 January/February 2000 (XXXVIII 1) |
uring the most recent Christmas season I decided to follow the lectionary readings (in the Bible) for each day, hoping that in doing so I could better understand and appreciate the meaning of the season. Reading the prescribed Psalms each day I encountered a set of passages that set me to reflecting on a question that has bothered me for a long time. This has to do with all those places in the Old Testament — and a few in the New — where we seem to be told we should "fear God," and wondering what that means?
I say "seem to be told" because I suspect that the question may have to do with meaning of concepts and experiences as they are translated across both time and cultures. Reading the Psalms over the years I have long had the sense that the kind of "fear" held up there as a good thing and our contemporary understanding of fear are very different.
For most participants in modern, post-Enlightenment, democratic culture — that is folk like us "liberal" Quakers — fear is an entirely negative concept. It has to do with being scared or frightened, or even terrified. Many of us, then, are offended by even the suggestion we should "fear God" in that sense. A God we should be scared of would have to be one like the vengeful God of the Old Testament, right? This understanding of God is one we believe is old fashioned; one that is tied up with outdated notions of sin and punishment; and one we want nothing to do with as modern, enlightened people.
But what if simply "being scared" is not what is meant by "fear" in these contexts?
In the lectionary one day both Psalm 111 and Psalm 130 were on the reading schedule. In Psalm 111 we are told, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" (verse 10, NIV). If this means just being frightened, that makes no sense. Who among us has a broader vision of things, a clearer grasp of reality, or makes better decisions, when they are really frightened?
Then in Psalm 130 we read, "With you [Lord] there is forgiveness, therefore you are feared" (verse 4, NIV). This makes even less sense. Are we frightened by people who are merciful and forgiving? Is not just the opposite true? Knowing someone is forgiving is likely to make us more comfortable with them, not frightened of them.
So these two verses do not seem to make sense. And there are many other passages, especially in the Psalms, that seem to say it is a good thing for us to fear God (e.g., Psalms 34:11, 40:3, 66:16, 115:11). But what if the "fear of the Lord" that is "the beginning of wisdom" is not about being scared so much as it is about recognizing the majesty, mystery and wonder of the Divine? And is it not possible we would be astonished by, would even hold in awe, someone who had the ability to forgive hurtful acts we would find unforgivable? I certainly have had that experience.
For most human beings encounters with things — people, cultures, experiences — that are "wholly other" are frightening to some extent. We tend to be scared of the unknown. And even wonderful experiences of things that are new, astonishing and overwhelming often carry a measure of fear. The first time I was in the high country of the Rocky Mountains in a winter storm, I remember being both stunned by the beauty and power of that storm, and aware that I should be afraid of what it could do. I also remember when my first child was born, being awestruck at the appearance of new life, and feeling real fear over the responsibilities I would have to take on as a parent.
God is "wholly other," at one level at least. The reality of the Divine — God's grace, God's power, God's love — is something we get glimpses of, may be given some insights into, and can sometimes have some feeling for; but in the end it is beyond the grasp of our rational minds. The Divine is larger, deeper, more complex, more mysterious than we can ever fully comprehend.
In fact, when the Scriptures commend fearing God, or the fear of the Lord, to us, this is what they often have in mind. What is being translated too simply as fear is really about radical awe. True faith takes its root in such a radical awe, which is about recognizing the truth of who and what God is, of who and what we are, and of the sheer wonder of our being in relationship with this God who loves us nevertheless.
The word in Hebrew ('yare') that can be translated as "frighten" in some contexts, can also be translated in others most appropriately as meaning "to stand in awe, to be astonished, to reverence, or to honor." In fact, the Jewish Publication Society's translation of Psalm 130, verse 4, reads, "Yours is the power to forgive, so You are held in awe."
All my experience tells me that in this sense we should indeed "fear God." We should be truly amazed at the One who is the creator of heaven and earth, and at the same time willing to be present to us as (in Quaker terms) an "Inward Teacher," friend, comforter and sustainer. To hold this One in ultimate respect, awe and reverence is indeed "the beginning of wisdom," for that is the basis of a relationship with God that can lead to wholeness and the possibility of becoming who we are meant to be.
Last modified: Wednesday, February 18, 2004 at 08:18 AM