Fear of the Lord, part 1

Psalm 19:9a (NASB 95)
The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever...

Psalm 111:10a (NASB 95)
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom...

Ecclesiastes 3:14 (NASB 95)
I know that everything God does will remain forever; there is nothing to add to it and there is nothing to take from it, for God has so worked that men should fear Him.

Luke 12:5 (NASB 95)
"But I will warn you whom to fear: fear the One who, after He has killed, has authority to cast into hell; yes, I tell you, fear Him!

Ephesians 5:21 (NASB 95)
...And be subject to one another in the fear of Christ.

1 Peter 2:17 (NASB 95)
Honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king.

1 Peter 5:7 (NASB 95)
...Casting all your anxiety [or “worries”] on Him, because He cares for you.

Thoughts:
Old Testament and New, the fear [also translated as “reverential awe”] of the Lord is praised and encouraged. Fear of men, other nations, and idols was discouraged. Only God deserves the fear that is also “reverential awe.”

If I fear something I am saying that it has power over me. But only God has ultimate power over me. Others may injure me, even kill me, but I am told to fear only Him who has authority to cast men into hell.

But I do fear things other than God. And I find it hard to fear a loving God, who gave up His only Son, so that I could know Him.

What then? What do I do with my fear of the wrong things? I found a clue in 1 Peter 5:7. “Casting all your anxiety on Him.” I do not need to keep my fears. I do not need to have my fears focus on things, on people, on events, on idols, that are not God. I can “cast” them onto Him.

I have for years understood this to mean that I give my fears to the Lord in prayer. I tell Him what I fear, and ask Him to set my free from them. I did this knowing that if I do, I will know the peace that passes understanding.

But I also now see that I have to give those fears to the Lord in the sense of transferring them from the wrong things to Him, to my Lord Jesus. I need to declare my Friend, my Savior, Jesus, the proper recipient of the fear that I am feeling over something else.

So doing, the “fear” of something that is not God becomes the “reverential awe” of Him who is God. This is part, for me, of bringing all things into subjection to Jesus. I see Him as the proper recipient of any fears I may have.