"Wisdom is where the fear of the Lord begins and the of the fear of creation ends."

How does the "fear of man" work itself out in your life?

...But you, O Lord, are a shield around me, my glory, and the one who lifts my head high. I cried out and he answered me from his holy mountain...

This resonates with me because I have so much to be thankful for. Not because I now have happiness and security which I didn't have growing up, but because I have purpose and I feel valued to God. I have many valid reasons to be angry with my family. Instead my heart is always heavy for their redemption.

As a parent I am learning new things about myself. Wisdom is a priority now that I lean on God and His Word alot.
I remember always living in fear when I was growing up of being killed by my step-dad. God has used that fear to mold my heart into a compassionate person because of that experience. Because I have so many memories of trauma it's easy to battle with extremes. Gods wisdom helps me guage tricky waters of the extremes and gives me grace in the areas I do battle in.

Thanks for the Word :)

Thanks for the honest response Nicole.

you know the "fear of the Lord" keeps you from sinning because once yoiu hit tht spot...man you understand that not only are dealing a God who can destory the body but also the soul.

For me this is a place of humility...on me knees in front of the cross...just utter comfort and trust. Think Joesph...he told the wife..."how can i do this and sin against God?"

Wow, Nicole thank you for that! I lived thru the same kind of fear growing up & it's something when you realize how much of that you carry around with you when you're grown - when we still instinctively battle those feelings on our own.

God is so amazing & precious that He wants to redeem us from those battles that become instilled in us. Seeking to heal us with His grace, love & mercy! The God of healing - Jehovah Raffa! AMEN!

The fear of man is the doubt I have that if I'm the only one who has my opinion, then there must be something wrong with it. Of course it's good to always break down your own principles to remind yourself or simply see if your convictions have changed, but to completely discard your vison or "version" of truth because you feel out numbered is a very dangerous thing to do. I just watched 12 angry men which is about one man on jury duty, among 11 others who happens to be the only one who thinks the man that is on trial for murder may be innocent. The others are convinced he's not, but instead of backing down and assuming that the majority rule is right, he cognitively defends his reasons and through that strengthens his own argument and gives new insight to the others.

Somewhere in scripture is the metaphor of two people sharing what they believe to be true, as a sword sharpening another sword. This may be a little different than the sentiment that the psalmist had in mind, but it means to me that if you're not standing up for what you believe to be true and right and you give in to the feeling of looking like a fool in front of others, then you are living for other people aka fearing man.

Besides, even if you're an atheistic humanist and find no importance in pleasing a god, being confident in yourself and not backing down in the fear of another's judgement is just plain admirable and will help you gain the worldly respect you want.