1-2. According to Psalm 25:14, what must we do if we want to have a close friendship with Jehovah?

 WHAT qualities, do you think, are essential if you want to maintain a close friendship with someone? You would likely answer that good friends should love and support each other. You probably would not think of fear as an important quality for a good friendship. However, as the theme text for this article states, those who want to have a close friendship with Jehovah must “fear him.”​—Read Psalm 25:14.

² No matter how long we have been serving Jehovah, all of us need to maintain a healthy fear of him. But what does it mean to fear God? How can we learn to fear Jehovah? And what can we learn about the fear of God from the steward Obadiah, High Priest Jehoiada, and King Jehoash?

3. Describe what causes us to experience fear and how we may be affected.

³ We may experience fear if we believe that we could suffer some kind of harm. This type of fear can be healthy and can move us to act wisely. Fear of falling holds us back from walking too close to the edge of a cliff. Fear of injury may impel us to run from a dangerous situation. Fear of damaging our friendship with someone we love keeps us from saying or doing something unkind.

4. What kind of fear of Jehovah does Satan want us to have?

⁴ Satan wants people to have an unhealthy fear of Jehovah. Satan promotes the idea expressed by Eliphaz​—that Jehovah is a vengeful, angry God who is impossible to please. (Job 4:18, 19) Satan wants us to become so afraid of Jehovah that we stop serving Him. To avoid that trap, we need to develop a proper fear of God.

5. What does it mean to fear God?

⁵ A person who has a proper fear of God loves Him and does not want to do anything that would damage his relationship with Him. Jesus had such “godly fear.” (Heb. 5:7) He did not feel a morbid dread of Jehovah. (Isa. 11:2, 3) Instead, he felt a deep love for him and wanted to obey him. (John 14:21, 31) Like Jesus, we feel deep respect and awe for Jehovah because He is loving, wise, just, and powerful. We also know that Jehovah loves us very much and is affected by how we respond to his guidance. We can either make Jehovah feel pain or make his heart rejoice.​—Ps. 78:41; Prov. 27:11.

6. What is one way that we can learn to fear God? (Psalm 34:11)

⁶ We are not born with a fear of Jehovah; we must cultivate it. (Read Psalm 34:11.) One way we can do that is by examining creation. The more we see God’s wisdom, his power, and his deep love for us as expressed in “the things made,” the deeper our respect and love for him will be. (Rom. 1:20) A sister named Adrienne said, “Jehovah’s wisdom as seen in creation amazes me and helps me realize that he knows what is best for me.” Her meditation led her to this conclusion, “Why would I want to do anything that would put a barrier between me and Jehovah, the Source of my life?” Can you spend some time this week thinking about an aspect of creation? Doing so will deepen your respect and love for Jehovah.​—Ps. 111:2, 3.

7. How can prayer help us to develop a healthy fear of Jehovah?

⁷ Another way we can develop our fear of God is by praying regularly. The more we pray, the more real Jehovah becomes to us. Each time we ask him for strength to endure a trial, we are reminded of his awesome power. When we thank him for the gift of his Son, we remind ourselves of Jehovah’s love for us. And when we supplicate Jehovah for his help with a problem, we impress on our heart just how wise he is. Such prayers deepen our respect for Jehovah. And they strengthen our resolve to avoid doing anything that would damage our friendship with him.

8. What can we do to maintain our fear of God?

⁸ We can maintain our fear of God by studying the Bible with the goal of learning from both the good examples and the bad examples that it contains. Let us discuss two faithful servants of Jehovah​—King Ahab’s household steward Obadiah and High Priest Jehoiada. Then we will see what we can learn from King Jehoash of Judah, who started off well but later left Jehovah.

9. How did fear of Jehovah affect Obadiah? (1 Kings 18:3, 12)

⁹ The Bible introduces us to Obadiah b with the words: “Obadiah greatly feared Jehovah.” (Read 1 Kings 18:3, 12.) How did this wholesome fear affect Obadiah? For one thing, it made him honest and trustworthy; hence, the king put him in charge of the royal household. (Compare Nehemiah 7:2.) Obadiah’s godly fear also gave him extraordinary courage​—a quality that he surely needed. He lived during the reign of wicked King Ahab, who “was worse in the eyes of Jehovah than all those [kings] who were prior to him.” (1 Ki. 16:30) Also, Ahab’s Baal-worshipping wife, Jezebel, hated Jehovah so much that she tried to wipe out true worship in the northern kingdom. She even killed many of God’s prophets. (1 Ki. 18:4) Without doubt, Obadiah worshipped Jehovah during a difficult time.

10. How did Obadiah display extraordinary courage?

¹⁰ How did Obadiah display extraordinary courage? When Jezebel began hunting down God’s prophets to put them to death, Obadiah took 100 of them and hid them “by groups of 50 in a cave and kept supplying them bread and water.” (1 Ki. 18:13, 14) If discovered, courageous Obadiah would surely have been executed. Of course, Obadiah was human, and he did not want to die. But Obadiah loved Jehovah and those who served Him more than he loved his own life.

11. How are Jehovah’s modern-day servants like Obadiah? (See also picture.)

¹¹ Today many of Jehovah’s servants live in lands where our work is banned. They show the secular authorities due respect, but like Obadiah, these precious brothers and sisters give to Jehovah what belongs to Him​—exclusive devotion. (Matt. 22:21) They demonstrate their fear of God by obeying him rather than men. (Acts 5:29) They do this by continuing to proclaim the good news and by discreetly meeting together. (Matt. 10:16, 28) They are concerned that their brothers and sisters get much-needed spiritual food. Consider the example of Henri, who lives in an African land where our work was banned for a time. During the ban, Henri volunteered to distribute spiritual food to his fellow Witnesses. He wrote: “I am shy by nature. So I am convinced that it was the deep respect I feel for Jehovah that gave me the courage I needed.” Can you see yourself being as courageous as Henri was? You can be if you develop a healthy fear of God.

12. How did High Priest Jehoiada and his wife show great loyalty to Jehovah?

¹² High Priest Jehoiada feared Jehovah, and that fear moved him to be loyal and to promote true worship. This was evident when Jezebel’s daughter, Athaliah, usurped the throne in Judah. The people had good reason to be afraid of Athaliah. She was ruthless and so greedy for power that she tried to murder the entire royal line​—her own grandsons! (2 Chron. 22:10, 11) One of those children​—Jehoash—​survived because Jehoiada’s wife, Jehoshabeath, rescued him. She and her husband hid the child and took care of him. In this way Jehoiada and Jehoshabeath helped preserve the Davidic line of kings. Jehoiada was loyal to Jehovah and did not tremble in fear of Athaliah.​—Prov. 29:25.

13. When Jehoash was seven years old, how did Jehoiada again display loyalty?

¹³ When Jehoash was seven years old, Jehoiada again proved his loyalty to Jehovah. He formed a plan. If it succeeded, Jehoash would become king, David’s rightful heir. If the plan failed, however, Jehoiada would almost certainly lose his life. With Jehovah’s blessing, the plan succeeded. Jehoiada, supported by the chieftains and the Levites, made Jehoash king and had Athaliah executed. (2 Chron. 23:1-5, 11, 12, 15; 24:1) Jehoiada then “made a covenant between Jehovah and the king and the people, that they would continue as the people of Jehovah.” (2 Ki. 11:17) Jehoiada “also stationed the gatekeepers by the gates of the house of Jehovah, so that no one unclean in any respect could enter.”​—2 Chron. 23:19.

14. In what ways was Jehoiada honored for honoring Jehovah?

¹⁴ Jehovah earlier stated: “Those honoring me I will honor.” Indeed, he rewarded Jehoiada. (1 Sam. 2:30) For example, he had the high priest’s fine deeds recorded for our instruction. (Rom. 15:4) And when Jehoiada died, he was given the exceptional honor of being buried “in the City of David along with the kings, because he had done good in Israel with respect to the true God and His house.”​—2 Chron. 24:15, 16.

15. What can we learn from the account about Jehoiada? (See also picture.)

¹⁵ The account about Jehoiada can help all of us to develop fear of God. Christian overseers can imitate Jehoiada by remaining alert and by loyally protecting God’s flock. (Acts 20:28) Older ones can learn from Jehoiada that when they fear Jehovah and remain loyal, He can use them to accomplish His purpose. He does not set them aside. Young ones can take note of how Jehovah treated Jehoiada and imitate Him by treating loyal older ones with dignity and respect, especially those with a long record of faithful service. (Prov. 16:31) Finally, we can all take a lesson from the chieftains and the Levites who supported Jehoiada. Let us loyally support “those who are taking the lead” by obeying them.​—Heb. 13:17.

16. What shows that King Jehoash was weak?

¹⁶ King Jehoash benefited from the good influence of Jehoiada. (2 Ki. 12:2) As a result, the young king wanted to please Jehovah. But after Jehoiada died, Jehoash listened to apostate princes. The result? He and his subjects “began serving the sacred poles and the idols.” (2 Chron. 24:4, 17, 18) Deeply hurt, Jehovah “kept sending prophets among them to bring them back . . . , but they refused to listen.” They did not even listen to Jehoiada’s son Zechariah, who was not only Jehovah’s prophet and priest but also Jehoash’s cousin. In fact, without any gratitude for the family to whom he owed so much, King Jehoash had Zechariah killed.​—2 Chron. 22:11; 24:19-22.

17. How did things turn out for Jehoash?

¹⁷ Jehoash did not maintain a healthy fear of Jehovah, and things turned out badly for him. Jehovah had stated: “Those despising me will be treated with contempt.” (1 Sam. 2:30) A small Syrian army later defeated Jehoash’s “very large army” and “severely wounded” him. After the Syrians left, Jehoash was assassinated by his own servants for killing Zechariah. That wicked king was not even considered worthy of being buried “in the burial places of the kings.”​—2 Chron. 24:23-25; see “son of Barachiah” study note on Matthew 23:35.

18. According to Jeremiah 17:7, 8, how can we avoid being like Jehoash?

¹⁸ What can we learn from the example of Jehoash? He was like a tree with shallow roots that depended on the support of a stake. When the stake​—Jehoiada—​was gone and the winds of apostasy blew, Jehoash toppled over. This powerfully illustrates that our fear of God must not depend solely on the good influence of fellow Christians, including family members. To remain spiritually strong, we must strengthen our own godly devotion and fear through regular study, meditation, and prayer.​—Read Jeremiah 17:7, 8; Col. 2:6, 7.

19. What does Jehovah ask of us?

¹⁹ Jehovah does not really ask much of us. What he requires is summed up at Ecclesiastes 12:13, which says: “Fear the true God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole obligation of man.” When we fear God, we will be able to face future tests and stand firm like Obadiah and Jehoiada. Nothing will be able to damage our friendship with Jehovah.