Reflection on Pro 14:2
Whoever fears the Lord walks uprightly, but those who despise Him are devious in their ways.
Why should we fear the Lord? Does the Book of Psalms not say in many places, “The Lord is good”? Psalm 136, for example, reads: “Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. … To Him who by wisdom made the heavens, for His mercy endures forever. … To Him who divided the Red Sea in two and made Israel pass through the midst of it, but overthrew Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea, for His mercy endures forever.”
Why should we fear God if He is good and merciful? The problem is within us. There is a source of evil in our heart which entered our human nature with the first sin of our first father Adam. This evil deceives us in a masterly fashion. Its goal is to bring us into the bondage of sin, so that we finally lose our soul by abandoning God and becoming one with the evil in us. Therefore, because He loved us, the Good Father gave His only-begotten Son for us. Jesus became man and dying in disgrace on the cross delivered us from this evil in us which we love. We also call it our self and we feel hurt if someone points out the evil we do.
The fear of God is the beginning of true wisdom, because it protects us from the evil in us. The more we know God, the more we will love Him, and then fear will be replaced by pure love for God which unites us to Him. We will no longer be protected from this evil by fear but rather by the love of God.
The man who fears the Lord also fears the insidiousness of sin within us. He walks uprightly throughout his life and need not be afraid of death or God’s judgment, for he will receive the crown of eternal glory. The ways of a wise man are upright.
The man who despises God and proudly relies on himself alone does not walk uprightly. He walks in darkness, and his deviousness will lead him to commit still graver sins. Unless he stops on his way, he will become a slave to evil and sin and his end will be tragic.
What does it mean to walk uprightly? It means to respect justice towards others, knowing that God sees everything and everything will be brought into judgment. Only a man who walks uprightly and counts on God can make selfless sacrifices for others and be an example to them of how to fight evil in the human heart as well as the system of lies that affects us in the world.
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