[:en]SCRIPTURE: PSALM 112
“Praise the Lord. Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who finds great delight in his commands”
“Good will come to him who is generous and lends freely, who conducts his affairs with justice. Surely he will never be shaken; a righteous man will be remembered forever” (vs. 5-6)
The word “fear” is termed by psychiatrist as “phobia”. There are different kinds of phobias: acrophobia – fear of height; claustrophobia – fear of confined or crowded places; aerophobia – fear of flying; arachnophobia – fear of spider; astraphobia – fear of thunder and lightning; autophobia – fear of being alone; hemophobia – fear of blood; hydrophobia – fear of water; ophidiophobia – fear of snakes; zoophobia – fear of animals.
But there is one particular fear that drives out all other fears. And that is the FEAR OF THE LORD. In this Psalm, it mentioned about different kinds of fear that can be conquered by the fear of the Lord:
- Family fear – His children will be mighty in the land, the generation of the upright will be blessed (v. 2)
- Financial fear – wealth and riches are in his house and his righteousness endures forever (v. 3)
- Fear of darkness – Even in darkness, light dawns for the upright, for the gracious and compassionate and righteous man (v. 4)
- Fear of being forgotten – surely, he will never be shaken, a righteous man will be remembered forever (v. 6)
- Fear of bad news – he will have no fear of bad news, his heart is steadfast trusting in the Lord. (v. 7)
- Fear of being defeated – his heart is secured, he will have no fear; in the end, he will look in triumph on his foes (v. 8)
What is your greatest fear? Instead of fear, trust the Lord. For the fear of the Lord conquers all fears.[:]