Fear of the Lord, The

The fear of the Lord is a central Old Testament concept describing the foundational disposition of true piety toward God. It is not mere terror but a reverential awe that combines recognition of God's holiness and power with love, trust, and devotion. "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom" (Proverbs 1:7; Psalm 111:10) places it at the foundation of all genuine understanding; Job 28:28 identifies it as the essence of wisdom itself.

This fear is distinguished in the Old Testament as a covenant disposition: it is conjoined with love and hope (Psalm 147:11), issues in obedience (Deuteronomy 10:12-13), and provides deliverance (Psalm 34:7). The Psalms repeatedly celebrate it as the orientation of the righteous (Psalm 19:9 identifies "the fear of the LORD" with the law itself — clean, enduring, true). It stands in contrast to the presumption of the wicked (Psalm 36:1). In the New Testament, the concept is subsumed under devotion to God the Father and carries through in phrases such as "fearing God" in Acts and the Epistles, where it describes Gentiles drawn to the Jewish synagogue as well as the character of genuine believers (Acts 10:2; 2 Corinthians 7:1).