Fearing the Lord: Society's Missing Piece

 

Fear the Lord

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: A good understanding have all those who do His commandments. His praise endures forever.” (Psalm 110:10)

Child Like Fear 

We read the verse differently as children than we do as adults. Fear to children is something to avoid at all costs. Not all kids have the same measure of fear either. My brother was more of a risk taker, likelier than me to get in trouble for recklessness. When we were young my parents would put us down for a nap. He would wait until they turned out the light and creep (carefully) over to his table and get out coloring books. Of course he wasn’t careful at all, he’d crash into the wall or trip on his way back to bed.

My fear of parental correction was greater than his. 

I laid in my bed just watching him and shaking my head in amazement. I’m sure I uttered something snotty like “Just wait till Dad sees you!” I don’t remember any of this of course. I’ve since heard these stories about his clumsy attempts to sneak out of bed and my 'saintly' refusal to follow along. My parents used to crack the door slightly and peer in to watch the show. We never knew they laughed themselves silly. Risky behavior or not, fear can be crippling and not how we would want to think of God. Nor would we want kids to think of the Heavenly Father as an old West judge dispensing punishment.

Correctly Understood Fear

Old Testament fear of the Lord is closer to awesome power than scary spirit. The ocean is an awesome force that we neglect at our own peril, but it’s not scary the way a horror movie is. But we’ve seen the devastating impact of tidal waves or tsunamis on communities close to the sea. Anyone spending time on the ocean should fear its power and respect the boundaries nature sets. But the ocean is critical to the life of the planet. Not to mention, it’s rich in natural resources. It’s a vast ecosystem we don’t even fully understand yet.  

Why is fear of the Lord the beginning of wisdom? The simplest explanation is this: society doesn’t fear the Lord because they don’t believe in Him. Obviously there are people around the world who fear the Lord. But in most countries the leadership believes in humanity. This has probably been the case for longer than I realize. I used to think of the New World Order as a conspiracy for nervous libertarians. I can see how blatant the NOW has become since Covid 19. Nearly every Western democratic leader has talked about the great reset like they’ve already decided what it means. They’re all reading from the same script.

Loosing Fear

The European Union has tried to dissolve sovereignty within the zone and toss decision making to Brussels. The World Health Organization is pushing for total control over pandemic preparedness in the United States. Their new bill would give the Director General carte blanch decision making within this country. Through lockdowns and surveillance they would run our lives. Our own country has debased the currency and flooded the borders with illegal aliens. There is no way any immigration system can keep up with this many people in the country. I can keep listing examples of lawless behavior from the top, not to mention the street violence (BLM, Antifa) being funded by wealthy communists.

Globalists don’t have the fear of the Lord because they act like their actions won’t have consequences in the next life. Likely their actions will have consequences in this life as well. I don’t know how long of a dark period we are facing but I know that God is just and His wrath is something to truly fear. Evil doers still have time to turn from their wickedness or face eternal damnation. Humanism is pride in the individual, his achievements, his progress and his indomitable will. It’s the philosophy that holds the evolving mind can overcome earthly constraints. Any world view that doesn’t recognize God as Creator begins as a lie and ends in destruction.

No Fear

Humanism works as a legitimate theory because man is an achieving creature, continually solving problems and making everyday life better. Science and technology have grown incredible in my short life. Today’s iPhone has a million times more memory than the computer that sent the Apollo 11 crew to the moon. I would never discount the power of the human brain, nor the determination to solve problems and conquer new worlds. We are made in God’s image and without that critical understanding we don’t have appropriate fear.

We don’t treat great works of art like they just materialized. Imagine standing in line to see the Mona Lisa and never acknowledging Leonardo Da Vinci as the creator. What if the Louvre removed all references to the artist and treated the painting like a beautiful accident with no author? That’s exactly what we do when we celebrate human achievement and pretend the individual is an entity unto themselves.

The lack of recognition is a slight against God. It’s offensive but we’re actually kind of used to this. But after years of ignoring the Creator, it begins to bleed into everything. It’s in inherent in the textbooks, awards, and laws that govern society. Slowly it takes over and sets up a primary position as the dominant way of thinking. Before you realize what’s happened, humanism is the default philosophy of the land. Judeo Christian attitudes are still around, like a Star Trek convention years after it was popular. Secular humanism, like an invasive weed, has choked out all opposition.

Recovering Fear

Now it’s becoming ever more prideful, any fear that existed in the Almighty is totally gone. Now notions of human achievement and progress means sex changes for pre-teens and gay literature for young kids. Why not though? Moral laws require boundaries and fear of crossing them. Humanism doesn’t recognize boundaries and actively works against the created order.

Christians raised in a moral country (mostly) aren’t familiar with resisting the culture. I’m convinced they’re waking up all over. I’m convinced they will see the rot at the heart of humanism and start dismantling corrupt institutions. Whether global organizations like the WHO or local ones like the school boards, all need a good cleansing. Most need to go away forever. There are hopelessly corrupt and/or antagonistic toward Christian beliefs. This war is upon us and has been for a long time. It won’t be easy to recover the lost ground but God is for us.

 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and we hurt ourselves when we don’t remember it. That’s the story of humanity. God’s unfailing love keeps bringing us back. But punishment is inevitable without repentance.