Delighting and Walking in the Fear of God

Fear

Ne 2:2 - And the king said to me, “Why is your face sad, seeing you are not sick? This is nothing but sadness of the heart.” Then I was very much afraid.

Ne 6:13 - For this purpose he was hired, that I should be afraid and act in this way and sin, and so they could give me a bad name in order to taunt me.

Ne 6:14 - Remember Tobiah and Sanballat, O my God, according to these things that they did, and also the prophetess Noadiah and the rest of the prophets who wanted to make me afraid.

Ne 6:19 - Also they spoke of his good deeds in my presence and reported my words to him. And Tobiah sent letters to make me afraid.

The book of Nehemiah is a great story of fearing, being told not to fear and the fear of God working together to bring glory to God. Four times in the short book there is word of either being afraid or someone else trying to make Nehemiah afraid. This is tension of fear is continually expressed and illustrated throughout the book.

Do Not Fear

Ne 4:14 - And I looked and arose and said to the nobles and to the officials and to the rest of the people, “Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes.”

I love this rallying cry from Nehemiah to the Israelites. When we fear, we do not remember the Lord who is great and awesome and will be to afraid to fight for those who are dearest to us. The motivation and the foundation of not being afraid is remembering the Lord and his mighty attributes. If we would remember long enough, I really believe that our fears would disseminate and we would fight for the lives of the vulnerable.

Fear Not

Ne 1:11 - O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of your servants who delight to fear your name, and give success to your servant today, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.” Now I was cupbearer to the king.

Ne 5:9 - So I said, “The thing that you are doing is not good. Ought you not to walk in the fear of our God to prevent the taunts of the nations our enemies?

In this same story, Nehemiah begins this story with a prayer of the fear of God. I like how he describes it as those who delight to fear His name. I think too often we see fearing God as a bad thing, as something that is heavy and confusing. When we delight to fear His name, we are reveling in the holiness and dependence and humility that makes enjoying God so wonderful. This idea of delighting in the fear of God is written only one other time in Isa 11:3 “And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.” He also describes fear as something you walk in. It is written about in Acts 9:31 “So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied.” What a great calling for our churches today, to walk in the fear of the Lord and the comfort of the Holy Spirit”