How To Fear God (Part 1)

Previously, we talked about what it means to fear God and why we need to fear Him.  Today, we will begin to talk about how to fear Him.   The bible gives eight steps on how to fear God in Proverbs 2:1-9 (ESV)

My son, if you accept my words

And store up my commands within you,

Turning your heart to understanding –

Indeed, if you call out for insight

And cry aloud for understanding,

And if you look for it as for silver

And search for it as for hidden treasure,

Then you will understand the fear of the LORD

And find the knowledge of God.

For the LORD gives wisdom;

Form his mouth come knowledge and understanding.

He holds success in store for the upright,

He is a shield to those whose walk is blameless,

For he guards the course of the just

And protects the way of his faithful ones.

Then you will understand what is right and just

And fair – every good path.

8 Steps On How To Fear God

The steps on how to fear God according to this verse are as follow:

1. Accept God’s words
2. Store His commands within you
3. Turn your ear to wisdom
4. Apply your heart to understanding
5. Call out for insight
6. Cry aloud for understanding
7. Look for it as for silver
8. Search for it as for hidden treasure

Let’s break these steps down.  Today I will discuss the first four steps then lay out the last four in the next post.  I need to point out that all of these are commands of God, not mere suggestions.

Step 1

To accept God’s words means that you receive everything He says as truth and are in agreement with Him.  The very start of accepting what He says is truth is to believe that you are a sinner in need of a Savior.  Jesus, the Son of God, is that Savior who came to redeem us from our sins.  This the first step among steps. 

Once this is established, the more God speaks, the more we can accept His words and His truth.  Though the words He speaks may be difficult to comprehend or swallow we MUST accept His words as truth.  There is a dark cloud falling on the church causing it to sleep which says that the bible is not the authoritative word of God.  This is simply not true.  The bible is the very words of God penned by men under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.  Either we believe God’s words, which are ultimately composed in the bible, or we don’t.  If we cannot accept His words then we can’t expect to have a holy awe or reverence for Him. 

Step 2

To store His commands within us is to know His word, the bible, inside and out.  To have His word so engraved on our hearts that we can recall it in the moments of need.  It is tragic to read His word and forget what it says.  We can store His commands found in the bible by memorizing scripture.  This is helpful because whenever we are faced with a situation, those words can be retrieved to help us in our time of need.  It also helps us understand God better. 

Step 3

Is to turn your ears to wisdom.  To me that means to purposely set aside time to delve into the word of God.  We know that God gives wisdom and that there is wisdom in His word.  So we need to be purposeful and intentional to turn to His word and seek out the wisdom in it.  By this act, we are positioning ourselves to encounter Him as we read. 

I am reminded of Moses when He was in the desert tending the flocks of his father-in-law, Jethro.  He came to mount Horeb and an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame in a bush.  What strikes me as interesting is that Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burning” (Exodus 3:1-3).  Moses saw the bush aflame but not burning and he wanted to investigate it…to turn aside…to take time from his duty of tending his father-in-law’s flock to see what this was about.  Just like Moses, we too need to turn aside and make time to investigate God’s word.

Step 4

Is to apply our heart to understanding.  I find that the more I read the bible, the more I want to dig deeper and deeper into a topic in order to truly grasp what I am reading.  No matter what type of study I am doing, I don’t want it to end.  The richness and gems I get from reading and studying His word brings life to my soul.  However, it is not enough to just read it but the words I read must be applied in order to take its full effect in my life. 

If you need help in getting started in studying the bible, I have written a post on a simple bible study format you could use and I’ve written a comprehensive list of bible study tools that will help to enrich your study of the bible.

In the next post I will discuss the last four steps on how to fear God as shown in Proverbs 2:1-9.