Proverbs 22:4. The reward for humility and fear of the Lord is riches and honor and life.
Do you remember what it means to fear the Lord?
Proverbs has already made several statements about it, and its connection to the good life. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge and wisdom. The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life. The fear of the Lord leads to rest.
Other scriptures expand on the idea of fearing God: the fear of the Lord is not a fear of punishment (1 John 4:18), it is a delighting in the Lord (Neh. 1:11). The fear of the Lord actually draws us into the presence of God, it never repulses. It is the love and forgiveness of God that cause us to fear him (Deut. 10:12; Ps. 130:4), not the wrath and destruction of God.
As we can see, the fear of the Lord is a reverential awe of God, a complete trust in his goodness, and a way of life that leads to worship and rest.
Here in Proverbs 22:4, the fear of the Lord is directly connected to humility. The fear of the Lord will always produce humility in our lives. There is simply no such thing as a person who fears the Lord, yet remains proud. The inverse is also true. It requires humility to fear the Lord. How can you tell if you are fearing the Lord? Begin by checking your humility level.
Humility is the lowering of the self, condescension. It is meekness and gentleness. It is to put others before yourself. In the ancient world, humility was never considered a virtue. It was actually a vice. To lower yourself was to upset the natural order of things. Jesus’ “blessed are the meek (humble)”, was one of the most revolutionary statements ever made. But the idea wasn’t totally unique to Christ. King Solomon said it a thousand years earlier.
What’s even more radical in this proverb (and in Jesus’ beatitude) is the result of being humble – riches, honor, and life. How counter-intuitive is that! Everyone knows that the way to get riches and honor is to self-promote, to look out for number one, to keep climbing the ladder of success. But Jesus gave us a completely different formula for success – humility. And for Christ the payoff was far greater – the meek will inherit the earth.
With our union with Christ comes both the fear of the Lord and our humility, the humility of Christ. He is the meek inheriting the earth. He is the humble one now receiving riches, honor, and life. And now he IS our riches, honor, and life. To have Christ is to have all wealth, all glory, and eternal life. All in him. In the fear of the Lord, Jesus humbled himself completely, even to death on a cross.
Only by his humiliation could Christ be exalted over all. Only by our humiliation will we ever share in Christ’s exaltation. Only by fear of the Lord, awe for his love and forgiveness, will we be set on high to reign with him in life. Only by to live is Christ can we reject our own self-promotion and embrace the honor of a crucified life.
You: Check your pride and humility levels. Do others come first? Do you self-promote?
You in Christ: Why should our union with Christ completely humble us?
Christ in you: How can the fear of the Lord move from your head to your heart today? How can it become a way of life for you?
Pray: Father, with you I don’t have to seek my own honor and glory, I can just trust you to honor me and lift me up like you did Jesus. Amen.
To Live is Christ 