The Awe of God · Study Guide
Week Six
The Treasure's Benefits
Holy fear is not a burden to escape. Scripture presents it as a treasure that reorders our fears, gives wisdom, deepens confidence, strengthens obedience, and draws us into a life increasingly centered on God.
Week Six brings the entire six-week journey together.
We will look at how the fear of the Lord reorders the fears that compete for our trust, why Scripture calls holy fear the beginning of wisdom, and the many ways reverence for God shapes a faithful life.
The goal is not simply to finish the study, but to identify how holy awe can become an ongoing pattern of worship, trust, obedience, wisdom, and intimacy with God.
When God becomes the One we fear above every competing voice, lesser fears lose their controlling power. Holy fear makes us teachable, directs us toward wisdom, strengthens confidence, turns us from destructive paths, deepens intimacy with God, and helps us live with Him at the center.
Read Before You Begin
What fear has the greatest tendency to compete with your trust and obedience to God?
Teaching Summary
The Fear That Reorders Other Fears
Holy fear does not mean that Christians never feel afraid.
We can still experience fear about health, finances, relationships, uncertainty, rejection, suffering, or the future.
But reverence for God changes which fear has the greatest authority.
— Isaiah 8:13
When God carries the greatest weight, lesser fears lose the right to control our obedience.
Fear Can Reveal What We Are Trying to Control
Some fears reveal areas where we are struggling to entrust life fully to God.
Our future. Our family. Our health. Our reputation. Our security. Our plans.
This does not mean every anxious feeling is spiritual failure.
But fear can become a place of honest examination:
Have I entrusted this part of my life to the lordship of Jesus?
Holy Fear Produces Confidence
— Proverbs 14:26
Biblical fear and confidence are not opposites.
Holy fear moves our confidence away from perfect circumstances and toward the unchanging character of God.
We do not need to know that nothing difficult will happen.
We need to know that whatever happens, God remains God and we belong to Him.
Faithfulness When the Outcome Is Uncertain
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego show what reordered fear looks like in practice.
They knew God could deliver them from the furnace, but they refused to make obedience depend on knowing the outcome beforehand.
Holy fear does not always remove danger. It can remove danger's authority over our loyalty to God.
The Most Important Thing: Wisdom
— Proverbs 9:10
Wisdom is more than intelligence or experience.
Biblical wisdom learns to see life from God's perspective and choose what is faithful, good, and true.
Holy fear makes us teachable because it reminds us of the proper order of reality: God is Creator, and we are His creatures.
Wisdom begins when we trust God's wisdom more than our own.
Holy Fear Protects Us from Hidden Traps
— Proverbs 14:27
Temptation often appears attractive before its consequences become visible.
God's wisdom helps us recognize danger before experience teaches the lesson painfully.
Holy fear gives us a standard outside ourselves: God's Word, God's character, and God's wisdom.
Holy Fear Turns Us from Evil
— Proverbs 16:6
Reverence makes sin less casual.
It does not merely ask, “Can I get away with this?”
It asks:
Will this honor God?
Holy Fear Leads to Life
— Proverbs 19:23
God's wisdom is not designed to diminish life.
It directs us away from what destroys and toward what our Creator knows is good.
The life Scripture describes is not necessarily a life without hardship.
It is a life ordered under the wisdom and care of God.
Holy Fear Deepens Intimacy
— Psalm 25:14
Week Five showed that reverence and intimacy are not competing ideas.
Holy fear keeps our relationship with God from becoming casual or self-centered.
We draw near because of grace, and we remain reverent because of who God is.
Holy Fear Makes Us Teachable
Psalm 25 connects the fear of the Lord with instruction and direction.
Reverence creates humility.
Humility creates teachability.
Teachability helps us receive God's wisdom instead of insisting on our own.
Reverence → Humility → Teachability → Wisdom
Holy Fear and Grace Work Together
Grace does not teach us to ignore God.
Grace brings us near, forgives us, restores us, and teaches us to live differently.
Holy fear helps us receive that grace without turning God's kindness into casualness.
We do not obey to earn acceptance.
We obey because grace has brought us into relationship with the One we love and honor.
A Summary of Benefits
Scripture associates the fear of the Lord with a remarkable range of spiritual blessings.
These are not guarantees of an easy life.
They describe the kind of life reverence for God cultivates.
Wisdom — Proverbs 9:10
Knowledge — Proverbs 1:7
Confidence — Proverbs 14:26
Turning from evil — Proverbs 16:6
Life — Proverbs 19:23
Guidance — Psalm 25:12
Intimacy with God — Psalm 25:14
Hope — Proverbs 23:17–18
Holy fear shapes a life anchored in God's wisdom, presence, direction, and character.
The Treasure Is God Himself
There is one final danger to avoid.
We can begin wanting the benefits more than the God who gives them.
Wisdom is good. Confidence is good. Direction is good. Intimacy is good. Fruitfulness is good.
But the greatest treasure is still God Himself.
Holy fear is precious because it keeps our hearts centered on the One who is worthy.
Six Weeks in One Movement
Week One — Holy Awe
See God more clearly and recover reverence for who He is.
Week Two — Revealed as We Are
Allow God's holiness to expose what is false
and lead us into honesty and humility.
Week Three — Irresistible Holiness
Pursue a life that increasingly reflects God's character.
Week Four — God's Word
Give His voice enough weight to obey promptly,
trustingly, and completely.
Week Five — Intimacy with God
Draw near with confidence, reverence, trust, and friendship.
Week Six — The Treasure's Benefits
Treasure the fear of the Lord and walk in the wisdom,
confidence, life, and intimacy it cultivates.
Look Back Over the Journey
- How has my understanding of the phrase “fear of the Lord” changed during this study?
- What fear currently has the greatest tendency to compete with my trust in God?
- Where do I most need God's wisdom right now?
- Which benefit of holy fear has become most meaningful to me, and why?
- Is there an area where God's Word is clear but I still need to respond in obedience?
- Has God exposed a false view of Him that I need to replace with biblical truth?
- In what area of my life do I most need to ask, “What would honor God here?”
- What practice will help me continue cultivating holy awe after this study ends?
Talk About the Whole Journey
- Why can fearing God actually weaken the controlling power of other fears?
- Why does Scripture call the fear of the Lord the beginning of wisdom?
- How does holy fear create confidence rather than anxiety?
- Which biblical benefit of holy fear stands out most to your group?
- How does holy fear protect us from becoming casual about sin?
- How have the six sessions connected holiness, obedience, intimacy, and wisdom?
- What is the difference between wanting God's benefits and wanting God Himself?
- What would help holy awe become an ongoing way of life rather than a six-week topic?
Proverbs 14:26–27
Read these two verses slowly and notice what the fear of the Lord produces.
Why would reverence for God create strong confidence rather than insecurity?
What does it mean for security to be rooted in God rather than circumstances?
How does God's wisdom lead us toward what is life-giving?
What destructive path might holy fear help you recognize or avoid?
Reverence → Confidence → Life → Faithful Direction
Father, thank You for revealing Yourself as holy, loving, merciful, wise, and worthy of all honor. Teach me to fear You above every competing fear. Give me wisdom where I lack it, courage where fear controls me, obedience where I have delayed, and humility where I have trusted myself. Keep me from wanting Your gifts more than I want You. Let holy awe shape my worship, my choices, my relationships, my private life, and my future. Help me continue walking with You in reverence, confidence, intimacy, and trust. In Jesus' name, amen.
Five Days in Scripture
What competing fears does God call His people to place beneath reverence for Him?
Why is the fear of the Lord the beginning of wisdom?
What benefits are connected with fearing the Lord?
What do reverence, guidance, trust, and intimacy have in common?
How does this passage summarize a God-centered life?
For each reading, ask:
What does this reveal about God?
What benefit of holy fear appears here?
What response would honor God today?
Treasure the Fear of the Lord
Holy fear is not about running from God. It is about seeing Him clearly enough that His greatness reshapes the way we live.
Behold His holiness.
Receive His grace.
Fear Him above lesser fears.
Trust His wisdom.
Obey His Word.
Pursue holiness.
Draw near with reverence.
Treasure God Himself.
The study ends here, but a life of holy awe is meant to continue.