The fear of the Lord leads to life, and whoever has it rests satisfied; he will not be visited by harm.
Now, if we ever thought that being Christians would make us safe from all harm or fear, the story of Job would dissuade us, as would the past half hour, with its minor discomforts or more important pains. This verse, on first blush, seems a promise unkept, a violation of Scripture’s truth. But haste never served anybody well in this sort of difficulty, so we ought to take a second look. What harm does the “fear of the Lord” keep us from? Is this promise so much hogwash?
The fact is, Christians suffer. Whether it’s garden-variety discipline (Heb. 12:5-6) or the ineluctable providence of the Lord (Job 38-41), our life in this world is not all flowers and sunshine (unless you’re allergic to the both of them). Certainly he grants us a great joy, one much truer than any the world can find (Phil. 4:13). But we suffer, for Him (John 15:18) and by His choice (Job 17:6). We are indeed harmed.
This proverb, like many proverbs, is a pattern, not a rule (well, not precisely). In this world, God does bring blessing and protection to His people (Jam. 1:25), turning even the temporal harm into eternal goodness (Rom. 8:28). In a sense, the verse is literally true, in that no harm to us is truly harmful, in the eternal view, but to take that as the whole would be a dishonest limitation of the verse’s implications. It really does mean “will not be visited by harm,” and the harm of discipline is really harm, however temporary and however helpful in the long term. Death, at least, is a bitter thing, however desirable what lies beyond it may be. Bunyan had that right.
But the verse is a promise as well as a pattern. In this world, this pattern is still imperfect; the world is not perfected. We are still sinners, without a right to remonstrate that sin is unjust (though we can ask of God for the sake of His love that He give mercy, as Job did (6:8-10)). Harm done to us is remedied by the life was have in Him, but we are still harmed. But in the heaven and earth which Christ establishes, when all, even death (1 Cor. 15:26), are conquered, there the pattern becomes perfect: no harm, no tears (Is. 25:8), no sin.
But on this earth, the verses has still its consolation for us.
First, in the fear of the Lord, in the wisdom he gives thereby (Job 28:28; Ps. 111:10), we are enabled more and more to be content and satisfied in Him who bears all our burdens (Eph. 5:1; Gal. 6:2), revealing to us the falsity of our mirages and being the strength by which the true ones do not crush us (Is. 26:12). This promise is thwarted only by our sin (Ps. 31:10), and only for a time, for He does not permit His people to walk alone (John 14:15-16).
Second, the pattern, though imperfect, is true. God truly does ward His people from harm. We are saved entirely from judgement, the harm which is punishment for guilt (Is. 53:10-12). We are still subject to chastening, to our benefit rather than our hurt (Heb. 12:5-6), and we still suffer from the sin of this world, by His decree. But the blessing He gives far outweighs the curse whose aftershocks we still feel. His people grow ever greater upon the earth, till at last only death shall remain (1 Cor. 15:26), the last dregs of man’s sin, that He might come and reign eternal.
Third, we have this certainty: that in the Lord we have life. We “who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty” (Ps. 90:1). We have the certainty of His redeeming work and of our adoption as His sons and daughters (Is. 63:16). We have, moreover, the law of God which lights our path (Ps. 119:1), so that we need not fear darkness, having a sufficient Guide (2 Tim. 2:7, 3:16-17). The life He gives us is not small or temporary or insufficient, and in that certainty we can stand, unharmed at our core however scuffed on the surface.
God bless.
Sanctuary Functional Medicine, under the direction of Dr Eric Potter, IFMCP MD, provides functional medicine services to Nashville, Middle Tennessee and beyond. We frequently treat patients from Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Ohio, Indiana, and more... offering the hope of healthier more abundant lives to those with chronic illness.
Colson Potter writes copious fiction and nonfiction, including a weekly Proverbs post and his blog at Creational Story.
