The fear of the Lord is clean; every other fear is unclean. Are you afraid? Fear is giving in to an unclean spirit. The very first mention of fear was in the beginning when Adam and Eve hid from God, calling to them in the cool of the day. They were afraid and hid themselves. God doesn’t want you to hide or to be hidden in any way. You are a light on a hill that Jesus urged should not be covered with a bushel basket. Are you hiding out in some area of your life? That is not God’s portion for you – but the bondage of fear must be broken.
Psalm 19:9 tells us that the fear of the Lord is clean. Again, that means every other fear is unclean. Whether it is fear of loss, fear of sickness or death, fear of different things – if the fear of the Lord is clean, then every other fear is contaminating and unclean in your inner man. In 2 Tim. 1:7, we see that fear is a spirit, one that God has not given us. Fear is not just a mental state; it is a spirit – and in the context of Psalm 19:9, it is an unclean spirit. Solomon understood something about fear and wrote of it in the book of Proverbs:
Proverbs 1:7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
If the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, then every other fear is the beginning of ignorance. Paul told the Church of Rome that he didn’t want them to be ignorant (Rom. 1:3). He said the same thing to the Thessalonian church (1 Thess. 4:13) and the Corinthian church (1 Cor. 10:1). Every one of these churches was dealing with persecution and pressure from the outside world. The Romans were concerned about Nero, the Thessalonians were infiltrated by false teaching about the end of the world, and the Corinthians were under social pressure to accept sexual depravity as the norm in their midst. What kind of pressure are you under? Don’t give in to fear.
If you are struggling with fear, remember that fear is a spirit, and it doesn’t originate in God. We have no record of God being afraid or even of Jesus being afraid. Fear came in because of sin. Adam and Eve were not fearful until they became sinful. Are you sinful? Maybe so, and if that is the case, repent. You don’t need anyone to suggest what that sin might be; you know exactly what it is, and you must not only be sorry and ask forgiveness; you must forsake that behavior. Get it right. Ask forgiveness. Ask forgiveness of those you’ve wronged. Bring it to Jesus and leave it there. Once sin is dealt with, fear must go. If you cannot identify by the Holy Spirit, those areas of your life then realize that fear is illegitimate and can have no hold on you. Wash in the water of the word. Read the Psalms. David had many terrors that came against him, and he brought all to the Lord in prayer, and throughout his life, he prevailed. God will hear your prayers just like He heard David’s and fear will leave, and peace will come. Your peace is not a state of tranquility; your peace is a person, and His name is Jesus. Receive your peace today and be unafraid.
