THIRTY SAYINGS OF THE
WISE
SAYING NUMBER THIRTEEN
“Do not let your heart envy sinners, but always be
zealous for the fear of the Lord. There is surely a future hope for you, and
your hope will not be cut off.” (Proverbs 23:17–18, NIV)
A heart that envies sinners is contrasted with a heart that
fears the Lord. The wise are “zealous”
for the fear of the Lord. “’Envy’ and ‘zeal’
are both derived from the same word (qanah)
for an intense feeling of love and desire. Because this emotion is often
expressed as jealousy, we can speak of being jealous of other persons (Prov.
24:1, 19) or jealous for God (23:17).”[1]
The key seems to be found in a person who with passion and intentionality
is deeply desirous of “the fear of the Lord”. The question that is often raised
is “what is the fear of the Lord”? We often
hear people explain the fear of the Lord as a respect or reverence. But the
Bible uses the word fear at least 300 times in reference to
God and uses words that convey far more intensity that “respect”. The Hebrew word for “fear” is the word יִרְאָה [yirʾah
/yir·aw/] [2]
and it is often translated as dread, terror along with respect and reverence. Greeks use the word φόβος [phobos /fob·os/][3] which is also translated terror, dread, etc.,
along with reverence, as in Philippians 2:12 (NIV):
12 Therefore,
my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now
much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling.
[Emphasis mine]
(You will note that the Greek word is the source of our English word, phobia!)
How do you express “terror” for the One you honor and love? “Luther
distinguished between that and what he called filial fear, drawing from the
Latin concept from which we get the idea of family. It refers to the fear that
a child has for his father. In this regard, Luther is thinking of a child who
has tremendous respect and love for his father or mother and who dearly wants
to please them. He has a fear or an anxiety of offending the one he loves, not
because he’s afraid of torture or even of punishment, but rather because he’s
afraid of displeasing the one who is, in that child’s world, the source of
security and love.”[4]
The issue of course is “worldliness”. The things of this world become more and more
attractive, but to those who have a godly fear of the Lord, the future looks
better than the present. The Proverbial
point is this: When we so deeply regard
our Lord that we are scared stiff to displease Him, the successes and the
accomplishments of wicked people will be nothing in our eyes. Such a passion comes with a great promise: “There
is surely a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off”
(Proverbs 23:18, NIV).
“Instead of envying those who disregard God’s way, one
should make pleasing the Lord one’s top priority (v. 17), because such a path
embodies the true hope that there is a future for the godly (cf. 24:14, 20; Ps.
37:9–11, 34, 37–38).”[5]
[2] Strong, J. (1995). Enhanced Strong’s
Lexicon. Woodside Bible Fellowship.
[3] Strong, J. (1995). Enhanced Strong’s
Lexicon. Woodside Bible Fellowship.
[4] http://www.ligonier.org/blog/what-does-it-mean-fear-god/
[5]
Crossway Bibles. (2008). The ESV Study Bible
(p. 1174). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.
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