Fear the Lord Psalm 25:24

14 The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him, And He will show them His covenant.



What does it mean to "fear the Lord"? The Hebrew word used here literally means fear or afraid. Should we fear or be afraid of the Lord? Does God want us to fear Him because He is almighty and He is in control of every aspect of our lives? Even though these things are true, God does not want us to respond to Him out of a sense of fear. God wants us to respond to Him because of His love for us. However, we must understand, God's wrath is a reality and it is reserved for those who refuse to walk with Him and follow His lead.

God loves us and He wants us to love Him in return. So, where does fear come in? The meaning here is one that is more of reverence than it is fear. The real meaning could be translated "the secret of the Lord is with those who are faithful, and He will show them His promises." When we are faithful, what we do is we trust God because of all that He is and all that He has promised. The element of fear is still there. There is an element of fearing God when we step out in absolute faith, trusting God for everything in our lives.

This Psalm is about the promises of God. We can trust God. We can place our faith in Him and we can know that He will keep His promises to us. He did not have to give us the promises that He has given to us to provide for us and to protect us and to give us the desires of our hearts. He gave us those promises because He wants to do those things for us! That is why God created us in the first place. He created us to be an outlet for His love. Jesus did not give His life in vain; He gave His life for us! He died in our place. He died to pay the penalty for our sin. Jesus paid a debt He did not owe because we owed a debt we could not pay.

Fear the Lord. Have faith in Him. Trust Him with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind. He will show you His promises. He really will!