27. The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death.
How glowing is this Divine principle! refreshing like the springs of Canaan;† full of life;† temporal,† spiritual,† eternal.† It is the influence of the heavenly Comforter, as a fountain “springing up into everlasting life.” (John 4:14.) Its preserving tendency is invaluable. It is always connected with the fear of sin (Chapter 3:7; 16:6), as grieving our most beloved friend, and separating from our only happiness; while it keeps us from the snares of death (Ecclesiastes 7:26), “the end and wages of sin.” (Romans 6:23.) How complete then is its application! Not only is it a refuge from danger, but a fountain of life. Not only does Christian confidence open a cover from the guilt, but its holy influence roots out the power, of sin. For among the countless throng of the redeemed not one finds a cover from condemnation, who is not renovated unto spiritual life. Thus does this invaluable grace flow with the full streams of gospel blessing. How much of that worldliness that soils our profession, and of the restraint that contracts our spiritual joy, may be traced to the sparing or defective application of this Christian principle!
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