Commentary - Proverbs 14:27

Bird's-eye view

Proverbs 14:27 is a masterful piece of Hebrew wisdom, employing synthetic parallelism to deliver a profound truth in two complementary clauses. The verse defines the fear of the Lord not as a cowering, servile dread, but as a dynamic, life-giving principle. It is a fountain, a source of constant spiritual vitality and refreshment. The practical outworking of this internal reality is a life of wisdom and discernment, one that enables a man to recognize and actively turn away from the manifold temptations and dangers that lead to ruin and death. In short, this proverb tells us that a right relationship with God is the source of a right and protected path through the world. Reverential awe for God is the wellspring of a life that skillfully avoids the devil's traps.

Outline

Context In Proverbs

This verse does not stand in isolation but is a potent distillation of the central theme of the entire book. Proverbs begins by declaring that "The fear of Yahweh is the beginning of knowledge" (Prov. 1:7). Throughout the book, this concept is unpacked in countless practical scenarios. Proverbs 14:27 serves as a powerful echo and amplification of this foundational premise. It moves beyond the fear of the Lord as merely the starting point and describes it as the ongoing, sustaining source of life and wisdom. It fits squarely within the book's overarching project of teaching a young man how to live skillfully in God's world, contrasting the path of wisdom, which is the path of fearing God, with the path of folly, which is the path of ignoring Him and stumbling into the snares of death.

Key Issues

The Life-Giving Fear

Our modern therapeutic age has a great deal of trouble with the concept of fear. We are taught that fear is a negative emotion to be managed or eliminated. But the Bible does not present the matter this way. The issue is never whether you will fear, but rather what or whom you will fear. You can fear man, which brings a snare (Prov. 29:25), or you can fear God, which is a fountain of life. You can fear failure, or poverty, or sickness, or you can fear the Holy One of Israel. The fear of Yahweh is the great, central, organizing fear that drives out all lesser, illegitimate fears. It is not the cowering terror of a slave before a tyrant, but the reverential awe of a son before a loving, holy, and powerful Father. It is a fear saturated with love, trust, and a profound desire not to displease Him. This is the fear that liberates, the fear that gives life.

Verse by Verse Commentary

27a The fear of Yahweh is a fountain of life,

The first clause makes a magnificent positive assertion. The fear of Yahweh, this covenantal awe and reverence for God, is not a stagnant pond. It is a fountain of life. The imagery is potent. A fountain is a source of fresh, bubbling, life-sustaining water. In a dry and arid land, a fountain is a place of refreshment, cleansing, and vitality. This means that a right posture toward God is not a drain on your life, but the very source of it. It is an internal wellspring that continually produces spiritual vigor, wisdom, and joy. While the world seeks life in broken cisterns that can hold no water, digging frantically for satisfaction in wealth, pleasure, or power, the man who fears God has a self-replenishing source of true life within him, placed there by the grace of God.

27b To turn aside from the snares of death.

The second clause shows the practical, defensive benefit of this fountain. The life that springs from the fear of God is not just for passive enjoyment; it equips a man for active spiritual warfare. This life gives him the wisdom and moral clarity to turn aside from danger. The world is full of snares of death. A snare is a trap, a hidden danger set by a hunter to catch the unwary. These are the temptations to sexual immorality, the lure of dishonest gain, the trap of bitterness, the enticement of pride. They promise life and pleasure but are baited traps that lead to ruin, destruction, and death. The fear of God gives a man spiritual eyesight. It allows him to see the tripwire in the path, to recognize the bait for the poison it is, and to have the good sense to walk around it. The fountain of life within him creates a distaste for the stagnant waters of sin. He avoids the snare not simply because it is forbidden, but because he has tasted something infinitely better.

Application

This proverb is a diagnostic tool for our souls and a prescription for our ills. If you find your Christian life to be dry, brittle, and joyless, it is not because God is a taskmaster, but because your fear of Him is defective. You are not drinking from the fountain. If you find yourself constantly stumbling into the same sins, repeatedly getting caught in the same traps of foolishness and regret, the problem is a failure to fear God. You are not turning aside from the snares of death because the fountain of life is not flowing as it should.

The solution is not to try harder to be better. The solution is to cultivate a deeper, more profound, more biblical fear of God. And how do we do this? We look to Christ. Jesus is the perfect embodiment of the fear of the Lord (Isa. 11:2-3). He lived in perfect, filial awe of His Father. And on the cross, He willingly walked into the ultimate snare of death on our behalf, springing the trap and disarming it forever. Through faith in Him, the Holy Spirit is given to us, who writes the fear of God upon our hearts. Therefore, to grow in this life-giving fear, we must steep our minds in the Word of God, where His majesty is revealed. We must discipline ourselves in prayer, acknowledging our utter dependence upon Him. And we must look to the cross, where we see the full measure of His holiness in judging sin and the unfathomable depth of His love in saving sinners. That glorious sight is what produces a heart that fears and loves Him, and that heart is a fountain of life.