Behold, my dear children, this great God alone is worthy to be feared, who can kill soul and body. Sirach says: The whole heaven everywhere, the sea and the earth tremble; mountain and valley quake, when he visiteth them; and shall he not see thy heart? Sir. 16:18.
Again: God is witness of all thoughts, and knoweth the conscience of every heart, and heareth every word. For the circuit of the world is full of the Spirit of the Lord (he says that the circuit of the world is full of the Spirit of the Lord), and he that knoweth the voice is everywhere; therefore he that speaketh unrighteous things cannot be hid. Wis. 1:6. Yea, my dear children, he knows who serves him in appearance and in the sight of the eyes, and who with a sincere heart. For the wisdom of God is great, and he is mighty, says Sirach, and beholdeth all things; and his eyes are upon them that fear him, and he knoweth well, what is done in righteousness, and what is hypocrisy. Sir. 14:18. I say he is worthy that men should fear him, keep his commandments, love him, be very small and humble before him, and this is what he requires of his people. Read Mic. 6, the law of Moses, and the Gospel of Christ. For he would have obedience, and not the pomp and deceitful semblance of sacrifices, as is exemplified in Saul, 1 Sam. 15:22. “Will ye not fear me, saith the Lord, who have placed the sand for the bound of the sea, that it cannot pass it?” Jeremiah 5:22.
Ah, ah, dear children, how good is this fear of the Lord, for it is the beginning of wisdom. It is the root of wisdom, and its branches flourish forever. Wis. 1:20.
This fear of the Lord driveth out sin; for he that is without fear cannot be justified. Wis. 1:21. For by the fear of the Lord men depart from evil. Proverbs 16:6. The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life to depart from the snares of death, 14:27. For those that fear the Lord, my children, walk in the right way; but he that feareth him not, or despiseth him, departeth from his way. 14:2.
Hereby, and by the vain boasting or thinking of having the fear of God, you may perceive the fear of God, and know those who fear him [and them that fear him not].
Read who are the truly godfearing; Ps. 1:2; 119:120; Sir. 2:17; 15:1; 16:2. Therefore, the fear of God is the sum and conclusion of all books. Read Eccl. 12:13. And as you have now heard of the great glory of God, which is well worthy that men should fear him on account of it, so I will now briefly show that he is also a most awful, terrible and inexorably stern avenger and enemy towards his enemies; and, on the other hand, a faithful succorer of his afflicted friends, as is written in Exodus: “I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me.” And again: “Shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.” Exodus 20:5,6.
Notice also the wonderful deeds of God in Egypt, on Pharaoh, who afflicted the children of Israel; how God afflicted the Egyptians in return, visiting their land with manifold plagues. Ultimately, how God delivered his people out of it, made a dry passage through the Red Sea, separated and protected them from Pharaoh by the dark pillar of cloud, and terrified Pharaoh and his host with a heavenly noise in the air, and drowned them all in the Red Sea, as a God of great power. Now when Israel had passed through the Red Sea, and was in the wilderness, king Amalek came to afflict them, whom God himself resisted, however, through Joshua, and the enemy and his people were discomfited and destroyed. Thus, again, in the days of Joshua, God fought with hailstones, and Israel with the sword; and sun and moon for their benefit stood still the whole day, as long as the battle lasted. Josh. 10. Yea, God also fought from heaven against Sisera, and the stars in their courses fought. Judg. 5:20. Again, at another time, when Samaria was besieged by the Syrians, God fought for Samaria, and terrified the enemies with a noise in the air, as the noise of chariots, horsemen and hosts, in the night, so that they fled and left everything behind them. 2 Kings 7:6,7. Thus read also of Zerah the Ethiopian, with his host of a thousand thousand, of whom not one escaped. 2 Chron. 14:9 Thus also, the children of Ammon and Moab, from Syria, afflicted Israel; and God fought for Israel, while Israel stood still and he ordered it so that the enemies destroyed one another. 2 Chron. 20.