It is the LORD your God you shall fear. Him you shall serve and by his name you shall swear.
Deuteronomy 6: 13 (ESV)
The fear of the Lord can be a difficult concept to understand. We tend to define it as terror. This devotion looks at what fear of the Lord really means and how it applies to our lives as disciples.
Nuggets
- Instead of terror, the fear of the Lord is reverence and love.
- Jesus knew that our focus would be on this life, even though we should focus on our eternal life.
- Outside of God, we never will be able to understand things.
- We have to do more than just understand God’s ways; we have to embrace them.
- Keeping His commandments prepares us for eternal life.
- When we fear God and give honor to Him, we want to serve Him.
- We have to openly confess our faith in God.
When I originally put this verse in my for-the-future-devotion file, I copied down the Living Bible translation. It says, “When you are full, don’t forget to be reverent to him and to serve him and use his name alone to endorse your promises” (Deut. 6: 13 LB).
Isn’t that such good advice because don’t we do just that? When things are going good, we so forget about God and how all the blessings are coming from Him. We tend to think it is our hard work married to our immense knowledge and top-notch skills.
Today, I started looking at commentaries to see what they said about this verse. That took me straight to the translations.
Not a one of the other translations say anything about being full. Every one of them said fear God.
Now, that is a totally different — and sometimes more confusing — concept. Let’s dig a little deeper and see what we see.
Let's Put It into Context
Moses was giving the Israelites a pep talk before they entered into the Promised Land without him. Well, it was part pep talk, mostly straighten-up talk.
The topic of the talk is remembering God and making sure they honored Him. This was especially important to Moses because the Israelites were set to win big upon entering the Promised Land. The wilderness wanderers were fixing to become prosperous land owners. How would that landfall change them?
Just a few verses back, Moses had summed up exactly what God is looking for us in this relationship. Jesus called it the greatest commandment (Deut. 6: 5). It is all about loving God.
To read Will Being Kind to Others Get Us into Heaven?, click the button below.
But this verse — only seven verses later — talks about fear. What gives?
When we think of fear, we think of terror. Let’s take a look at fear of the Lord to see what it is.
Which Fear Are We Talking About?
“It is the LORD your God you shall fear …” (Deut. 6: 13 ESV).
Instead of terror, the fear of the Lord is reverence and love. It is acceptance of His superiority and sovereignty. It is submitting to His authority.
“And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Mt. 10: 28 ESV).
Jesus knew that our focus would be on this life. This life is hard, and Satan tries his best to make sure this life is where our focus is.
But Jesus knew that our focus shouldn’t be on this life. Instead, we should focus on our eternal life. It is so much more important to make sure our eternal life is determined.
That doesn’t mean we are on our own in this life. “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand” (Isa. 41: 10 ESV). God will be with us every step if the way.
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction” (Prov. 1: 7 ESV).
Did you see that? Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.
The Psalmist put it this way. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever!” (Ps. 111: 10 ESV).
We so much want to understand things and be able to explain them. Outside of God, we never will be able to do so.
True, we will never be able to totally figure things out. “‘My thoughts,’ says the Lord, ‘are not like yours, and my ways are different from yours’” (Isa. 55: 8 GNT). The only way we are going to figure things out is through His revelations.
The only way God is going to begin to reveal things to us is if we make Him our Sovereign Lord. We have to start the fear and reverence before the wisdom and understanding comes.
“The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate” (Prov. 8: 13 ESV).
We have to do more than just understand God’s ways. We have to embrace them. We have to walk away from evil.
Instead of evil, we need to choose life. “The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, that one may turn away from the snares of death” (Prov. 14: 27 ESV).
We gain so much for this life when we admit our sins, believe on Jesus as Redeemer, and confess God as Sovereign Lord. “The fear of the Lord leads to life, and whoever has it rests satisfied; he will not be visited by harm” (Prov. 19: 23 ESV).
Oh, did the word harm trip you up? Remember, we are not talking physical harm here. Go back to what Jesus said. “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Mt. 10: 28 ESV emphasis added).
Jesus doesn’t say those who try or those who want to kill. My mind reads this those who will kill the body. They are going to succeed.
But those who fear God — even if we lose in this life — will gain in the end. Remember, focus on eternity.
“The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man” (Ecc. 12: 13 ESV).
“The end of the matter …” (Ecc. 12: 13 ESV) in when Jesus comes to call us home. That is when we start experiencing the eternal life that we have gained. Keeping His commandments now prepares us for that life.
Fear by Serving
“… Him you shall serve …” (Deut. 6: 13 ESV).
When we fear God and give honor to Him, we want to serve Him. We do that by keeping His commandments and doing His work. “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul” (Deut. 10: 12 ESV).
We serve God by doing whatever He calls us to do. We obey Him in whatever way He calls, using whatever ability or possession He has given to us for that purpose. There is a willingness to serve God to the best of our abilities.
Fear by Swearing
“… and by his name you shall swear” (Deut. 6: 13 ESV).
This gets me. If we read Matthew 5: 34-37, it says, “But I tell you, do not swear an oath at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one” (NIV). What gives?
Leviticus 19: 12 says, “You shall not swear falsely by My name, so as to profane the name of your God; I am the LORD” (NASB). God 1) doesn’t want us making an oath or promise and 2) if we do, leave His name out of it.
But here Moses says God wants us to swear by His name. Is that confusing or what?
I think what Moses is saying is that we have to openly confess our faith in God. “If you confess that Jesus is Lord and believe that God raised him from death, you will be saved. For it is by our faith that we are put right with God; it is by our confession that we are saved” (Rom. 10: 9-10 GNT). We have to make sure others know that we put our trust in Him.
Making the Connections
When you think about Psalm 63: 11 in this context, I see it. “But the king will rejoice in God; Everyone who swears by Him will glory, For the mouths of those who speak lies will be stopped” (NASB). I hope you see it, too.
If we fear God. If we confess Him as Redeemer, Savior, and Sovereign Lord. If we obey. If we serve Him.
Then, God will give us eternal life. Then, He will protect us. Then, He will give us wisdom and understanding.
Satan and his lies will be stopped. Yes, Jesus will come again. Yes, we will be judged. No, we won’t be judged on whether we were good or bad. We will be judged on if we are spiritually alive or spiritually dead. Yes, sin will be called sin.
How Do We Apply This?
We have to fear God. We have to be ready for the end. I am ready. Are you?
Father. We admit our sins, believe on Jesus as Redeemer, and confess You as Sovereign Lord. We come to You reverently, in awe of Your power and glory. Help us to boldly proclaim Your love and faithfulness. May we serve You wherever You plant us. Amen.
If you have not admitted that your relationship is not right with God,
have not asked Jesus to be your Lord and Savior,
and have not confessed your sins,
please read through the Plan of Salvation and prayerfully consider what God is asking you to do.
What do you think?
Leave me a comment below (about this or anything else) or head over to my Facebook group for some interactive discussion.
If you don’t understand something and would like further clarification, please contact me.
If you have not signed up for the email daily or weekly providing the link to the devotions and the newsletter, do so below.
If God has used this devotion to speak with you, consider sharing it on social media.
I grew up hearing that phrase, fear the Lord…but, never really understood it til I was much older. I think so many people wrestle with this because they think it means to be afraid of Him. With spiritual maturity comes true understanding of what it means! Great post to help people understand what it really means!
Thank you for the kind words! We are never going to understand everything, but we have to understand enough to choose God as our Sovereign Lord. I do want to help increase people’s understanding.
Pingback: What Constitutes an Obedient Disciple? – Seeking God with Elaine
Pingback: What Assurance Did Mary’s Visit with Elizabeth Give Her? – Seeking God with Elaine
Pingback: The (Un)Likely Admirers – Seeking God with Elaine
Pingback: What Does It Mean to Walk in the Spirit? – Seeking God with Elaine
Pingback: Finding Favor by Acknowledging God – Seeking God with Elaine
Pingback: The Correlation Among Fear of the Lord, Wisdom, and Obedience – Seeking God with Elaine
Pingback: What Is the Relationship Between Righteousness and Wisdom? – Seeking God with Elaine
Pingback: Knowledge as a Virtue – Seeking God with Elaine
Pingback: Godliness as a Virtue – Seeking God with Elaine
Pingback: Are Disciples to be Docile? – Seeking God with Elaine