Office Of Readings | Thursday, Lent Week 2 | From The Commentary Of Saint Hilary On The Psalms

Office Of Readings | Thursday, Lent Week 2 | Commentary Of Saint Hilary On The Psalms

‘Concerning the true fear of the Lord.’

Saint Hilary of Poitiers

Saint Hilary of Poitiers (c. 310–367) was a bishop, theologian, and one of the most significant defenders of Nicene orthodoxy in the West during the Arian controversy. His works were instrumental in articulating a Trinitarian theology that aligned with the Council of Nicaea.

Saint Hilary’s commentary on Psalm 128 explores the meaning of the fear of the Lord, distinguishing it from common human fear. Unlike the instinctive dread that arises from danger or suffering, the fear of the Lord is something to be learned, cultivated through wisdom, obedience, and love. Saint Hilary emphasizes that Scripture does not present fear as an isolated virtue but as part of a broader journey that involves seeking wisdom, following God’s commandments, and ultimately arriving at a love that perfects fear. The fear of God, therefore, is not servile terror but a reverent disposition that shapes the believer’s entire way of life.

His reading of the Psalm is deeply Christological. Throughout his works, Saint Hilary interprets the Psalms as prefiguring Christ, and here he subtly connects the idea of walking in God’s ways to Christ’s own claim: I am the way, the truth, and the life. The many ways of the Lord—revealed in the Law, the Prophets, the Gospel, and the teachings of the Apostles—ultimately converge in Christ, through whom the believer finds the path to eternal life. By learning the fear of the Lord, one is not simply following rules but walking a path that leads to deeper communion with God.

Saint Hilary also highlights the transformative role of grace in shaping this reverence. In the Old Testament, the fear of God was linked to obedience to the Law, but in the New Covenant, it is perfected in love. The believer no longer fears as a slave but as a son or daughter, responding to God’s holiness with awe and devotion rather than mere dread of punishment. This echoes Saint Paul’s teaching that you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received a spirit of adoption. Saint Hilary’s interpretation suggests that the fear of the Lord is not diminished in the New Covenant but elevated, taking on the form of a loving and trusting relationship with God.

This passage also reflects Saint Hilary’s broader theological concerns, particularly his opposition to Arianism. The Arians viewed Christ as a created being, subordinate to the Father, whereas Saint Hilary defended Christ’s full divinity. His emphasis on wisdom and divine instruction subtly reinforces the idea that true understanding of God comes through Christ, the eternal Word. The fear of the Lord in this context is not just ethical but doctrinal: to walk in God’s ways means to remain faithful to the true teaching about Christ.

For Saint Hilary, the journey toward fearing the Lord is also a journey toward wisdom, obedience, and ultimately love. The one who truly fears God does not live in anxiety but in blessedness, walking in the ways that lead to life.

From The Commentary Of Saint Hilary On The Psalms

Blessed are those who fear the Lord, who walk in his ways. Notice that when Scripture speaks of the fear of the Lord it does not leave the phrase in isolation, as if it were a complete summary of faith. No, many things are added to it, or are presupposed by it. From these we may learn its meaning and excellence. In the book of Proverbs Solomon tells us: If you cry out for wisdom and raise your voice for understanding, if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord. We see here the difficult journey we must undertake before we can arrive at the fear of the Lord.

We must begin by crying out for wisdom. We must hand over to our intellect the duty of making every decision. We must look for wisdom and search for it. Then we must understand the fear of the Lord.

‘Fear’ is not to be taken in the sense that common usage gives it. Fear in this ordinary sense is the trepidation our weak humanity feels when it is afraid of suffering something it does not want to happen. We are afraid, or made afraid, because of a guilty conscience, the rights of someone more powerful, an attack from one who is stronger, sickness, encountering a wild beast, suffering evil in any form. This kind of fear is not taught: it happens because we are weak. We do not have to learn what we should fear: objects of fear bring their own terror with them.

But of the fear of the Lord this is what is written: Come, my children, listen to me, I shall teach you the fear of the Lord. The fear of the Lord has then to be learned because it can be taught. It does not lie in terror, but in something that can be taught. It does not arise from the fearfulness of our nature; it has to be acquired by obedience to the commandments, by holiness of life and by knowledge of the truth.

For us the fear of God consists wholly in love, and perfect love of God brings our fear of him to its perfection. Our love for God is entrusted with its own responsibility: to observe his counsels, to obey his laws, to trust his promises. Let us hear what Scripture says: And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you except to fear the Lord your God and walk in his ways and love him and keep his commandments with your whole heart and your whole soul, so that it may be well for you?

The ways of the Lord are many, though he is himself the way. When he speaks of himself he calls himself the way and shows us the reason why he called himself the way: No one can come to the Father except through me.

We must ask for these many ways, we must travel along these many ways, to find the one that is good. That is, we shall find the one way of eternal life through the guidance of many teachers. These ways are found in the law, in the prophets, in the gospels, in the writings of the apostles, in the different good works by which we fulfil the commandments. Blessed are those who walk these ways in the fear of the Lord.