“Lord, if you kept a record of our sins, who, O Lord, could ever survive? But you offer forgiveness, that we might learn to fear you.”
— Psalm 130:3-4 NLT
Why Did God Forgive You?
I have pondered over this question myself on several occasions.
What Is The Fear Of The Lord?
Fear in our world of fleshly living is more associated with being afraid or scared. Fear is a good thing God has given us. We should be fearful of fallen down, or being chased by a lion, or being bitten by a poisonous snake. But in God’s Word, “fear” is more about having “reverence” or a fearful respect for God.
If you have read About Me, you know I have one daughter. I absolutely love her to bits and she knows this too. She loves me too. We share a lot of laughs and she does not hide anything from her dad. She knows she can trust me. But she is also careful not to do something or say anything that might hurt me. The one thing she fears most is hurting me and not being able to face me with a clear conscience. That is akin to the fear of the Lord. Yes, it is a cheap analogy, because our fear of the Lord needs to be much more than that. Before we delve deeper into this topic, let us see what God’s Word teaches us.
The Fear Of The Lord In The Old Testament
Let’s be honest — how often do we stop and really ask, why did God forgive me? We usually focus on what He did: “He forgave me, He saved me, He gave me new life.” But Psalm 130 gives a surprising answer to why: so that we may learn to fear the Lord.
Did you catch that? God’s forgiveness is not just to make us feel better or set us free from guilt. It’s meant to lead us into a deeper fear of the Lord — not terror, but awe, reverence, and respect.
The Old Testament saints and the early Christians understood this well. They first encountered the fear of the Lord — they were struck by His holiness, His power, His justice. We read of many who fell dead for entering His Holy presence without reverence. Only later did they come to grasp His grace. That’s why they rejoiced so deeply in the good news of Jesus. They knew they were saved from something terrible: the righteous judgment of a holy God. Grace was precious to them because they understood what they truly deserved.
The Fear Of The Lord Today
But today, many of us hear about God’s grace from day one. We are told “Jesus loves you” and “God forgives you,” but we have little sense of the weight of our sin or the holiness of God. We jump straight to grace without having experienced the fear of God.
And the consequences are obvious. We live in spiritual defeat. We feel helpless in our battle with persistent sin. We don’t realize the value of the good news, because we don’t understand what we were saved from.
Proverbs 9:10 says,
“Fear of the Lord is the foundation of wisdom. Knowledge of the Holy One results in good judgment.”
Without the foundation of the fear of the Lord, our Christian life is shaky. We may know the facts of grace, but we don’t live in the power of grace.
You might wonder, why does God want me to fear Him? Isn’t God loving and kind?
Yes — and that’s the very reason we should fear Him. Imagine you accidentally crash your car into someone’s expensive vehicle — maybe a luxury car worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. You’re standing there, heart pounding, fully expecting to face a massive fine or maybe even legal trouble. But instead, the owner calmly steps out, looks you in the eye, and says, “Are you okay? Don’t worry. I’ll cover the damage myself.”
Would you walk away laughing, thinking, “Oh well, no big deal”? No! You’d probably feel a mix of shock, deep gratitude, and respect. You’d remember that kindness for a long time.
In the same way, God’s forgiveness is meant to leave us in grateful, humble reverence, knowing we were spared from a cost we could never pay.
Forgiveness is a wake-up call to live in awe of the One who spared us when He could have condemned us.
So how do we respond?
Take time to reflect on your sin — not to wallow in guilt, but to remind yourself of how deeply you needed saving. Psalm 130 says, “If you kept a record of sins, who could survive?” None of us could!
When you realize how freely He forgave you, let it fill you with humility. You didn’t earn His love. You didn’t clean yourself up. He offered forgiveness so you would learn to fear Him, not take Him lightly.
Proverbs says the fear of the Lord leads to wisdom and good judgment. When you live with a healthy reverence for God, you’ll make better decisions. You’ll pursue holiness, not because you’re afraid of punishment, but because you respect and love the One who forgave you.
Today, pause and ask yourself:
Do I truly fear the Lord?
Let’s not be people who hear the good news but live in defeat. Let’s be people who understand the fear of the Lord — and from that foundation, rejoice in the grace that truly sets us free.