Praise the Lord! Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who delights greatly in His commandments. (Psalm 112:1)

The preceding psalm ended with the acknowledgment that wisdom comes to those who sincerely fear the Lord. This psalm begins with that same theme. The wisest of all men, Solomon, was persuaded of this and acknowledged it multiple times in the books he authored. He concluded the book of Ecclesiastes with these words: “Fear God and keep His commandments for this is man’s all” (Ecclesiastes 12:13). From this we can conclude that the only fear that haunts a man gifted with Godly wisdom is that he will sin and disrupt the intimacy he has with His Creator.

Rabbinical commentators note that the Hebrew text specifies the blessed man as one “who fears Yahweh,” not “who fears Elohim.” The significance of this distinction is that the title “Elohim” is associated with strict justice and correction; Yahweh is associated with kindness and nurturing. Therefore, the blessed man’s fear of God is not the result of knowing that God can punish him but from knowing that God loves Him. The logical effect of this understanding — or we might say wisdom — is a desire to enthusiastically obey the Lord’s instructions. As Messiah said, “If you love me, keep my commandments.”

When a person genuinely fears God and faithfully serves Him because he loves Him, he will do so in private just as he does in public. Most anyone can put on a performance for the public and present themselves as a God-fearer but, as we know, that faulty presentation will not be sustained in difficult times. Only those who have an intimacy with the Almighty will continue in their service and fear of Heaven when everything is going wrong. That person is blessed because he acknowledges God’s sovereignty and realizes that whatever He allows is in our best interests. That person is blessed with wisdom because he has learned to replace any fear of man with the fear of Heaven.

On that note, I’ll close with some wisdom from an old Jewish adage which says: “Everything is in the hands of Heaven, except for fear of Heaven.” God obviously controls everything in the Universe, but He chooses to relinquish to us the control over whether or not we fear Him. The blessed man makes the right choice.

Blessings and Shalom,  

Bill