“In the fear of the LORD is strong confidence: and his children shall have a place of refuge.”
My Notes
What Does Proverbs 14:26 Mean?
"In the fear of the LORD is strong confidence: and his children shall have a place of refuge." Solomon ties together two things that seem contradictory: fear and confidence. But in God's economy, they aren't in tension. They're cause and effect.
"The fear of the LORD" — the foundational concept of Proverbs (1:7), meaning reverent awe, the recognition that God is God and you are not. It's not terror. It's the appropriate posture of a creature before its Creator — deeply respectful, humbly aware of the infinite gap between you and Him.
"Strong confidence" (mibtach oz) — literally, a fortress of trust. The person who fears God doesn't cower. They stand in strong confidence. Because when you've rightly oriented yourself before the most powerful being in existence — and discovered that He is for you — what else is there to fear? The fear of God eliminates every lesser fear. It doesn't make you timid. It makes you unshakeable.
"His children shall have a place of refuge" — the blessing extends generationally. The person who fears God creates shelter for their children. Not just spiritual shelter — actual safety, stability, a home where kids can grow up protected. The fear of the LORD in one generation becomes a refuge for the next.
Reflection Questions
- 1.Where does your confidence currently come from — your own ability, denial, or the fear of God? How can you tell the difference?
- 2.How has fearing God reduced other fears in your life? Is there a specific fear that shrunk when God got bigger?
- 3.Solomon says your fear of God creates refuge for your children. What kind of shelter are you building for the people who come after you?
- 4.What's the difference between being afraid of God and fearing the LORD? How does the distinction change the way you relate to Him?
Devotional
The world offers two versions of confidence: the kind built on your own ability, and the kind built on denying that anything is scary. Both are fragile. Solomon offers a third: confidence rooted in the fear of God.
This sounds paradoxical until you live it. When you genuinely fear the LORD — when you've internalized that He is sovereign, good, and powerful — the things that used to terrify you shrink. Not because they aren't real, but because you've stood before Someone bigger. The job loss, the diagnosis, the relational crisis — they're still serious. But they're no longer the biggest thing in the room. God is.
That's where strong confidence comes from. Not from convincing yourself everything will be fine. From knowing who's in charge when it's not fine. The person who fears God can walk into an uncertain situation with a steadiness that doesn't come from information or control. It comes from orientation. They know who they're standing before. And that's enough.
And then the legacy: "his children shall have a place of refuge." Your fear of God doesn't just stabilize you. It creates a safe place for the people who come after you. Your kids, your spiritual children, the people you influence — they inherit the shelter of your reverence. A parent who fears God builds walls of refuge that their children live inside, often without knowing it. The strongest thing you can give the next generation isn't money or opportunity. It's the stability that comes from a life oriented around the fear of the LORD.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
In the fear of the Lord is strong confidence,.... Such who fear the Lord may be confident that he has a love to them, a…
His children - Probably, the children whom the Lord adopts, and who are true to their adoption.
In these two verses we are invited and encouraged to live in the fear of God by the advantages which attend a religious…
his i.e. the Lord's. Ewald and others render, to his children(who feareth Jehovah) he(Jehovah) will be &c. Comp. R.V.…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture