“Surely His salvation is near to those who fear Him....” Psalm 85:9
To fear God denotes different meanings and ideas in the minds of people these days. So we need to ask ourselves - “what does the fear of God really mean as expressed in the Bible?” Because left to us, or to depend on some religious fabrication, understanding what it is to a fear God, can end up being very wrong.
This question is vitally important for us ask and correctly answer because understanding it correctly will bring the greatest of all blessings from God.
I say this because Psalm 25:14 says this: “The secret of the Lord is for those who fear Him, and He will make them know His covenant.
In other words the “secret” or the LORD’S ‘counsel’, is made known to those who have a right “fear” of Him. And that ‘counsel’ or “secret” is to know the “covenant” or the promises of God that bring salvation. So, without this right fear of God, the way of salvation is lost to those who do not fear Him. This is why it is vitally and eternally important to understand and know what it is to fear God.
So lets see if we can gather together a clear understanding of what it means to fear God. To do this let me quote Sinclair Ferguson. “The fear of God is the result of discovering that the God whom we thought of with slavish, servile fear, the holy righteous, terrifying God of judgment and majesty, is also the God who forgives us through Jesus Christ… One reason why we know so little of such filial fear is that we do not appreciate the gospel! If we would grow in grace so that we fear God like this, we must first return to the gospel, and to the meaning of the cross.”
In other words, “ the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom” (Ps 111:10). This reverential fear, which opens the door to God’s wisdom, is the “secret of the LORD”! This is God’s sure promise of eternal salvation to those who obediently trust in the righteousness of God seen in what Jesus did for us on the cross.