Psalm 36:3, “The words of his [the wicked man’s] mouth are wicked and deceitful;”
[Such a person deceives himself, as well as others. He is good at giving a positive spin on whatever he desires to do. Just as Satan deceived Eve by making himself look good while implying that God was not, that He wanted to keep something positive from her (“when you eat of it…you will be like God, knowing good and evil” Gen 3:5). In the same way, a person without the fear of God can convince himself that, doing the opposite of what God commands, is good.
We see this every day around us, as people attempt to use Scripture to support abortion, unbiblical forms of marriage, living together, or putting unqualified people into church leadership. What they are actually using as a measure is culture rather than God’s Word. They let their desire to fit in and be accepted, to be up-to-date and sophisticated, deceive them into rejecting God’s wisdom for that of the world.
In contrast is the one who fears God, spends time in His Word, learns to think God’s thoughts and puts them into practice. God’s perspectives are consistently the opposite of our natural ones (“Love your enemies.” “Do good to those who persecute you.” “Forgive as you have been forgiven.”)—and we could never come up with such beautiful ideas on our own. Each command is God protecting us from unnecessary negatives and uncalled for harm, such as bitterness, worry and fear.
A “God fearer” will check his desires and plans before God and in relation to His Word, rather than trust his own devious heart. One way to do this is to wait on making a decision, while taking time to think it through, asking God for wisdom, looking for direction in His Word, listing out the pros and cons. George Mueller described “God fearing” as bringing his heart to the place where receiving a “yes” or a “no” to his prayer was the same to him, for he wanted God’s will, not his own.
Fearing God is standing in awe of His majestic power, marvelous wisdom and mighty goodness. It is caring deeply what He thinks about each thing in our life. Fearing God will protect us from the deception of the world and of our own heart; it will bring wisdom and open the way to His greater working in and through us. Why would anyone ever want to reject His way?
