Isaiah 11:3
And he will delight in the fear of the Lord. (NIV)
Today’s Reading: Isaiah 11:1-5
I couldn’t move past this verse without dedicating an entire day to it. Isaiah chapter 11 is a spectacular prophecy that tells us so many things about the Messiah and his reign. Isaiah lists all the characteristics of the Messiah in verse two and then almost as an afterthought writes this amazing thing about Jesus – “and he will delight in the fear of the Lord.”
Yesterday we briefly covered that the Messiah would have the Spirit of the fear of the Lord. The fear of the Lord is simply reverence of God. The Hebrews author describes it like this: “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our ‘God is a consuming fire’” (Heb 12:28-29).
But this verse says that Jesus not only has the Spirit of the fear of the Lord but that he delights in the fear of the Lord. The Hebrew word used for “delights” is rîaḥ which is the same word used to describe the feeling you get when you enjoy the smell of a fragrance. When you catch the scent of something pleasant you seek it out to get closer to it so that you can smell it better. It’s the same word used in Exodus 30:38 referring to the smell of the incense that God prescribed for the priests to burn in the Tent of Meeting.
So the question I want to explore today is this: do you delight in the fear of the Lord? Jesus was characterized by it. The author of Hebrews tells us that we are to worship God with “reverence and awe” because of what Jesus has done for us. So do you seek out the fear of the Lord like you would seek out a beautiful fragrance? There are spectacular promises in store for us if we delight in the fear of the Lord.
- God will prosper you and call you His friend:
“Who, then, are those who fear the Lord?
He will instruct them in the ways they should choose.
They will spend their days in prosperity,
and their descendants will inherit the land.
The Lord confides in those who fear him;
he makes his covenant known to them” (Ps 25:12-14).
2. God will watch over you:
“But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him” (Ps 33:18).
3. God will surround you with his presence:
“The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him,
and he delivers them” (Ps 34:7).
4. God will provide for you:
“Fear the Lord, you his holy people,
for those who fear him lack nothing” (Ps 34:9).
5. God will show you compassion:
“As a father has compassion on his children,
so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him” (Ps 103:13).
6. God’s love will be with you and your family:
“But from everlasting to everlasting
the Lord’s love is with those who fear him,
and his righteousness with their children’s children” (Ps 103:17).
7. God will enjoy being with you:
“The Lord delights in those who fear him,
who put their hope in his unfailing love” (Ps 147:11).
8. God will give you wisdom:
“The fear of the Lord—that is wisdom,
and to shun evil is understanding” (Job 28:28).
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Ps 111:10).
9. God will give you life and contentment:
“The fear of the Lord leads to life;
then one rests content, untouched by trouble” (Prov 19:23).
Can you catch the scent? God is like a fine fragrance calling us to draw closer to Him. Only God can provide the good things in life. If we delight in the fear of the Lord, he promises to give them to us in abundance.
Christ in the Old Testament 
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