Summary
When Fear is Good
"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight" Proverbs 9:10. The book of Proverbs is concerned with wisdom—the ability to take what you know and apply it to the ordinary, practical matters of life. And what stands at the beginning of that wisdom? Fear. That pairing strikes the modern ear as strange, but it is the heart of the proverb.
The Hebrew word translated "fear" carries several shades of meaning. One shade is genuine terror—being scared of someone or something. When Jacob learned that Esau was approaching with four hundred men, he "was greatly afraid and distressed" Genesis 32:6-7. Jesus himself uses "fear" in this stronger sense when he warns, "Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell" Matthew 10:28. In a casual culture tempted to picture God as a cosmic bellhop or a genie in a bottle, this biblical sobriety is needed: God is holy, and to stand before him cloaked in our sin is a terrifying thing.
But the fear of Proverbs 9:10 is a different shade. Luther called it filial fear—from the Latin filius, son or daughter. It is the fear a beloved child has of disappointing a respected parent: not cringing terror, but awe and reverence. It is the fear that flows not from being threatened by God but from knowing him as merciful Father. This is the fear that stands at the beginning of wisdom Good Fear- When Fear is Good. 6-15-25.
Scripture ties this kind of fear directly to the gospel. "Surely his salvation is near to those who fear him, that glory may dwell in our land" Psalm 85:9. And again, "If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared" Psalm 130:3-4. Awe and reverence are born in us through salvation and forgiveness—through the gospel of Jesus Christ crucified and risen, through the promises sealed in baptism, through the living Word that "comes by hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ" Romans 10:17. Because of Christ, the Christian does not stand before God in terror; he stands in reverent love.
This is why the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. To know who God is—sovereign, omnipotent, omniscient, merciful, gracious, kind—is to gain the foundation from which all the practical questions of life can be answered. "The knowledge of the Holy One is insight." Wisdom takes what we know about God and applies it to the ordinary stuff: the problems that perplex, the pain that persists, the unknown that looms, the situation waiting just around the corner.
That is why Scripture can issue its hundreds of "fear not" commands. We are not told not to fear because we can master our circumstances, but because of who God is and what he has done. The God who redeemed us by the blood of his Son will not abandon us to face life's adversities alone. So the right kind of fear—awe and reverence of the Holy One—drives out every lesser fear. May you be filled with that fear today: the best kind of fear, the beginning of wisdom.
Video citations
- Good Fear- When Fear is Good. 6-15-25 — Would you open your Bible's please with me to Proverbs 9th chapter for our time in God's Word today? Proverbs 9th chapter of using a Pew edition, you're going to find that on page 554 in the Old…