your body.

What about these: I’m afraid the company will close, I’m afraid
the 401K will go bankrupt, I’m afraid terrorists will strike again,
I’m afraid Joe will lose the lawsuit, Carrie will get divorced, and
Sam won’t keep the baby.

Wisdom comes when fear of the Lord comes above all other fears. If I fear anything more than the Lord, then I won’t act
wisely.

When I say fear, I don’t mean fearing punishment, or a
withholding of love, God doesn’t do that. I just mean thinking
of His feelings first, above all the other fears of life. Just be
afraid of hurting His feelings. Yes, He does have feelings.

 If God can destory both body and soul then that's something to be afraid of, who wants to suffer for eternity, who wants to be cut off from love, to be unwanted, or worse despised, hated, pityed,

riduculed.

God is truth and if you offen God spesking his truth then he should not have told man anything, but keep us ignorant of wisdom.

Grace Peace Mercy

 

[Blade_and_Blood]

Blade, I also always felt safe with the Lord and can’t get my head around the “fearing the Lord.”

But, your comment:

"I always saw it as ‘respecting the Lord,’ though, because I felt safe with him, not afraid. Then again, that did lead me to being spiritual, so maybe that was bad advice.

Are you saying that becoming spiritual was a bad idea?

Not through my eyes, but through others, it might have been.

See, I’m only Catholic by heritage and on paper. I started thinking more about God after confirmed and one thought led to another. At this point, I feel very, incredibly close to Him, yet I am far away from the Church.

Ironically Yours.

 

[cheeto1]

If God can destory both body and soul then that’s something to be afraid of, who wants to suffer for eternity, who wants to be cut off from love, to be unwanted, or worse despised, hated, pityed,
riduculed.

God is truth and if you offen God spesking his truth then he should not have told man anything, but keep us ignorant of wisdom.

Grace Peace Mercy

I agree with you, these are some of the biggest fears there are.

I am intrigued by your second paragraph, and want to know
what it means… Does it mean that once we are informed, we
are responsible?

Grace Peace and Mercy to you also…

 

[Mintaka]

Blade and Blood –

Sometimes we have to go far from home before we stop taking home for granted.

Seriously though, if you’re busy seeking Truth Himself in all sincerity and with all diligence, I doubt you’re all that far from the Church. She is His Bride, you know.

 

[juliamajor]

If God can destory both body and soul then that’s something to be afraid of, who wants to suffer for eternity, who wants to be cut off from love, to be unwanted, or worse despised, hated, pityed,
riduculed.

God is truth and if you offen God spesking his truth then he should not have told man anything, but keep us ignorant of wisdom.

Grace Peace Mercy

Sorry I can’t agree.God doesn’t destroy souls-we do that all by ourselves. our sin condemns us. we have 'self inflicted wounds. God wants us all to be saved. john 3:16

 

[cheeto1]

Sorry I can’t agree.God doesn’t destroy souls-we do that all by ourselves. our sin condemns us. we have 'self inflicted wounds. God wants us all to be saved. john 3:16

Yes, but Jesus did say this: Do not fear those who deprive the body of life but cannot destroy the soul. Rather, fear him who can destroy both body and soul in Gehenna. (MT 10:28)
This is real!!! So if you don’t want to follow God’s way, be
afraid, be very afraid, and yes, it will be the beginning of wisdom.
But, in the next breath, He tells us not to be afraid of anything.

 

[Blade_and_Blood]

Blade and Blood –

Sometimes we have to go far from home before we stop taking home for granted.

Seriously though, if you’re busy seeking Truth Himself in all sincerity and with all diligence, I doubt you’re all that far from the Church. She is His Bride, you know.

Oh, don’t get me wrong. I don’t mind the Church; if it wasn’t for Catholicism, I wouldn’t be the person I am, today. I certainly cherish my past in the Church, and, to put it simply, I don’t need it anymore.

Currently, I’m not seeking the “truth”–whatever that is. I am simply taking the lessons I’ve learned from the past and applying them to my present and future in hopes of being a better person.

Ironically Yours, Blade and Blood

 

[NotWorthy]

Oh, don’t get me wrong. I don’t mind the Church; if it wasn’t for Catholicism, I wouldn’t be the person I am, today. I certainly cherish my past in the Church, and, to put it simply, I don’t need it anymore.

Currently, I’m not seeking the “truth”–whatever that is. I am simply taking the lessons I’ve learned from the past and applying them to my present and future in hopes of being a better person.

Ironically Yours, Blade and Blood

That’s interesting. I don’t understand at all what you mean by this.

If you’ve learned what you needed to from the Church, then that last thing you would feel is “I don’t need it anymore”.

These two statements are an oxymoron.

 

[Blade_and_Blood]

That’s interesting. I don’t understand at all what you mean by this.

If you’ve learned what you needed to from the Church, then that last thing you would feel is “I don’t need it anymore”.

These two statements are an oxymoron.

Well, when you learn at school or college, you leave that place with a highly cherished skill–whatever it may be. You may like to revisit those memories or even revisit the place, but you just have to move on with Life.

Ironically Yours, Blade and Blood