¹⁸ “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

Drawing from Psalm 36, and in keeping with rabbinic custom, Paul quotes the first line to bring attention to the entire psalm. There the writer speaks of the “ungodly” and of the lovingkindness of the Lord:

Transgression speaks to the ungodly within his heart; there is no fear of God before his eyes…the words of his mouth are wickedness and deceit…” (Ps 36:1, 3).

Your lovingkindness, O Lord, extends to the heavens, Your faithfulness reaches to the skies. Your righteousness is like the mountains of God; Your judgments are like a great deep. O Lord, You preserve man and beast. (Ps 36:5–6).

We can summarize both Psalm 36 and Paul: God is righteous, humans are not, and He is kind to provide a way of repentance. At the core, sin is not honoring God or having any gratitude for Him (Romans 1:21)—not fearing God. And this holds true for both Jews and non-Jews.

The huge irony in all this is that the very thing that is lacking is the very thing that is for our ultimate good. The fear of the Lord influences our ethical behavior: “Now then let the fear of the Lord be upon you; be very careful what you do, for the Lord our God will have no part in unrighteousness or partiality or the taking of a bribe” (2 Chron 19:7). How can we say it any more succinctly than this? “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge …” (Prov 1:7). Job, Psalms and Proverbs agree that the fear of the Lord is the foundation for wisdom (Job 28:28, Prov 9:10, Psalm 111:10). The fear of the Lord is the bedrock of life itself: “The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life …” (Prov 14:27, 19:23). “The fear of the Lord leads to life, so that one may sleep satisfied, untouched by evil” (Prov 19:23).

In the church, the fear of the Lord is essential to evangelism and church growth (Acts 9:31) and is non-negotiable in the pursuit of holiness: “… let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God” (2 Cor 7:1).

Abandoning the fear of the Lord to pursue human righteousness is a perfect formula for bringing on the judgment of the One who gives life and produces holiness. Yet God’s kindness offers the path of repentance, beginning with acknowledging that we have not honored Him as God.

Lord, I am eternally grateful Your lovingkindness.