Is 51:12-13 - “I, I am he who comforts you; who are you that you are afraid of man who dies, of the son of man who is made like grass, and have forgotten the Lord, your Maker, who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth, and you fear continually all the day because of the wrath of the oppressor, when he sets himself to destroy?
Again, the theme keeps coming back that when you know God, truly know God, and remember him in fearful situations, you will realize that there is nothing to fear. It is when we forget the Lord, the one who is eternal and never dies, and the one who created the heaven and the earth, that we lose the perspective that if God is for us, who can be against us. Not only do we have nothing to fear, but we also have a God who comforts us in hardship and pain.
1 Ki 8:37-40 - “When famine or plague comes to the land, or blight or mildew, locusts or grasshoppers, or when an enemy besieges them in any of their cities, whatever disaster or disease may come, and when a prayer or plea is made by any of your people Israel—each one aware of the afflictions of his own heart, and spreading out his hands toward this temple— then hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Forgive and act; deal with each man according to all he does, since you know his heart (for you alone know the hearts of all men), so that they will fear you all the time they live in the land you gave our fathers.
Because the would forget so often that God is Lord, he allowed the Israelites to experience his discipline for the express purpose of instilling a healthy fear in Him in the the land that was given to them. It is so clear how important fear is to our relationship with God and our growth as believers. Fearing God is what keeps us from forgetting God is what keeps us from fearing man.
