12 Who is the man who fears the Lord?
He will instruct him in the way he should choose.
13 His soul will abide in [e]prosperity,
And his [f]descendants will inherit the [g]land.
14 The [h]secret of the Lord is for those who fear Him,
[i]And He will make them know His covenant.
15 My eyes are continually toward the Lord,
For He will [j]pluck my feet out of the net.16 Turn to me and be gracious to me,
For I am lonely and afflicted.
17 [k]The troubles of my heart are enlarged;
Bring me out of my distresses.
18 Look upon my affliction and my [l]trouble,
And forgive all my sins.
19 Look upon my enemies, for they are many,
And they hate me with violent hatred.
20 Guard my soul and deliver me;
Do not let me be ashamed, for I take refuge in You.
21 Let integrity and uprightness preserve me,
For I wait for You.
22 Redeem Israel, O God,
Out of all his troubles.
The first section of this passage echoes something Solomon would later write, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom…” In verse 12, we find that God will guide and lead the person who fears Him, and in 14, the “secret”, or counsel, of God is reserved for those who fear Him.
Fear doesn’t conjure up very nice images, yet the fear of the Lord is where we find wisdom. There are a lot of folks who might seem wise in this world, but as Paul told the Corinthian church, “God made foolish the wisdom of this world…” That’s seems downright strange, but a healthy fear of God is rooted in who He actually is, not what we might mistake Him to be.
The psalmist then “takes us to school”, and tells us all about this God whom we should fear. He is gracious when we are lonely or afflicted. He is our rescuer when the troubles of our heart seem to grow ever larger. He sees everything we go through, He sees the mistakes we make, and the times we disobey Him, and He still forgives us. He even goes one step further and guards our soul when we take refuge in Him.
So yes, we fear God, because He is mighty, and holy, and we are small and sinful. But then we find His heart, and know that He made us who we are, and loves us through all the turmoil mankind (and the fallen angels) have unleashed upon this world. He knows our innermost thoughts, and still extends His hands, and says, “Come home. Come to me all who are weary and loaded down with the trouble of this world. Find rest in my wisdom, and know me better.”