The Fear of The Lord
- Elijah McSwain
- Feb 10
- 9 min read
1/14/2025
Elijah McSwain, Sr.
Psalm 19:7-11 NKJV — The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple; the statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes; The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover, by them Your servant is warned, and in keeping them there is great reward.
The word “fear” is commonly defined and perceived as “a distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil, pain, etc., whether the threat is real or imagined; it is the feeling or condition of being afraid.” 1 Fear in this sense causes people to quake or tremble in a physical manner as well as become emotionally deranged due to circumstantial factors that frighten them. Fear is an unpleasant emotional response that negatively effects the human body and is detrimental to our progress in various circumstances. It is an overwhelming component of life that disrupts our livelihood and our state of contentment or peace.
However, when we hear the word “fear” as spoken in Psalm 19:9, it is used in association with homage that is shown to God in relation to Scripture. According to the biblical writer, fear or homage is a result of magnifying the Person of God in connection with His Word. The notion of having fear in reference to God is not a mean of being overtaken by fright, but it is a means of displaying honor and respect for Him. Our honor and respect are seen in the way that we approach God and live in respect to His Word. This is the basis of the psalmist’s disposition found here in Psalm 19:9. As we examine the subject matter, The Fear of the Lord, let’s first observe the holy reverence for the Lord and His Word.
Holy Reverence for the Lord and His Word
As it relates to God’s Word, John MacArthur asserted there are six statements about God’s Word, two in verse 7, two in verse 8, and two in verse 9. There are six titles for Scripture: law, testimony, precepts, commandment, fear, and judgments. There are six characteristics of Scripture: it is perfect, sure, right, clear, clean, and true. There are six effects: it restores the soul, makes wise the simple, rejoices the heart, enlightens the eyes, endures forever, and produces comprehensive righteousness. Here again, God with an astounding and supernatural economy of words sums up everything that needs to be said about the power and sufficiency, the comprehensiveness and completeness of Scripture. 2
The first clause of Psalm 19:9 begins with the fear of the Lord is clean. Fear of the Lord here in Psalm 19:9 is a synonymous term that describes God’s Word. Fear of the Lord is the means of honoring Scripture by having a holy reverence for God, being in awe of Him, having piety, respect, and fervor toward Him. Bruce Hurt wrote “fear of the Lord is intimately related to the Word of the Lord because study and meditation on God’s Word births a holy respect and awe for His holy character and righteous standards.” 3 In order to have fear for the Lord, a person must understand that it is connected to His Word that gives revelation about Him.
Ray Fowler wrote “respect for God includes respect for God’s Word. The Bible makes this connection between fearing the Lord and respect for God’s Word. For example, Psalm 111:10 says: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow His precepts have good understanding.” Here respect for God includes following His precepts. If we do not follow His precepts, then we do not really fear the Lord.” 4 Proverbs 1:7 (NKJV) records “the fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge.” Proverbs 9:10 (NKJV) stresses that “the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” John MacArthur explained “this reverential awe and admiring, submissive fear is foundational for all spiritual knowledge and wisdom.” 5 The Lord is the object of our reverence that is connected to us being reverent to His Word.
Reverence for God leads to a deeper understanding of His Word and admiration for Him.
Revelation about the Person of the Lord is found throughout the canvas of Scripture. Scripture points ultimately to God as God is saturated throughout the entirety of Scripture. To engage the Scriptures is to engage knowledge about the true and living God who can transform the soul of man. The reality of approaching God’s Word projects forth that a person is inquisitive about the Lord and their inquisitive nature can birth a holy reverence for God as they come to understand God’s Person, statutes, commandment, judgments, testimony, and law as revealed in Scripture. The realism of having fear for God is the starting point for acknowledging who He is and living according to His standards.
The psalmist mentioned that the fear of the Lord is clean. This emphasizes that God’s Word is not polluted, tainted, corrupt, or contaminated. There is nothing filthy, profane, or soiled about God. Thus, Scripture is pure and clean as the Lord is pure and clean. The Word of God is without spot or blemish. The Bible is the absolute truth without any mixture of error contained in the original autographs.
Scripture is clean as it is the very reflection of the mind and Person of God.
The fact that Scripture is clean denotes that it’s purity and cleanliness empowers those that adhere to the Word to live reverently before God in a worthy manner. The Word has a purifying effect on those who have reverence for God and the Scriptures. Acknowledging God’s holiness, character, sovereignty and authoritative position helps us diminishes our offensive nature toward Him. Adam Clarke commented that “fear prevents us from offending God, that causes us to reverence Him and is the beginning as it is the safeguard of wisdom, must be carried all through life. No soul is safe for a moment without it. It prevents departure from God and keeps that clean which God has purified.” 6
Fear for the Lord leads to living a life of purity and holiness as our minds have been transformed to live righteously before the face of God. Instead of living life in a vile manner, our spiritual conversion and the reverence that we have for God helps us to live honorably to do what He has required of us. Micah 6:8 (NKJV) notes “He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.” To walk humbly with God is an effect of submission and reverence for Him. Deuteronomy 8:6 (NKJV) cites these words “therefore you shall keep the commandments of the LORD your God, to walk in His ways and to fear Him.”
Thomas Watson says the “fear of the LORD is clean” that “in its own nature—it is a pure, crystal, orient grace. In the effect of it—it cleanses the heart and life. As a spring works out the mud—so the fear of the Lord purges out the love of sin. The heart is the temple of God, and the fear of the Lord sweeps and cleanses this temple, that it may not be defiled (Religion Our True Interest). 3
Charles Spurgeon expressed it this way. “The doctrine of truth is here described by its spiritual effect, viz., inward piety, or the fear of the Lord; this is clean in itself, and cleanses out the love of sin, sanctifying the heart in which it reigns. Mr. Godly-fear is never satisfied till every street, lane, and alley, yea, and every house and every corner of the town of Mansoul is clean rid of the Diabolonians who lurk therein.” 7 In addition, Albert Barnes gave his assessment of the phrase "the fear of the Lord is clean". He penned that “the sense here is that there is nothing in it that tends to corrupt the morals or defile the soul. Everything connected with it is of a pure or holy tendency, adapted to cleanse the soul and to make it holy.” 8 Fear of the Lord through the connectivity of His Word empowers us to live holy as He Himself is holy.
Reverence and piety for God’s character and standard naturally leads to a life that is devoted to living out His precepts and abstaining from sinful behavior.
The clean nature of God’s Word cleanses the lives of those who reverently live by it. This enables followers of the Lord to present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, and acceptable to God, which is our reasonable service (Romans 12:1).
The Enduring Nature of God’s Word
The fear of the Lord is declared to be clean, and it endures forever. The fear of the Lord endures forever as it is tied to God’s timeless and eternal standard. God’s directives, His judgments, His law, His precepts, His commandments, His statutes, His testimony, and His summons to be revered are eternal. His call for respect and piety are not subject to change with the whims of culture or change over intervals of time. It is an enduring constant that stems from His enduring nature and Word. Unlike human institutions, methodologies, and philosophical thinking that cease to exist, the fear of the Lord is perpetually deemed as the foundation of wisdom and life (cf. Proverbs 14:27).
Bruce Hurt concluded this in relation to the fact that the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; “the Scriptures are without error, deficiency, fault, or inadequacy and untouched by sin. Corrupt things decay but pure things endure. Because the Word is pure, it will endure forever. We do not need to have the Bible updated to accommodate modern thoughts and ideas. Contrary to the “enlightened” thinking of our age, truth is not relative but absolute and absolutely will endure forever because it is grounded in the unchanging, the immutable character of the Eternal God.” 3
The Word of God has eternal stability because it is rooted in the immutability of the Lord. Psalm 119:89 (ESV) declares “forever, O LORD, Your Word is firmly fixed in the heavens.” The fear of the Lord which is His Word has a permanent nature and endless duration that is connected to the eternality of God and heaven. The Word of the Lord is settled in heaven. It has a lasting nature that will outlast time, space, and matter as it is not subject to these elements. Matthew 24:35 (NKJV) states “heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.” Isaiah 40:7-8 (NKJV) is documented “the grass withers, the flower fades, because the breath of the LORD blows upon it; surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of our God stands forever.”
Earth, the expansion of the heavenly sky, and all the inhabitants therein will cease to be in existence, but the enduring Word of the Lord will last forever. The material world and everything that is in it is subject to a corruptible nature except for God’s Word. Material things are putrid and do not have an eternal life expectation. There is a starting point and a determined end point for all material construct and our human existence. In relation to our human existence, Scripture gives a general timeframe for human living. Psalm 90:10, 12 (NKJV) indicates “the days of our lives are seventy years; and if by reason of strength they are eighty years, yet their boast is only labor and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away. So, teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”1 John 2:17 (ESV) makes the assertion “the world is passing away along with its desires.” God’s Word is the only source that is incorruptible in this world and abides forever.
The Word of the Lord is an extension of His very Person, thus since God is from everlasting to everlasting, His Word is from everlasting to everlasting.
Only what is considered pure and clean has the capacity to last forever. God’s Word is not subject to decay or decomposition like things that are confined to time, space, and matter. It will never perish as it is indestructible and permanent. This world will crumble, and our bodies will decay but this does not have a bearing on the eternality of the canon of Scripture. Even though our bodies are subject to decaying flesh, those who reverence God through honoring Him and His Word take upon the spiritual nature of God. 1 Peter 1:23 (NKJV) alludes to the notice that we who fear the Lord have been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible seed, through the Word of God which lives and abides forever.”
By the enduring Word of the Lord, our inward nature has been changed from the state of corruption and death to that of purity, holiness, and incorruption. Thus, we will live eternally with God as we have been transformed by the power of God that endures forever. The enduring Word of the Lord grants eternal security to those who have submitted to the Author of Scripture. With this in mind, our earthly lives should reflect the enduring effect of God’s Word on us as we commit to a lifetime of reverence for God.
We are to live godly by the transformative power of what God has inscribed in the Bible. This will allow us to live a pure life as it reflects that we have been purified by His Word.
Resources
https://www.gty.org/library/sermons-library/80-308/6-attributes-of-the-nature-of-scripture
https://www.rayfowler.org/sermons/magnificent-word-of-god/sure-and-pure-everlasting/
The John MacArthur Study Bible
Clarke, Adam. “Commentary on Psalms 19:9”. “The Adam Clarke Commentary”. https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/acc/psalms-19.html. 1832.
Spurgeon, C. H. n.d. The Treasury of David: Psalms 1-26. Vol. 1. London; Edinburgh; New York: Marshall Brothers.
Barnes, Albert. “Commentary on Psalms 19:9”. “Barnes’ Notes on the Whole Bible”. https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/bnb/psalms-19.html. 1870.