The Fear of the Lord (Part 2)
Ephesians 5:21
In the first lesson we focused on how man is going to fear something as a result of our sin nature so we should fear the Lord. In this lesson we are going to look at the examples of Saul, David, and Solomon from the view point of fearing the Lord in order to give us some more instruction in fearing the Lord. Remember from our verse in Ephesians it is essential for husbands and wives to submit themselves one to another in the fear of God if they are going to perform the duties laid out in the rest of Ephesians 5.
Saul: (1 Samuel 15:1-35)
In this chapter we see Saul not fully follow the instruction that God had given him regarding the Amalekites and their belongings. He kept the king alive and the best of the sheep (verse 9). Saul eventually tells the real reason in verse 24 for his behavior, it was fear of the people. Saul is a classic example of fearing man instead of fearing God and it cost him the kingdom.
David: (2 Samuel 24:1-17)
David committed what would seem as worse sins than Saul. He commits adultery with Bathsheba and has her husband Uriah the Hittite killed so that his adultery could remain hidden. Even with these sins God does not take away the kingdom from David as he did Saul. I think the reason for this is in the fact that even though David made horrible decisions his hear was right toward God, note (1 Kings 11:6) .
David’s fear of the Lord is clearly seen in the passage from 2 Samuel because when he is forced to choose his own punishment for number the people he choose have God punish him and not man. The reason for this was the mercy of God (verse 14).
Solomon: (1 Kings 3:4-13 ; 1 Kings 11:1-8)
Solomon was somewhat wise even before the Lord gave him wisdom. Note he understood the task of judging the people of Israel and knew that he was not equipped for it. He must have learned some fear of the Lord from David his father (Psalm 34:11).
The problem was that when Solomon was old he let his wives turn away his heart from the Lord and he seem to fear them more than God. He built temples for their gods, and worshipped them also (1 Kings 11:6-8).
What can we learn from these examples?
1) We must choose the fear of the Lord over man (Proverbs 1:29)
2) There is a connection to having our heart right with God and fearing him (1 Kings 11:6)
3) We can teach our kids to fear the Lord but it must be chosen daily by them (Proverbs 23:7)