Hemmed in by fear
"The fear of the LORD leads to life, and whoever has it rests satisfied; he will not be visited by harm." Proverbs 19:23
"whoever has it rests satisfied"
Is the "it" referring to the fear of the LORD or to the possession of life at the end of it? I tried to think of possible ramifications for either. If the fear of the LORD is the antecedent, the reason for satisfaction is the understanding of the sovereign One in whose presence is "fullness of joy" and at whose right hand there are "pleasures forevermore" (Ps. 16). Satisfaction comes from dwelling on and in the presence of God.
On the other hand,if the antecedent is life, then the harm referred to is the harm of death and separation from His joy-filled presence.
I am a visual learner, so I drew a diagram in my Bible study notebook of a stick figure walking along a path labeled "The fear of the LORD." At the end of the path I wrote "life" and I drew a force field of sorts around my stick figure with the word"harm" written out to the side with arrows bouncing off the force field. I got to thinking that this fear surrounded my figure as he walked and it caused me to think not only of a force field protecting him as he walked, but also that there was a hedge along which he walked that protected him from harm.This thought (after I drew the hedge along the path) reminded me of Ps. 139:5 "You hem me in behind and before, you lay your hand upon me." And that brings me back full circle to the joy and comfort filled presence of God that allows me to rest satisfied.
"whoever has it rests satisfied"
Is the "it" referring to the fear of the LORD or to the possession of life at the end of it? I tried to think of possible ramifications for either. If the fear of the LORD is the antecedent, the reason for satisfaction is the understanding of the sovereign One in whose presence is "fullness of joy" and at whose right hand there are "pleasures forevermore" (Ps. 16). Satisfaction comes from dwelling on and in the presence of God.
On the other hand,if the antecedent is life, then the harm referred to is the harm of death and separation from His joy-filled presence.
I am a visual learner, so I drew a diagram in my Bible study notebook of a stick figure walking along a path labeled "The fear of the LORD." At the end of the path I wrote "life" and I drew a force field of sorts around my stick figure with the word"harm" written out to the side with arrows bouncing off the force field. I got to thinking that this fear surrounded my figure as he walked and it caused me to think not only of a force field protecting him as he walked, but also that there was a hedge along which he walked that protected him from harm.This thought (after I drew the hedge along the path) reminded me of Ps. 139:5 "You hem me in behind and before, you lay your hand upon me." And that brings me back full circle to the joy and comfort filled presence of God that allows me to rest satisfied.
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