The Beginning of Wisdom
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom
–Psalm 111:10
Last night at Valley Mosaic we enjoyed a great discussion about fear. The discussion centered on the above quoted verse from Psalm 111. The conversation ranged from defining what fear means to each of us, to speculating on what the Bible means when it says it is good to “fear God.”
At one point I suggested that this above verse could be read as: realizing that God can never fully be known is the beginning of wisdom. My thinking is that, when it comes right down to it, the things that frighten us the most in life are when we encounter things that are unknown and different from us. This anxiety and fear of the unknown naturally manifests in us because we are ultimately afraid to die. It’s only logical then to assume that the people in the Bible who encounter God are terrorized because they have encountered a force that is unlike anything they have ever encountered before. They fear what they don’t understand.
We also noted how the Christian Church has gotten away from interpreting “Fear of God” as being genuine terror that is found in those who encounter God in the Bible. The modern day Church tends to downplay the reality that the people in the Bible who encounter God are actually and categorically afraid that they are going to die. It’s no wonder that in most cases when people encounter beings from the heavenly realm, they have to be told over and over to “fear not.”
I do have a problem, though, with one way in which this “fear of God” language of the Bible can and has been interpreted throughout the years. One problem with the word “fear,” as far as the way we think of it, is that it is often associated with punishment. Thus, “fear of God” comes to mean fearing God’s wrath and punishment. This, in my opinion, can be very detrimental and is essentially some really twisted theology.
We did find great solace in 1 John 4:18 where these words are written about fear:
There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
Ultimately we came to the conclusion last night that the Hebrew Bible’s concept of “fearing God,” therefore, can be compared to the feeling of looking at the nighttime sky and being awed by the immensity of space and simultaneously terrified by the thought of our smallness in such a vast expanse. That is to say, it is the feeling of being overwhelmed by a reality greater than oneself and greater than that encountered in ordinary life. It is the feeling that the theologian Rudolf Otto called the Mysterium Tremendum.
Once we experience this fear we have nothing else to fear in life because thankfully, as it is written, we are immediately told to fear not.