Well let us turn to the portion
of scripture that we've just read in these two Psalms and
before we turn again to the Lord in prayer I want us to consider
a double text as it were at the end of the 111th Psalm and at
the beginning of the 112th Psalm. There in Psalm 111 at verse 10 and there's
opening words the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom
and then the beginning of Psalm 112 there in the middle of verse
one blessed is the man that feareth the Lord the fear of the Lord
is the beginning of wisdom Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord. These are really twin Psalms. There's certainly some connection,
it seems, between Psalm 111 and 112. There are, of course, ten
verses in each of the Psalms, but also they're like a pair
of acrostic poems. Because in the original, the
verses match up in the sense that each of the verses begins
with the same Hebrew letter. So for example, in verse 1 of
Psalm 111 we have a particular letter at the front of that verse,
and it's the same letter that stands at the front of verse
1 in Psalm 112. And then in the second verse,
There's a particular letter at the beginning of verse 2 in Psalm
111 and it's the same letter that stands at the beginning
of verse 2 in Psalm 112 and so it is throughout the two Psalms. They form a sort of acrostic
pair of poems. And therefore, I feel it's suitable
that we can take a text, as it were, from each of the Psalms
as we come to say something tonight concerning the fear of the Lord. And that fear of the Lord is
very much the mark of the godly man. Here in Psalm 112, we read
of that man who is the blessed one, he is the man that feareth
the Lord. And remember how the whole book
of Psalms begins with a description of the blessed man. There in Psalm 1 verse 1, blessed
is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor
standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the
scornful. That is the godly man who walks
all his days in the fear of the Lord. And in contrast here in
Psalm 1, we see the ungodly. The ungodly are not so, says
David, but they're like the wind, they're like the chaff which
the wind driveth away. And in another psalm we're told,
concerning the ungodly, there is no fear of God before his
eyes. What do the ungodly know of the
fear of the Lord? It is only the mark of those
who are the godly. So, tonight, as we consider these
words that I announced at the beginning for our text, I want
to say something with regards to the fear of the Lord, and
to consider it in a threefold sense, First of all, to think
of it in terms of the promise of God. Then in the second place,
to consider its relationship to God's commandments and his
precepts. and then finally to see how that
fear is such an important part of the praises of the Lord. Each
of the Psalms of course begins with that same sentence, praise
ye the Lord, praise ye the Lord. But first of all, to think of
this fear of the Lord in terms of the promise of God. And isn't that a promise that
we have here in verse 1 of Psalm 112? And what is the promise? Well, that man who fears the
Lord knows the blessing of God. God promises His blessing to
such a man as this. It's not the man that simply
feareth, but it's the fact that he knows the fear of the Lord. There's a sense in which he's
not a fearful man at all. Things don't really make him
afraid, because we're told later in verse 8, his heart is established,
he shall not be afraid. He shall not be afraid. It's
not just a general fear, it is very much that fear of the Lord. And God, of course, is the only
true and proper object of our fear. We're not reminded of that
blessed fact in the Gospel. There, in the language of Luke
chapter 12, and the words that we find in verses 4 And five, the Lord Jesus speaking
says, I say unto you, my friends, be not afraid of them that kill
the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But
I will warn you, whom ye shall fear, fear him which after he
hath killed hath power to cast into hell. Yea, I say unto you,
fear him. And we live in a day, of course,
when people are very much afraid. There are many things that make
them afraid, and multitudes, of course, are very fearful of
coronavirus. We see very little of those who
have the true fear of the Lord in their hearts. But that's what
we're told quite explicitly should be our fear, even by the Lord
Jesus Christ himself. This is a significant mark, then,
of that man who is the godly man. God attaches his promise
to those that fear his name. But what is this fear? How can
we describe it? Well, it's not a tormenting fear. We know that there is such a
thing. Even the demons, the devils,
have the fear of God in them. James says, they'll believe us
there is one God. They'll do us well. The devils
also believe and they tremble. how they tremble before God,
and when we see the Lord Jesus Christ being manifested here
upon the earth, God manifest in the flesh. Remember how the
devils tremble before Him there in the synagogue in the opening
chapter of the Gospel of Mark, where the Lord performs a miracle.
What does the demon say? Let us alone. What have we to
do with them? We know thee who thou art, Jesus of Nazareth, art thou come
to destroy us? Thou art the Holy One of God. All the devils have to acknowledge
Him and have to confess Him. There is a fear then, a fear
of God, a fear of the Lord Jesus Christ, even in the devils. And so when we read of the blessed
man who fears the Lord, it's not that sort of fear. It's not
a fear that terrifies and brings torment into the mind and into
the heart. We know it's a filial fear. It's
that fear that a child would have before his parent, before
his father. Like as the father pities his
children, we are told, so the Lord pities them that fear him. He knoweth our frame. he remembereth
that we are dust." And in fact, this fear of the Lord is clearly
one of the great promises that we have in the covenant of grace. Jeremiah speaks very much of
that covenant, and there in Jeremiah 32, and verse 39, this is the promise
of the covenant. God says, I will give them one
heart and one way, that they may fear Me forever for the good
of them and of their children after them. And I will make an
everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from
them to do them good, but I will put My fear in their hearts,
that they shall not depart from Me. All this promise then, it's
a covenant promise. God has promised that He will
put His fear in the hearts of His people. And that fear is
there, of course, to establish them, to settle the secret of
the Lord. That's what the covenant is.
And the secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him. He will
show them His covenant, we read in another psalm. And, of course,
here In verse 1, we have the covenant name of God. Blessed
is the man that feareth the LORD. That is Jehovah, when we see
it printed as it is here in our authorised version in capital
letters. That's the name by which God
revealed himself to the children of Israel when he entered into
covenant with them. He is Jehovah. He is the LORD. and it's that same name that
we have at the end of Psalm 111. The fear of the Lord is the beginning
of wisdom. The guy in observe there, our
Lord is spelt here in capital letters. Well this is that man
then who is truly blessed of God. That man whom God has taken
to himself in the covenant, that man whom God will teach and instruct
as he's written in the prophets, they shall be all taught of God.
Every man therefore that hath heard and learned of the Father
says Christ cometh unto thee. God makes them wise unto salvation. This fear of the Lord, it's the
beginning of wisdom, being made wise to salvation. It's the beginning
of a good understanding. This is how the Lord speaks as
he promises his children that they will have that fear of himself
implanted deep in their hearts. Oh it's life eternal says the
Lord Jesus Christ in his great high priestly prayer that they
know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. What a blessing then to know
this promise, this promise of the fear of the Lord, and this
promise that is brought to us in and through the Lord Jesus
Christ, that one in whom all the promises of God are yea,
and in him are men, it says, to the glory of God by us. And see how this fear of the
Lord is associated with faith, and with trust, We see it quite clearly in another
psalm, there in the 115th psalm. Verse 11, Ye that fear the Lord,
trust in the Lord, he is their help and their shield. They that fear the Lord are the
ones who are to be trusting in the Lord. And again in Psalm
40 and verse 4 we're told, Blessed is the man that maketh the Lord
his trust. Who is this Lord that the blessed
man is trusting in? Well, Psalm 40 of course is evidently
a messianic psalm because we see how that psalm is taken up
in the New Testament. in Hebrews chapter 10, and there
it is applied directly to the Lord Jesus Christ. But that psalm,
Psalm 40, that speaks so much of Christ, also describes something
of the experiences of those who come to a saving knowledge of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Think of the opening words of
Psalm 40. David says, I waited patiently
for the Lord, Interestingly, the margin indicates
that the Hebrew literally says, In waiting, I waited. In waiting, I waited for the
Lord. And He inclined unto me, and
heard my cry. He brought me up also out of
an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a
rock, and established my goings. Here we have the cry of that
man who is feeling the burden of his sin. But what is he brought
to? He is brought to trust in the Lord. Verse 4, blessed is
that man that maketh the Lord his trust, as we just quoted. But then you see we have that
part which is clearly speaking of Christ. Verse 6, following
sacrifice and offering, Thou didst not desire mine ears, as
thou opened burnt offering and sin offering, as thou not required?
Then said I, Lo, I come, in the volume of the book it is written
of me. I delight to do thy will, O my
God. Yea, thy law is within my heart. And these are the verses that
you find there in Hebrews chapter 10 applied to the Lord Jesus
Christ. We're directed then to the Lord
Jesus Christ, those that fear the law. They live by the promise
of the gospel. They live by that that is all
together laid up for them in the person and work of the Lord
Jesus Christ. They are those who are clearly
made wise unto salvation. This fear, it is the beginning
of their wisdom. They are the blessed men that
fear the law. But besides thinking of this
fear in association with the promise, we can also consider
it in connection with God's holy precepts, with his commandments.
You see, the man that feareth the Lord, he delights in God's
precepts as well as in God's promises. In other words, he
is not a man who is partial. in the law of the lords. In Malachi
chapter 2 God rebukes the priest in Israel because of their partiality
in his law. The law often in scripture isn't
to be understood simply in the terms of the Lord of Moses but
the totality of the Word of God. Of course in Psalm 119 it's used as a synonym with other words
such as God's statutes or God's judgments and so forth. And when God speaks of the priests
being partial, when he rebukes them for their partiality in
the law, that's to be understood in terms of all of Scripture.
We're not to take hold of the promises and neglect the precepts. We should ask God that he would
give us such a love for all of his work, the comforting parts
as well as the instructive parts. And we see it here. The blessed
man is the man that feareth the Lord, that delighteth greatly
in his commandments. He delights in God's commandments. Again, at the end of the 111th
Psalm. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, yes,
a good understanding of all they that do His commandments. There is His connection. Oh,
what of this fear of the Lord? This fear of the Lord is good
because it is a restraint to our sins. As the wise man says,
by the fear of the Lord men depart from evil. If we have God's fear
in our hearts, we will fear disobeying His commandments. We want to walk in that path
of obedience. Again, the wise man says, fear
the Lord and depart from evil. Here is instruction, you see,
how is it that we who have a nature that is so sinful and so bound
to sin How can we walk in the path of obedience? Well, we need
to learn that fear of the Lord. As we fear the Lord, we will
depart from the way of evil. It's a restraint to evil. It's
a constraint, on the other hand, to do that that is good and right
and proper. As we see there in Ecclesiastes
12, 13, the conclusion of the book. Let us hear the conclusion
of the whole matter. Fear God and keep His commandments,
says the preacher. Oh, to do, to do is all the desire
of them that fear the Lord. A good understanding, it says,
have all they that do His commandments there at the end of that 111th
Psalm. There is a devotion to God. Devotion is the delight of this
man. Holiness is the happiness of this man. This is the way
in which he wants to live his life and to conduct himself. We sang it just now, didn't we?
The fear of the Lord, an unctuous light to all that's right, a
bar to all that's wrong. It's a restraint to evil. It's a constraint to do the thing
that is good. This is the love of God, says
John, that we keep his commandments, and his commandments are not
grievous. See, this fear then, it's not a tormenting, a terrifying
fear, it's a filial fear. If we love God, we'll fear him,
we'll want to abide, pass by his commandments. We'll love
his precepts as well, as His promises. Oh, we're to be in
that fear of the Lord. Again, the language of the wise
man, Proverbs 23, 17, Be thou in the fear of the Lord all the
day long, he says. All the day long, continually.
We're to walk in that fear of the Lord. We're to practice that
godliness of life. And this will really then be
part and parcel of our praises. Again, look at the language that
we have in each of these verses. Each of the Psalms begins with
that sentence praising the Lord, literally, Alleluia. Alleluia
is the Hebrew word that is translated. Praise ye the Lord, praise ye
Jehovah. And then again, at the end of
that 111th Psalm, it says, His praise endureth forever. All this praise is the way in
which we are to give expression to the reality of our fear of
the Lord. Again, let me direct you to another
of the Psalms. In Psalm 33, and verse 8, we
read these words, Let all the earth fear the LORD's. Let all the inhabitants of the
world stand in awe before Him. And what we have there is really
statements that are parallel statements. we are to fear the
Lord, and we are to stand in awe before him. Fear then stands
against awe, or reverence. Again, look at the language that
we have in Psalm 109, sorry, 111, and verse 9. We read holy and reverend is
his name here at the end of this particular verse. The reference
here of course is to God's name, his name. His name is holy. And how we are to stand in awe
at that name. We're not to take the name of
the Lord in vain. That's one of the commandments. And it's not just referring to
the misuse of God's name in our everyday language. It's not just
referring to speaking blasphemies and forbidding the speaking of
blasphemies. It's speaking of our worship. When we come to
worship God, we are to always reverence His name. Or we have the example, of course,
of the angel. We read there in Isaiah chapter
6 of the Seraphim, the burning ones, these pure, these holy
creatures, angels. And they are before the throne
of God and they worship Him day and night in His temple. And
what is their worship? They cry, they cry, Holy, Holy,
Holy, Lord God of hosts. He is thrice holy. He is Holy
Father, Holy Son, and Holy Spirit. All they are such pure creatures,
and yet, we read in Job 4.18, His angels He charged with folly. Yea, the heavens are not clean
in His sight. Even those holy angels, they
are before the throne of God, they have six wings, and with
two they cover their faces. With two they cover their feet,
with two they fly. The ground is holy ground. They're
standing on holy ground, they cover their feet, they cover
their faces. They cannot behold that glorious
sight, the holiness that belongs unto God. Well, what of us when
we come to worship this great God? Oh, we need to be those
who would always reverence His name. Oh, we have the language,
remember, again, of the preacher there in the book of Ecclesiastes,
in chapter 5, he says, Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house
of God. Be more ready to heal than to
give the sacrifice of fools. For they consider not that they
do evil. Be not rash with thy mouth. Let
not thine heart be hasty to utter anything before God. For God
is in heaven and thou upon earth. Therefore let thy words be few."
Well this is the God then that we come to worship, this is a
God that we come to address with our prayers. We are to stand
in awe before such a God as this. And yet we're to come and praise
Him. And this awe, this fear, ought to be evident in all our
praises. Oh, God is to be praised. God
is to be praised for all that He has revealed of Himself. His
great works, how the psalmist speaks of those works here in
Psalm 111. He says, "...the works of the
Lord are great, sought out of them that have pleasure therein.
His work is honorable and glorious, and His righteousness endureth
forever. He hath made His wonderful works
to be remembered, the Lord is gracious and full of compassion. Well, God has revealed himself,
revealed himself in all the works of his hands, his works of creation,
his works of providence, principally his works of grace. He is gracious, it is, and full
of compassion. And now there is that worship
that is offered in heaven. Remember, there they ascribe
to him all honour and all glory, or they recognize Him as that
One who is sovereign over all things, and they rejoice. They
rejoice in that sovereignty that the Lord God, Omnipotent reigneth. John says there in Revelation
19, verse 5, the voice came out of the throne saying, Praise
our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small
and great. And I heard, as it were, the
voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters,
and as the voice of mighty thundering, saying, Alleluia. Praise ye the
Lord, for the Lord God's omnipotent reigneth." Well, this is the
God, then, that we come to worship. And we're told again in Psalm
119, they that fear thee will be glad. All those that fear
God, they're glad. They love this God, they love
to talk of Him. They that fear the Lord, they speak often one
to another. The Lord hearkened and heard it and He writes their
names in that Book of Remembrance. Or that we might be those then
who would Come before him tonight in that fear of the Lord. The fear of the Lord is the beginning
of wisdom. Blessed is the man that feareth
the Lord. Will the Lord be pleased to come
and to teach us his fear that we might rejoice in all that
he has revealed of himself. Rejoice in all his great promises. Embrace all his holy precepts. and only desire that we might
live constantly to his blessed praise. May the Lord bless his
word to us. Now before we pray, we'll sing
our second praise in the hymn 255, the Tunish Eshteyo, 332.
Happy the man that fear the Lord's, they from
the paths of sin depart, rejoice and tremble at His words, and
hide it deep within their hearts. 255