Those who Fear the Lord, Turn From Sin
By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the LORD men depart from evil.
Proverbs 16:6
There is an increasing lack of the reverential fear of God. More and more people are not giving God the honor and respect that He deserves. He is the Most High God. He’s supreme and excellent above all. He is preeminent. There is no one greater than He. He is the God of all gods. He knows no one greater than Him (Isaiah 44:8).
God, who has absolute power and authority, is not tyrannical. He doesn’t rule oppressively. He’s a loving God. He’s the definition of love. He’s merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth. It’s because of God’s mercy and truth our sin is purged. For that; He ought to be praised and revered.
That’s how David felt when his sin was taken away. He had a tremendous reverential fear of the Lord. He turned away from sin. The Lord testified that David did that which was right before Him and obeyed all of His commandments, excepting the one time adultery and murder (1 Kings 15:5). That’s what the fear of the Lord does. It will have you turn away from sin and do the commandments of the Lord.
After receiving the Holy Ghost, the Apostle Peter preached Jesus. He said that God made Jesus both Lord and Christ. The people who heard were pricked in their hearts. They believed in God and honored Him. They wanted to know what to do, seeing God esteemed this Jesus so highly. Peter told them to repent and be baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and receive the Holy Ghost (Acts 2:22-38).
Repentance is not sorrow. It’s not saying you’re sorry for what you did. You should be sorry if you sin, but repentance is actually a change of mind which produces a change in direction. Paul said godly sorrow leads to repentance; not because you got caught in sin, but because you’re truly sorry (2 Corinthians 7:10). David was truly sorry and turned away from that evil. He didn’t commit adultery and murder again.
A wise man feareth, and departeth from evil: but the fool rageth, and is confident.
Proverbs 14:16
A characteristic of a wise man is that he fears the Lord and departs from evil. A person who’s not wise, but is a fool, rages and is confident. This person acts proudly and presumptuously. He doesn’t think there’s punishment for his deeds. He’s called the wicked in Psalm 10. He won’t seek after God or consider Him and His ways. He has no fear of God. But the wise fear and depart from evil.
Are you wise?.