The Fear of Man

Proverbs 29:25 ESV

“The fear of man lays a snare,

but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe.”

This is a short passage of Scripture and yet it is filled with biblical truth. And the best way to understand what this is teaching is if we look at what these individual words mean:

Words Defined

Fear – anxiety, terror, dread, fright, be afraid of; an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is likely to cause pain. And this may be, but we should not fear the pain. We should not fear what other humans may or may not do to us or think about us or say about us or to us. 

Man – humankind, male or female – other human beings.

Snare – bait or lure, enticement, temptation, inducement; to intentionally make a person angry by saying or doing things to annoy them; a trap - a trick by which someone is misled into acting contrary to their interests or intentions. This is what Jesus’ enemies tried to do to him.

Trust – have faith in – believe in – hope, conviction, confidence, reliance, dependence, firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone, in this case in God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. So, not just an intellectual assent to something, but reliance upon God for strength.

Safe – secure, protected, sheltered, in safe hands – in the Greek New Testament: 4982 sṓzō (from sōs, "safe, rescued") – properly, deliver out of danger and into safety; used principally of God rescuing believers from the penalty and power of sin – and into His provisions (safety).

Summed Up

We are not to let what other humans may or may not do to us or think about us or say about us or to us impact our decision making processes. We are not to let what we believe to be their opinions of us affect who we are and who we become and what we do.

We are not to fall into their traps nor be incited nor enticed by them to go a different direction from what we know we ought to go. We are not to let them intimidate us into disobeying our Lord nor to get into deep seated arguments with them that go nowhere and that accomplish nothing or that turn ugly and hateful and spiteful. We must be wise in how we respond.

We are to keep our confidence in the Lord. Even if we are being led into an area where we should not go, we should refuse to go there. We should step away from such situations and take them to the Lord in prayer and trust the Lord to give us wise counsel to direct us in the right way to go.

And regarding the Lord keeping us safe, this does not mean that he won’t allow bad things to happen to us. He will. He said we will be hated and persecuted if we follow him with our lives. Look at his example and the examples of the prophets and the NT apostles and how they were all treated. But he will keep us safe spiritually, and he will carry us through every difficult situation so that we don’t fail if our trust is in him.

Video Talk

https://youtu.be/0MMzOdFVwxw 

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Trust and Obey  

Words by John H. Sammis, 1887

Music by Daniel B. Towner, 1887

When we walk with the Lord 

in the light of His Word,

What a glory He sheds on our way!

While we do His good will, 

He abides with us still,

And with all who will trust and obey. 

Not a shadow can rise, 

not a cloud in the skies,

But His smile quickly drives it away;

Not a doubt or a fear, 

not a sigh or a tear,

Can abide while we trust and obey.

Not a burden we bear, 

not a sorrow we share,

But our toil He doth richly repay;

Not a grief or a loss, 

not a frown or a cross,

But is blessed if we trust and obey.

But we never can prove 

the delights of His love

Until all on the altar we lay;

For the favor He shows, 

for the joy He bestows,

Are for them who will trust and obey.

Then in fellowship sweet 

We will sit at His feet.

Or we’ll walk by His side in the way.

What He says we will do, 

Where He sends we will go;

Never fear, only trust and obey.

Trust and obey, for there’s no other way

To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KB4KcleYiWM

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