Thursday, September 17, 2015

In our study of Proverbs we’ve been amplifying the third point in our outline of the fear of the Lord. We’ve seen that our lives will change intellectually and volitionally. Now let’s see how they will change emotionally. We saw in our last study that volitionally, when we choose to fear the Lord and cultivate our reverence for Him, we’ll become sensitized and empowered to shun and avoid evil. As we do this I believe we will begin to experience what Proverbs 8:13 says, “The fear of the Lord is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech.” The “I” here refers back to verse 12 where it is identified as the personification of wisdom. As you read on in this chapter wisdom is referred to as being “appointed from eternity” by God and thus identified with God. Wisdom is an attribute of God. God hates “pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech.” If you fear the Lord you will begin hating what He hates and loving what He loves. Hate is a strong emotion. Many would say that as Christians we should not hate. But here we see that there is an appropriate hatred. It arises in the heart of one who desires holiness, but is confronted, if not accosted by evil. Paul refers to this in Ephesians, 4:26, which in The Message reads: “Go ahead and be angry. You do well to be angry – but don’t use your anger as fuel for revenge. And don’t stay angry. Don’t go to bed angry. Don’t give the Devil that kind of foothold in your life.” Here are the kinds of checks and balances you will experience emotionally when you fear the Lord.