Question 1: Have you not heard something along these lines? “Fear is cowardly!” Or perhaps a Joshua-laden encouragement along the lines of, “Don’t be afraid; be of good courage!” Or perhaps, “Be a man! Don’t wuss out!”? I have. Endlessly. Often completely ripped from their proper context.

Proposal: God blesses (wise) fear.

Scripture: “Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who greatly delights in his commandments!” (Psalm 112:1, ESV).

Question 2: When’s the last time you heard that taught accurately?

Teaching: The Lord does not solicit pittances or sham honesty. He actually vomits such overtures. There’s a biblical picture for you (Rev. 3:16).

The Lord says to his people that he blesses wise fear. Why? Because once one comes into true recognition of who God is, he/she sees who he/she is, and is broken by the devastation of truth.

Encouragement: There’s no end of acting. (Actually, there is, but that’s for another article.) It’s among the world’s oldest professions, alongside others which go without saying.

Here is all I want to encourage us with for now:

God sees; God knows; and God is altogether holy.

Once we get that in our viscera, we will be changed to fear the Lord, as a wise person ought to and does.

Leave the fools and hirelings to entertain fellow fools. But as for the Christian, let him/her fear the Lord, and discover the benediction of heaven.