The Heart of the Matter: Fear the Lord

We started our Proverbs study last August. Today we are wrapping it up. I trust and have prayed that the Lord would use this in our lives. And based on conversations with some of you, I believe he has.

Before I read our concluding verses, I want to reminder you of how Proverbs defines wisdom.

Do you remember? Biblical wisdom is (1) seeking to know God and his Word, (2) humbly reflecting God’s goodness and righteousness in everyday life, and (3) striving to discern what is true and right and good, and what is not.

So, 3 things – knowledge, righteousness, and discernment. Not any knowledge, but the knowledge of God and his Word. Not righteousness as we define it, but righteousness as God has revealed. And not a general discernment, but discerning what is true, right, and good on the path of life.

That is wisdom – that is what God revealed to us through Solomon in the very first chapter. And that is what we’ve seen all throughout the book. Knowledge, righteousness, and discernment from God contrasted with the selfish foolishness and wickedness of the world. One path leads to life and peace and the other path to death and condemnation.

Today, we are going to end where we began. We are going to end with the very first step on the path of wisdom.

And that first step is to fear of the Lord. We’ve come across that phrase many times. To be exact, a dozen times so far – so it’s not new. And today, we’ll conclude with a few more references.

So, if you would take your proverbs insert out one last time. On the inside, you’ll note the two groupings of verses.

The first is about the heart and the second is about fearing the Lord.

Reading of selected verse

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Knowing Your Heart and Knowing Him Who Knows Your Heart

14:10 The heart knows its own bitterness, and no stranger shares its joy.

14:13 Even in laughter the heart may ache, and the end of joy may be grief.

15:11 Sheol and Abaddon lie open before the LORD;

how much more the hearts of the children of man!

15:13 A glad heart makes a cheerful face,

but by sorrow of heart the spirit is crushed.

15:15 All the days of the afflicted are evil,

but the cheerful of heart has a continual feast.

15:30 The light of the eyes rejoices the heart,

and good news refreshes the bones.

17:3 The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold,

and the LORD tests hearts.

17:22 A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.

19:3 When a man's folly brings his way to ruin,

his heart rages against the LORD.

20:5 The purpose in a man's heart is like deep water,

but a man of understanding will draw it out.

20:9 Who can say, “I have made my heart pure; I am clean from my sin”?

21:2 Every way of a man is right in his own eyes,

but the LORD weighs the heart.

27:19 As in water face reflects face, so the heart of man reflects the man.

The Blessings of Fearing the Lord with Your Heart, the Curses of Rejecting Him

14:2 Whoever walks in uprightness fears the LORD,

but he who is devious in his ways despises him.

14:26 In the fear of the LORD one has strong confidence,

and his children will have a refuge.

15:16 Better is a little with the fear of the LORD

than great treasure and trouble with it.

15:33 The fear of the LORD is instruction in wisdom,

and humility comes before honor.

16:6 By steadfast love and faithfulness iniquity is atoned for,

and by the fear of the LORD one turns away from evil.

16:20 Whoever gives thought to the word will discover good,

and blessed is he who trusts in the LORD.

27:21 The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold,

and a man is tested by his praise.

28:14 Blessed is the one who fears the LORD always,

but whoever hardens his heart will fall into calamity.

29:25 The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is safe.

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Prayer

A couple times in our series, we’ve considered the mighty lion Aslan. He’s the Christ figure in CS. Lewis’s Narnia series. And if you remember from an earlier sermon, he’s described by the Beavers as “not safe…. but good.”

Well, in Lewis’ book, The Silver Chair, he writes about a young girl named Jill who had been transported to Aslan’s Country.

Jill soon found herself lost in the woods. She’s been separated from her friend Eustice. And Jill was extremely thirsty. She was lost and afraid and desperately needed to drink.

As she wandered, Jill came across a bubbling stream of fresh water. But as she approached it, standing in her way was a great lion, and she froze

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“Are you not thirsty?" said the Lion.

"I am dying of thirst," said Jill.

"Then drink," said the Lion.

"May I — could I — would you mind going away while I do?" said Jill.

The Lion answered this only by a look and a very low growl. And as Jill gazed at its motionless bulk, she realized that she might as well have asked the whole mountain to move aside for her convenience.

The delicious rippling noise of the stream was driving her nearly frantic.

"Will you promise not to — do anything to me, if I do come?" said Jill.

"I make no promise," said the Lion.

Jill was so thirsty now that, without noticing it, she had come a step nearer.

"Do you eat girls?" she said.

"I have swallowed up girls and boys, women and men, kings and emperors, cities and realms," said the Lion. It didn't say this as if it were boasting, nor as if it were sorry, nor as if it were angry. It just said it.

"I daren't come and drink," said Jill.

"Then you will die of thirst," said the Lion.

"Oh dear!" said Jill, coming another step nearer. "I suppose I must go and look for another stream then."

"There is no other stream," said the Lion.

It never occurred to Jill to disbelieve the Lion – no one who had seen his stern face could do that – and her mind suddenly made itself up. It was the worst thing she had ever had to do, but she went forward to the stream, knelt down, and began scooping up water in her hand. It was the coldest, most refreshing water she had ever tasted. You didn’t need to drink much of it, for it quenched your thirst at once.

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Jill had stood there trembling… she recognized Aslan’s strength and that her life was in his hands. And then, she submitted to him. In the novel, that was the defining moment for Jill in her journey. And it illustrates fearing the Lord.

You see, fear of the Lord is absolutely where every journey of wisdom needs to begin. And the beautiful thing is that as you grow in your recognition of and trust in the Lord, your godly fear of him will also grow. It will more and more become the source of hope and trust and peace that you can draw upon in all of life.

We’ve come across that phrase “fear of the Lord” many times in the book of Proverbs. One commentator said it’s like the vein of gold that runs throughout the book. It’s used 19 times throughout Proverbs. We find the phrase in chapter 1 verse 7… and it’s in the second to last verse of the whole book.

1. Fearing the Lord

Now, you may be thinking, can you explain more what it means to fear the Lord? Am I supposed to be scared of God? I want to begin by defining fear of the Lord more thoroughy. We’ve considered fearing the Lord in a general sense throughout our Proverbs study. We’ve talked about it as the reverent awe and worship of God. Do you remember that? It’s a good starting definition.

But now that we’ve made it through Proverbs, we’re able to go much deeper. We’ve already seen several things about fearing the Lord.

Let me remind you of them.

· In chapter 1, verse 7 and chapter 9 verse 10, fearing the Lord is the beginning of knowledge and wisdom, the beginning of knowing the Holy One – God himself. As you know, that’s been our theme for our Proverbs study – the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

· Similarly, in chapter 2, we learned that when you fear the Lord, you will find the knowledge of God. That’s why fearing the Lord is so pivotal in your life.

· In chapter 8, a reverent fear of the Lord is hatred of evil. In other words, fearing the Lord is hating what the Lord hates.

· In chapters 10 and 14, fearing the Lord is a fountain of life for you beyond the snares of death. That is one of the many results of fearing the Lord.

· And similarly, in chapters 19 and 22, we learned that the fear of the Lord is life! When we fear the Lord, we have life in him.

Some of those themes are found in our verses today. Look at the bottom left of your insert. 14:2 - Someone who “walks in uprightness fears the Lord.” That’s what it looks like to fear the Lord – it’s walking in God’s righteousness. And the next verse listed,14:26 - when you fear the Lord, you will have “strong confidence.” In other words, you’ll have assurance in him.

And one more: 15:33 on the right. Fear of the Lord “is instruction in wisdom, and humility comes before honor.” Similar to other verses, the source to wisdom is fearing the Lord, which necessarily requires humility. Remember that call to humility from chapter 30 – the wisdom of Agur.

Let me say it this way – No one verse in Proverbs gives us a full definition of fearing the Lord. Rather, what Proverbs has done over these 31 chapters, is give us different camera angles of fearing the Lord. It’s revealed various layers like the source of fearing the Lord, the blessings that come from fearing the Lord, and how fearing the Lord recognizes the transcendence of God’s very nature.

In fact, that is where fearing the Lord begins. You need to see the glory and might and majesty of God. That is why the word “fear” is used. We think of that word and terror comes to mind. But when it comes to fearing the Lord, it’s having a humble understanding of the one true God of the heavens and earth who is unsurpassed in his transcendence. Remember our thematic study on the omniscience, the omnipresence, and the omnipotence of God. How he is all-knowing and present every where and all powerful.

Your life and my life are dependent fully on him. He has the power to move mountains and destroy empires. Nothing is hidden from his sight, and nothing is out of his control in the vast universe that he has created.

As Jill gazed on Aslan – she saw for the first time, the majesty of the great lion. And she knew that he had the power to give her life or else, she would die. And what did she do? She trusted him

That is the next step. After recognizing the grandeur of God, fearing the Lord necessarily requires trusting in him and worshiping him. That’s where humility comes into play. To see God in all his wonder and power, our response needs to be one of humble worship… bowing down to the one in whom we have our life and being, bowing down to the one who can give you life… and bowing down because you know he will judge your foolishness and wickedness and you will die if you do not fear him.

And there are amazing blessings when you do. I’ve already highlighted some of them. In fact, that word bless is found a couple of times in these verses. Look on the right. Proverbs 16:20 – the second line. “blessed is he who trusts in the Lord.” And just 2 verses below that, 28:14 – “blessed is the one who fears the Lord.” What are those blessings? Well, so many! Besides life, which we already considered, we have peace which comes from fearing the Lord. We’re given wisdom in this life when we fear the Lord. Think back to our definition of wisdom. When we fear the Lord, we’re given knowledge of God and his way. When we fear the Lord, he enables us to pursue his righteousness. And that leads to all the blessings and joy of living out his commands. And we are given discernment as we navigate the complexities of the world – life’s joys and sorrows.

Do you see how Proverbs has not just called us to fear the Lord but has revealed what it means to fear him, how to fear him, and the blessings of fearing the Lord.

Some of you will be familiar with Sinclair Ferguson. He’s a Scottish pastor and scholar. Listen to this summary definition of fearing the Lord. He says that it’s the “indefinable mixture of reverence, fear, pleasure, joy, and awe which fills our hearts when we realize who God is and what he has done for us.” If I could mimic his Scottish accent, I would. That definition pretty much captures it. Again, Ferguson says it’s “That indefinable mixture of reverence, fear, pleasure, joy, and awe which fills our hearts when we realize who God is and what he has done for us.”

That’s a good transition to where we’re heading next. The phrase, “which fills our hearts” and the phrase “what he has done for us.”

So, let’s move on from what fearing the Lord means to now, where that fear needs to live.

Hearts that Fear the Lord

Our reverent fear of the Lord needs to be the center of our hearts. If you look at the first set of verses, you’ll see that word “heart” several times.

I want to remind you that the Hebrew use of that word heart is much more expansive than our use of it today. Pretty much today we equate the word heart with our feelings. But the use back then encompassed the very center of what one cherishes and believes. To be sure, we do have feelings that come from the core of what we hold to be right. But we can also have feelings which contradict our beliefs. What I am saying is that the word heart, as used here, goes much deeper. It is the core of your inner life. It’s what you love most, which motivates and directs you.

Proverbs 14:13 is a good example of that. It’s on the left. “Even in laughter the heart may ache, and the end of joy may be grief.” There may be moments when on the outside your are joyful or you laugh – but deep down your heart may ache or grieve. Do you see how the word heart goes deeper?

Other words here confirm this. Bitterness is one of them. Bitterness is like cancer of your soul. It can consume you and cause self-pity that rots your heart. If you know someone driven by bitterness, you’ll know what I mean.

Another one is “a crushed spirit.” A heart so sad with either grief or sorrow that you despair of life.

Friends, this is why the fear of the Lord needs to be at the center of your heart! Because it will help turn your crushed spirit and bitterness to deep joy and peace. I’m not saying that someone with a godly fear of the Lord will never struggle with bitterness or discouragement. No. But over time as that fear of the Lord matures and sinks deep into your heart, the Lord will give you (more and more!) a deep joy. Listen to some of the phrases in these verses – 15:13 - “a glad heart,” 15:15 “a cheerful heart,” 17:22 “a joyful heart.” That comes when your heart fears the Lord.

To put this all together – fearing the Lord is to fear him from the deepest part of your soul – the very center of your being – who you are and what you cherish the most – fearing the living Lord of heaven and earth, who made you, and who calls you to fear him with your heart. And when you fear him, he will be at work turning your bitterness into peace, your sorrow into joy – it will be refreshing to your bones as it says.

Fearing the Lord is to believe in Christ

Ok, there’s one more thing here. And this is the key to it all. Fearing the Lord requires believing by faith in Christ. As Ferguson put it, realizing not just who God is but as he says, “what he has done for us”

Look at Proverbs 16:6. It’s there on the right “By steadfast love and faithfulness iniquity is atoned for, and by the fear of the LORD one turns away from evil.”

To atone for something is to make amends after a wrongdoing. Atonement requires a suitable compensation or action to make things right or to restore a relationship. That is atonement.

Think back on all the descriptions of foolishness and wickedness in Proverbs. It’s been a lot! All of it is rebellion against God and his Word and righteousness. The only way that our iniquity against God can be atoned for is by God himself making things right. And that atonement has been accomplished through Jesus Christ, alone. He gave his life as an atonement for our sin, so that we may have new life. That is the “steadfast love and faithfulness” of 16:6.

And he gives us a new heart so that we may fear him. Have you ever thought about that? Because of God’s steadfast love in atoning for our foolish and wicked ways and because he has giving us a new heart, we can now fear the Lord with reverent awe in our hearts.

If the promised Christ had not come, our fear would only be terror. If we knew the utter holiness and power and justice of God but knew not the Gospel, our fear would be dread. But in fact, Christ has come, and through him we can rightly fear the Lord in reverent awe for who he is, and what he has done.

As we read earlier from 1 Corinthians 1, that is why “we preach Christ crucified.” Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God... Who, as it says, “became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption.” Fearing the Lord is believing in Christ.

One of the most popular books every written, besides the Bible, is John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s progress. It was published in 1678. And it remained the second most popular book in the world behind the Bible for 300 years – until about 50 years ago.

And it’s a novel or really an allegory about the journey of faith. The main character is a man named Christian. And he is on the path to the celestial city. And on his journey, he comes across temptations and trials like… meeting Mr. Worldly Wiseman or getting stuck in the Slough of Despond. Really, Christian comes across a lot of the foolishness and temptations we’ve read in Proverbs.

One of his friends is Hopeful. And at one point they both meet Ignorance. Well, ignorance has no ears to hear about faith in Christ alone. And Christian and Hopeful notice that many in the world are just like Ignorance.

Here’s some of their conversation, which, by the way, I’ve revised into modern English.

Christian said this to Hopeful: “[they] do not understand that their feelings of guilt and shame and fear are for their good. They instead desperately seek to suppress them and to stubbornly continue to deceive themselves by following their own desires.”

Hopeful replied. “I do believe, as you say, that fear is for their good, and will put them on the right path at their beginning of their journey.”

“Without a doubt,” Christian responded, “for as the Word of God rightly says, ‘The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.’”

“How would you describe that right fear?” Hopeful asked.

“True or righteous fear,” Christian said, “can be known by three things:

1. First, its origin, which begins with a conviction of sin that reveals a need for salvation.

2. Second, righteous fear drives the soul to hold fast to Christ for salvation.

3. And third, [a right fear of the Lord] instills and maintains a deep reverence for God, His Word, and His ways, keeping the soul sensitive to him, and fearful of straying from or dishonoring God, or forgetting the peace he gives, or ignoring the conviction of the Spirit, or allowing the enemy to speak his lies.”

“Well said,” hopeful agreed, “You have spoken the truth.”

As we close out this series, there’s one thing that I hope you will remember from our Proverbs study. And that is this: Christ is the key to all of it. You cannot read Proverbs without seeing your need for salvation in him. You cannot understand the fear of the Lord without trusting in Christ and believing by faith in his Gospel. And you cannot pursue the path of wisdom and righteousness without Jesus going before you in his perfect wisdom and righteousness.

King Solomon and his sons looked to the Holy One, the Messiah, who would come to fulfill all of this. We look to him who has come.

Conclusion

In closing, there’s one more thing in these verses. The Lord knows you. He knows your heart.

Proverbs 15:11 “Sheol and Abaddon lie open before the LORD (by the way, that’s talking about the grave and hell); how much more the hearts of the children of man!”

There’s nothing hidden from his sight. He knows your thoughts and your motivations. He knows everything about you. Proverbs 17:3 “The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold, and the LORD tests hearts.” And similarly, just a few verses later, “the LORD weighs the heart.”

He knows whether your heart fears him. And he desires you to know and fear him. If you do not know and fear the Lord through Christ, it’s time. In the words of Aslan, “There is no other stream.”

May we all fear the Lord… because, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Amen.