The More You Know God, The More You Fear Him

We know that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. The problem is that many do not fear God because they do not know Him. The more you know God in accordance to His Word the greater the fear of the Lord will come upon your life. You must allow your heart to be awestruck by the reality that God spoke the whole world into existence and it is upheld by the Word of His power. He commands the morning and the winds and seas obey Him. The more you consider the God who holds the universe and measures all the waters of the earth in the hollow of His hand then your heart will be awestruck with great fear of the Lord. When you properly fear the Lord then your heart will respond desiring to break free from sin. In Psalm 19, David reveals the powerful handiwork of God in the creation and gives five responses of our heart when we can see His great power.

Psalm 19:12-14 says, “Who can understand his errors? Cleanse me from secret faults. Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins; Let them not have dominion over me. Then I shall be blameless, And I shall be innocent of great transgression. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.”

1. THE FEAR OF THE LORD DESIRES TO BE CLEANSED FROM SECRET FAULTS

There is a clear call in the face of God’s power and the authority of His Word in

Psalm 19 for God to cleanse mankind from secret faults. The more understanding you gain concerning the power of God on the earth, you realize that you serve a God that knows all things. There is nothing that you can hide from God in your life. A secret fault in this scripture means a sin or weakness that is hidden. Something others don’t know about but God does. We must be cleansed from secret faults as we walk in the fear of the Lord.

Psalm 139 says, “O Lord, You have searched me and known me. You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off. You comprehend my path and my lying down, And are acquainted with all my ways.”

Luke 8:17 says, “For nothing is secret that will not be revealed, nor anything hidden that will not be known and come to light.”

2. THE FEAR OF THE LORD DESIRES TO BE KEPT FROM PRESUMPTUOUS SIN

There is also a clear call in Psalm 19 that we pray to be kept from presumptuous sin. Presumptuous sin is extremely dangerous because it is a premeditated sin. Presumptuous means that a person fails to observe the limits of what is expected of them. Presumptuous sins are willful, deliberate rebellions against God because your heart has been hardened. A heart that fears God remains aware of this type of sin and refuses to engage in it.

Hebrews 3:12-13 says, “Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; but exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.”

3. THE FEAR OF THE LORD DESIRES TO SPEAK ACCEPTABLE WORDS

There is a clear call in Psalm 19 to speak words that are acceptable in the sight of God. There is power in words. God created the heavens and the earth by speaking it into existence. The Word of God warns how death and life reside in the power of the tongue. When you speak you have the power to build a person up or tear them down and the most frightening reality is that your words pass right in front of the sight of God. We must pray that our words are acceptable in His sight.

Proverbs 18:21 says, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit.”

4. THE FEAR OF THE LORD DESIRES THAT THE MEDITATIONS OF YOUR HEART BE ACCEPTABLE

Finally, there is a clear call in Psalm 19 to address the mediations of your heart. The word meditations in Hebrew means the resounding music or whisperings of the heart should be acceptable in the sight of God. Not just what comes out of our mouths but what is happening in our hearts should please God. Those who fear God will meditate on the Word so that the meditations of their heart are pure before God.

Luke 6:45 says, “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.”

Psalm 1:2-3 says, “But his delight is in the law of the Lord,

And in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper.”