By Every Word: Filial Fear, Perfect Love
How the fear of the Lord frees us from every other fear.
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” — Proverbs 9:10
We bristle at the word fear. It sounds like a chain, a shrinking back, a prison of anxiety. Yet Scripture says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” How can wisdom begin with something that sounds so dark?
The Hebrew word here, yirah, carries more depth than our English ear first hears. It can mean fear—but also awe, reverence, trembling before something weighty and holy. It’s the posture of one who knows his smallness before the One who spoke the cosmos into being.
This isn’t servile fear—the kind that cowers before punishment. It’s the kind a child feels toward a father he adores: filial fear. Not dread of the lash, but dread of dishonoring the one whose love is perfect. We know this instinctively: the shame of disappointing a good father pierces deeper than the sting of discipline.
The people of Israel felt both at Sinai. They trembled at the thunder and lightning, yet Moses told them, “Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.” (Exodus 20:20). Not terror that drives them away, but holy reverence that draws them near in obedience.
We see the same in Peter when he fell to his knees before Jesus: “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord” (Luke 5:8). Yet Jesus didn’t depart. He called Peter closer, into discipleship. Filial fear gave birth to wisdom, wisdom gave birth to love, and love cast out servile fear—not by removing reverence, but by deepening it into joy.
To fear the Lord, then, is to bow in awe, to feel the shame of sin not only as law-breaking but as wounding love. It’s to tremble at His holiness, not because His love is uncertain, but because His love is sure. It’s the fear that frees us from the fear of man, from the fear of failure, from the fear of death itself. It teaches us to order our lives, to repent with sorrow not only for breaking a rule but for grieving the Father’s heart.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom because it’s the beginning of love rightly ordered. To fear Him is to love Him too much to wound Him—and to love Him is to find in His presence the fullness of joy.
Reflection
When I think about fear of the Lord, I realize how much of my own life has been governed by the wrong kinds of fear: fear of failure, fear of man, fear of being found out. Those fears shrink me and leave me restless. But filial fear—the trembling of a son before a good Father—does the opposite. It frees me.
I know the sting of disappointing people I respect, and how that weighs heavier than any penalty. How much more with God? Yet He isn’t a harsh master. He’s the Father who gave His Son for me. My fear isn’t that He will stop loving me, but that I might treat His love as common. That I might cheapen grace by living carelessly.
This fear doesn’t paralyze—it steadies me. It calls me to order my life in reverence, to repent not just of breaking rules but of grieving the One who loves me. It’s a fear that makes me long to walk wisely, humbly, and joyfully before Him—and frees me from every other fear.
Prayer
Father, You are holy and good. Teach me not to cower as a slave but to tremble as a son. Give me a fear that does not drive me from You but draws me near in reverence and joy. Let the weight of Your holiness free me from lesser fears, and let my life be lived to honor You in all things. Through Jesus Christ, who makes me Your child. Amen.
Further Reading — Heidelberg Catechism Q&As
Question 94. What doth God enjoin in the first commandment?
Answer. That I, as sincerely as I desire the salvation of my own soul, avoid and flee from all idolatry, [1 Cor. 6:9-10; 1 Cor 10:7,14] sorcery, [Lev. 18:21; Deut. 18:10-12] soothsaying, superstition, [Mat. 4:10; Rev. 19:10] invocation of saints, or any other creatures; and learn [John 17:3] rightly to know the only true God; [Jer. 17:5,7] trust in him alone, with humility [Heb. 10:36; Col. 1:11; Rom. 5:3-4; Phil. 2:14] and patience [1 Pet. 5:5-6] submit to him; [Psa. 104:27; Isa. 45:7; James 1:17] expect all good things from him only; [Deut. 6:5; Mat. 22:37] love, [Deut. 6:5; Mat. 10:28] fear, and [Mat. 4:10] glorify him with my whole heart; so that I renounce [Mat. 5:29-30; Acts 5:29; Mat. 10:37] and forsake all creatures, rather than [Mat. 5:19] commit even the least thing contrary to his will.
Question 122. Which is the first petition?
Answer. [Mat. 6:9] "Hallowed be thy name"; that is, grant us, first, rightly [John 17:3; Jer. 9:23-24; Mat. 16:17; James 1:5] to know thee, and to [Psa. 119:137-138; Luke 1:46; Psa. 145:8-9] sanctify, glorify and praise thee, in all thy works, in which thy power, wisdom, goodness, justice, mercy and truth, are clearly displayed; and further also, that we may so order and direct our whole lives, our thoughts, words and actions, that thy name may never be blasphemed, but rather [Psa. 115:1; Psa. 71:8] honored and praised on our account.
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