How's the Sermon Vault working for you?
Thanks — that helps us improve the library.
Growing In The Fear Of The Lord
What does it truly mean to fear the Lord, and why does it matter for your everyday life? In this message, Pastor Linda Hufton takes a deep and honest look at one of the most misunderstood concepts in the Christian faith, showing that the fear of the Lord is not about cowering before an angry God, but about a reverence so real it shapes every word you speak and every choice you make.
Related Sermons
Small Group Guide
Growing In The Fear Of The Lord
Small Group Discussion Guide
Based on the Teaching of Pastor Linda Hufton
1. SERMON RECAP
Pastor Linda Hufton taught on what it truly means to fear the Lord, drawing from Psalm 34:9 and the wisdom literature of Scripture. She unpacked the difference between a fearful running away from God and the godly reverence that keeps believers walking in obedience and close to His heart. Pastor Linda challenged the group to see the fear of the Lord not as something harsh or outdated, but as a daily, practical guide for the words we speak and the choices we make.
2. KEY SCRIPTURE
Psalm 34:9 "Oh, fear the Lord, you His saints! There is no want to those who fear Him."
3. ICE BREAKER
What is one word or phrase that comes to mind when you hear the expression "the fear of the Lord," and where do you think that impression came from?
4. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Pastor Linda drew a distinction between a fear that causes people to run away from God and a fear that draws them closer to Him in reverence and obedience. What does that healthy, godly fear look like in everyday life, and how is it different from the kind of fear that paralyzes or discourages a person?
2. Pastor Linda shared personal stories about moments when the fear of the Lord prompted immediate, decisive obedience, even when it was costly or uncomfortable. Can anyone in the group think of a time when a strong sense of accountability before God changed a decision you were about to make? What was that like?
3. Psalm 34 connects fearing the Lord with refraining the tongue from evil and the lips from speaking deceit. Pastor Linda suggested that "speaking evil" includes hurtful, negative, contemptuous, or mischievous words, not just obvious sins of speech. Does that broader definition change how you evaluate your own conversations? In what kinds of settings or relationships do you find it hardest to guard your words?
4. James 3 says no human being can tame the tongue, yet Pastor Linda encouraged the group to invite the Holy Spirit to act as a guard over their words. How does dependence on the Holy Spirit change our approach to this challenge compared to simply trying harder through willpower and self-discipline?
5. Pastor Linda described the tongue as a rudder that can steer the course of a life, even through stormy circumstances. She challenged the group to move beyond just stopping negative speech and to begin intentionally speaking blessing over people, situations, and their own lives. What would it look like practically to do that in the relationships you are in right now?
6. Proverbs 25:14 says the secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him, and He will show them His covenant. Pastor Linda highlighted this as one of the great rewards of walking in the fear of the Lord. How does it encourage you to know that a deeper, more intimate knowledge of God is connected to how seriously we take obedience and reverence in the ordinary moments of life?
5. APPLICATION CHALLENGE
This week, each group member is encouraged to choose one specific relationship or recurring situation where negative, critical, or careless words tend to come out, and to make a deliberate decision before that situation arises to respond with either silence or a word of genuine blessing instead. At the start of each day, spend two minutes asking the Holy Spirit specifically to set a guard over your mouth in that context, as Psalm 141:3 describes. Come back next week ready to share one moment where you caught yourself and what happened when you chose a different response.
6. PRAYER POINTS
-
Pray that each group member would grow in a genuine, healthy fear of the Lord that produces obedience, not distance, and that this fear would become a strong and daily motivation to walk in holiness.
-
Pray specifically for the Holy Spirit to act as a guard over the words spoken in each person's home, workplace, and church relationships this week, and that the group as a whole would grow in compassion and kindness toward one another.
-
Pray that as the group pursues exceeding growth in this area, they would begin to experience the promises connected to the fear of the Lord, including wisdom, strong confidence, and the blessing of seeing good days as described in Psalm 34.
7. MEMORY VERSE
Psalm 34:12-13 "Who is the man who desires life, and loves many days, that he may see good? Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking deceit."
Daily Devotional
The Fear That Sets You Free
Psalm 34:9 — "Oh, fear the Lord, you His saints! There is no want to those who fear him."
I want to start this week right where I started on Wednesday — with this verse that stopped me cold when I read it. All of us have things we want. We have prayers before the throne, needs we carry, gaps we wish were filled. And yet here is this stunning promise: those who fear the Lord shall not want. Not lack. Not go without. I had to admit to myself that I wasn't entirely sure what that meant, so I went digging. What I found is that the fear of the Lord is not a cowering, run-away kind of fear. It is a deep, reverent, soul-level awareness that God is God and I am not. It is the kind of fear that makes you stop mid-sentence in your car and put your hand over your mouth. It is the beginning of everything good He has promised us. Let's start there this week.
Lord, teach me what it really means to fear You. I want the kind of fear that draws me closer to You, not the kind that makes me run away. Let that fear be the foundation of everything I do this week.
Working It Out
Philippians 2:12 — "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling."
I mentioned on Wednesday that some in the charismatic world have softened the fear of the Lord down to nothing more than a warm, fuzzy reverence. And while reverence is absolutely part of it, Paul is not being poetic here. He means fear. He means trembling. He means that our walk with God is something we are entrusted with, and that trust carries weight. I think about the story I shared about stepping away from the will of God — how the grace just lifts when you walk outside of what He called you to. Nobody told me to quit my nursing job that morning with a hammer. God had been patient and kind, asking me over and over. But when that moment came, the fear of the Lord put me on my feet. I was not afraid of a mean God. I was afraid of missing everything He had for me. That is working out your salvation with fear and trembling. That is what it looks like in real life.
Father, I do not want to take my walk with You for granted. Help me to treat the life You have given me as the sacred trust it truly is. Give me a holy trembling that keeps me on the right path.
Watch Your Mouth
Psalm 34:13 — "Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking deceit."
This is where it gets personal, and I mean that literally — this is where it got personal for me. I was alone in my car, minding my own business, listening to the radio, and I heard a woman's voice I did not like. Without thinking, I said something out loud about what kind of person she was. Nobody was there. Nobody heard it but me and God. And the Holy Spirit just stopped me. I had been studying this very scripture that same morning. The word evil in that verse does not just mean dark, demonic speech. It means hurtful words, words that cause harm, words that bring sadness, words that are just plain wrong and negative. I had done all of that in one sentence about a stranger on the radio. This is where our growth begins — not in the big dramatic moments, but in the small unguarded ones. The fear of the Lord reaches all the way into the car with us.
Lord, set a guard over my mouth today. Help me to catch myself before the words come out, and when I miss it, help me to recognize it quickly and give it to You. I want my speech to reflect the life You have placed in me.
Blessing Instead of Cursing
Proverbs 8:13 — "The fear of the Lord is to hate evil; pride and arrogance and the evil way and the perverse mouth I hate."
James does not sugarcoat it, and I love him for that. Out of the same mouth come blessing and cursing, and he says plainly — my brethren, these things ought not to be so. I am not talking to sinners here. James was talking to the church. He was the bishop of Jerusalem, pastoring real people in real community, and he knew exactly what went on between believers. We bless God on Sunday and cut someone down on the drive home. We worship with everything we have and then whisper something unkind about a brother or sister. The perverse mouth in Proverbs is not only sexually perverse — that word means willful, divisive, obstinate speech. Speech that tears down instead of building up. The fear of the Lord means I hate that. Not just avoid it — hate it the way God hates it. That is a high standard, and I need the Holy Spirit to get me there.
God, I want to hate what You hate and love what You love. Convict me when my mouth is tearing down what You are trying to build. Help me to speak blessing even when everything in me wants to say something else.
The Rewards of Fearing God
Proverbs 22:4 — "By humility and the fear of the Lord are riches and honor and life."
I want to end this week on a high note, because the whole point of growing in the fear of the Lord is not to walk around feeling guilty about your words. It is to walk into everything God has for you. He is not standing over us with a stick. He is holding out riches and honor and life, and He is saying — here, this is yours, come get it. The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him. He will teach them. He will show them His covenant. There is strong confidence in the fear of the Lord. There is a fountain of life. I told you on Wednesday that I am somewhere on a continuum between stumbling constantly and the perfect man James describes. We all are. But this is a year of exceeding growth, and growth means I move the line. Even a little. Even by the end of today. Start with your mouth. Start with one hurtful word you choose not to say. That is how the journey begins.
Thank You, Lord, for making the path so clear. I do not have to figure everything out at once — I just have to start. Help me to fear You more this week than I did last week, and to trust that You will meet me in that growth with everything You promised.