Å fatte hva gudsfrykt innebærer

Fordeler spiller en rolle i mange av de valg vi foretar – spesielt i de fleste, store avgjørelser. Når du vurderer et jobbtilbud, sammenligner du betingelsene to eller flere potensielle arbeidsgivere tilbyr. Når du tenker på å flytte, ser du etter et område som har de kvalitetene som du verdsetter – et barnevennlig naboskap, nærhet til arbeidssted eller skole osv. Og for oss alle gjelder selvfølgelig fordelen ved å spise sundt og mosjonere regelmessig.

Likevel har jeg lært at de aller mest verdifulle goder erfarer vi når vi anvender Skriftens sannheter praktisk i livet vårt. Og dette gjelder ikke minst gudsfrykten. Et av de ordene som best beskriver gudsfrykt er ordet ærefrykt. Ærefrykt er svar på en åpenbaring av Gud. Jeg tror at ærefrykt er den eneste passende reaksjon når Gud åpenbarer seg. Og med den følger lydighet. En lydig holdning overfor Gud er et utrykk for gudsfrykt.

Jeg vil dele med deg noen av fordelene ved å frykte Herren. Dette er en av de mest spennende sidene ved å frykte Herren. Når jeg leser disse versene blir jeg svært begeistret. Jeg håper at du også blir begeistret når du får vite hva frykten for Herren innebærer for deg. La oss først se hva Gud sa til mennesket i Job 28:28:

Og han sa til mennesket:

Ekte visdom kan ikke skilles fra gudsfrykten. Mange mennesker betrakter visdom som noe forstandsmessig, på linje med dyktighet. Men visdom er ikke dyktighet – for visdom kan være forenet med ondskap. Frykten for Herren er uforenlig med ondskap.

Salme 25:12 viser enda en fordel ved gudsfrykten:

Hvem er den mann som frykter Herren?

Dette verset viser at Gud ikke rettleder alle mennesker – og Gud velger ikke sine studenter på grunn av eksamenskarakterer. Han velger dem på grunnlag av personlig karakter. Og han binder seg ikke til å undervise dem som ikke eier gudsfrykt. Du kan gå bibelskole. Du kan reise til det beste treningssenter. Men har du ikke gudsfrykt, er du ikke Guds elev. Det kan godt hende at du er elev av lærere, men du er ikke Guds elev.

g så to vers lenger ned – i salme 25:14 – finner vi en annen herlig tanke:

Herren har fortrolig samfunn med dem som frykter ham,

Er ikke det fantastisk? Hvis du frykter Herren vil han dele sine hemmeligheter med deg. Du deler dine hemmeligheter bare med en som står deg nær – en person som du stoler på.

Ord 10:27 forteller oss at hvis vi har gudsfrykt, vil vi leve lenger enn vi hadde gjort om vi var uten.

Herrens frykt forlenger livet,

Verset angir ikke nøyaktig hvor lenge du vil leve, bare at du kommer til å leve lenger enn du ville ha gjort uten å ha gudsfrykt. Hvem ville vel avslå det? Du har ikke råd til å leve uten gudsfrykt.

Ord 14:26 er et av de mest forbløffende vers i Bibelen.Det er et ganske kort vers, men det sier mye om gudsfrykt:

Den som frykter Herren, har et sterkt vern, og for hans barn skal Herren være en tilflukt.

Frykten for Herren gjør deg ikke forsagt. Den gjør deg ikke svak. Frykten for Herren gir deg styrke. Når du frykter Herren, trenger du ikke frykte noe annet. Den er medisinen mot alle ukristelige former for frykt.

Ord 19:23 er mitt favorittløfte:

Herrens frykt fører til liv,

Hvordan kan noen avslå et slikt tilbud? For min egen del er dette det løftet jeg ønsker meg. Jeg kan nesten ikke tro at Gud ga et slikt tilbud. Dette samme løftet gjentas i Ord 14:27 «Å frykte Herren er en livets kilde, så en slipper fra dødens snarer» og Ord 22:4 «Lønn for ydmykhet og gudsfrykt er rikdom og ære og liv».

Looking at Pictures

Psalm 2:11 presents us with a picture of the fear of the Lord that seems rather challenging on the surface.

Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling.

That doesn’t make sense to the carnal mind. “Rejoice with trembling”? This is what I call a spiritual combination. God puts together two elements that seem incompatible, and asks us to trust in His wisdom to reconcile them.

In Acts 9:31 we see a similar spiritual combination in Luke’s description of the early church.

Then the churches throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and were edified. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, they were multiplied.

“The fear of the Lord” and “the comfort of the Holy Spirit”? How can they go together? All I know is that from God’s perspective, they do—and they should never be separated. As a result, the people of the early church were edified and they multiplied. Perhaps that’s the key to church growth: the fear of the Lord and the comfort of the Holy Spirit.

I’ve actually encountered people who don’t believe you need the fear of the Lord after you’re saved. I believe that’s when you need it most. In 1 Peter 1:15–19 we see a message written to people who’ve been redeemed by the blood of Jesus.

… but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.” And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear; knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.

Peter says to be holy in all your conduct. Not some. Not most. But all. The very fact that God paid our redemption with the blood of Jesus—the most precious thing in the universe—is a reason why we should always walk in fear. We must be very careful that we don’t somehow betray our Redeemer, that somehow we don’t lower the price of our redemption to something cheap and insignificant.

The How-to

I don’t want to present you with the importance of the fear of the Lord but not tell you how to get it—because there is an answer. In Proverbs 2:1–5 we see an if-then statement that shows us step-by-step how to receive the fear of the Lord.

My son, if you receive my words, and treasure my commands within you, so that you incline your ear to wisdom, and apply your heart to understanding; yes, if you cry out for discernment, and lift up your voice for understanding, if you seek her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasure; then you will understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God.

Let’s look at the conditions—the “IFs”—for receiving the fear of the Lord.

If you receive my words, and treasure my commands within you. Receive God’s Word with respect, with an attitude of submission and obedience. Receive it as the most valuable element of your life. Treasure it. The Hebrew word means to store something up in the secret place, because it is of the most value to you.

So that you incline your ear to wisdom, and apply your heart to understanding. When someone is speaking to you and you really want to listen intently, you lean in—even bow your head. That’s what it means to incline your ear. It also demonstrates a submissive attitude. You become teachable.

Yes, if you cry out for discernment, and lift up your voice for understanding. This indicates a heart committed to prayer—impassioned prayer. This doesn’t mean making a public scene when you pray. In fact, impassioned prayer between just you and God often can be more productive than public prayer.

If you seek her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures. God doesn’t put everything out in the open. God doesn’t put His jewels out on the pavement for anybody to pick up. He puts them in places where you have to grasp for them. This is how we need to approach wisdom. Search for it wherever it may be found.

Now—after all the “IFs”—we come to the “THEN”—the promise.

Then you will understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God. I don’t believe the knowledge of God can ever be separated from the fear of the Lord. Isaiah 11:2–3 says of Jesus:

The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of knowledge and fear of the Lord—and he will delight in the fear of the Lord. (niv)

You cannot separate the knowledge of the Lord from the fear of the Lord. You don’t have more knowledge of the Lord in your life than you have fear of the Lord—a fear that only the Holy Spirit can teach. Psalm 34:11 says, “Come, you children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord.”

Think over what you’ve read here. Will you ask God to impart to you the fear of the Lord? He won’t do it against your will, and He won’t threaten you. He offers, but you have to receive. You may be a sincere Christian, but as you’ve been reading you have realized that there’s very little of the fear of the Lord in your life.

If that’s the way you feel—and I want you to be very careful because it’s easy to respond out of emotion and later forget what you’ve done—I want you to say these words to the Lord: