Learn to Fear the Lord!

Thank you, for your gift of learning “the fear of the LORD.”

December 10, 2019

"O fear the LORD, ye his saints: for there is no want to them that fear him.  The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the LORD shall not want any good thing.  Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the LORD."

Psalm 34:9-11

When David wrote this psalm, he was in a hard place.  He had been running for his life from King Saul.  Then it seems that David jumped from the frying pan into the fire, when oddly enough, King Abimelech (Achish) of the Philistines, let David camp out among them because he pretended insanity.  God was obviously with David, even when he was with his enemies in Philistia.[1]

As our verses for today show us, David feared the LORD, not the Philistines.

“O fear the LORD, ye his saints: for there is no want to them that fear him.”
Having a right relationship with God is so vital for the child of God.

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding” (Proverbs 9:10).

The knowledge of holy things gives us a correct perspective on what is essential in life.

“Ye His saints,” are the “holy ones: those whose character corresponds to their calling as members of the holy nation….”[2]

When we, “His saints,” learn to wait on the LORD, He provides us with all that we need.

“But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary, and they shall walk, and not faint” (Isaiah 40:31).

“O love the LORD, all ye his saints: for the LORD preserveth the faithful, and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer” (Psalm 31:23).

“The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the LORD shall not want any good thing.”
Even the “king of beasts” suffers hunger.  Here the young lions who are too young and weak to hunt for themselves and must wait on their parents to bring them meat.  They get hungry.

“The old lion perisheth for lack of prey, and the stout lion’s whelps are scattered abroad” (Job 4:11).

“The sense is that the strongest beasts of prey, most capable of providing for themselves, may suffer want…; not so God’s people.” [3]

Those believers who fear Him and seek Him have learned that “whoever fears Him, possesses everything in Him.” [4]

“The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want” (Psalm 23:1).

“Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the LORD.”
David invited the children to come and learn from him.  We think of children as “humble and having a teachable spirit”[5] (Clarke).  Here is an excellent thought for all parents and teachers of children: there is no better time for a person to learn to fear the LORD than when he/she is a child.  Let’s be diligent in teaching our children what it means to fear the LORD.  This truth can become an anchor point for our child’s life.

Dear Lord, thank you for teaching me to fear You!

 

 

 

[1] David praised His God with this “alphabet psalm,” for each verse begins sequentially with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet.
[2] Cambridge Bible, the electronic version in eSword. See Exodus 19:6; Leviticus 11:44-45.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Keil & Delitzsch, Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament, the electronic version in eSword.
[5] Adam Clarke, Adam Clarke’s Commentary on the Bible, the electronic version in eSword.