Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the LORD.
The fear of the Lord in this verse is something that can be taught and must be learned by listening attentively to instruction. People of every age should earnestly ask God to teach them this reverence for Him. Learning it involves openly acknowledging and confessing sin to God and receiving forgiveness.
The verses that follow explain it as practical conduct: keeping the tongue from evil and the lips from deceit, turning from evil to do good, and seeking and pursuing peace. It is living as one of the righteous, over whom the Lord watches and whose cry He hears. It involves coming to God with a broken heart and contrite spirit, to whom the Lord is near.
It involves not taking affliction as a sign of God's anger, but understanding that God permits trials to draw people near to Him and that He delivers the righteous out of all their afflictions. It involves laying hold of God's promises with confidence and praise rather than doubt and gloom. Those who thus fear and love God serve Him with all their heart, soul, and strength.
The fear of the Lord in this verse is something that can be taught and must be learned by listening attentively to instruction. People of every age should earnestly ask God to teach them this reverence for Him. Learning it involves openly acknowledging and confessing sin to God and receiving forgiveness.
The verses that follow explain it as practical conduct: keeping the tongue from evil and the lips from deceit, turning from evil to do good, and seeking and pursuing peace. It is living as one of the righteous, over whom the Lord watches and whose cry He hears. It involves coming to God with a broken heart and contrite spirit, to whom the Lord is near.
It involves not taking affliction as a sign of God's anger, but understanding that God permits trials to draw people near to Him and that He delivers the righteous out of all their afflictions. It involves laying hold of God's promises with confidence and praise rather than doubt and gloom. Those who thus fear and love God serve Him with all their heart, soul, and strength.