Proverbs 29:25: The Fear of Man Is a Snare

Introduction

"The fear of man proves to be a snare, but whoever puts his trust in Yahweh is kept safe." Mike Wyatt preaches on this verse, Proverbs 29:25, during the evening service of South West Baptist Church in Adelaide, Australia. He even has the congregation repeat the verse together, with one voice.

The word translated "snare" refers to a trap. For the preacher, the fear of man is one of the greatest fears that believers, and in fact all human beings, have to wrestle with. But the believer has the ability to overcome it.

The message follows a simple path: what this snare does in our lives, five biblical examples of people who fell into it, then two examples of people who overcame it.

Outline of the message

1. A snare that makes people big and God small

The fear of man first shows up as the pressure of other people, the kind that drags us down the wrong paths.
It is also an unhealthy concern for what others think of you: drawing your worth and approval from fallible, fragile human beings, instead of from God, the only one who knows everything and is never wrong.
Finally, it is a feeling of insecurity: in a delicate situation, we immediately try to get out of it through manipulation, deception or lies, instead of trusting in the Lord.
At the root is pride. Mike Wyatt gets a smile from the congregation: in English, the middle letter of pride is "I". Isaiah 14 shows how pride turned the most eminent of the angels of heaven, Lucifer, into Satan.
"Pride and the fear of man make us see people as big and God as small."
This fear seals our lips. We have an extraordinary piece of good news: Jesus Christ, the perfect, sinless Son of God, paid for our sin on the cross. And yet, when it comes to sharing it, we often give in. "Guilty. I am guilty. I have done it before."
It also opens the door to temptation and paralyzes God's work when we do not speak up for the Lord as we should.

2. Abram: deception

In Genesis 12:11-20, Abram arrives in Egypt and asks Sarai to say she is his sister, for fear that the Egyptians will kill him in order to take her. Sarai is taken into Pharaoh's house.
The LORD strikes Pharaoh with great plagues, and it is an unbeliever who rebukes the father of faith: "What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife?"
A half-truth is the same as a lie. In Genesis 26, Isaac, his son, gives in to the same fear and lies about Rebekah. A web of deception is spun in the family.
If Abram and Isaac had told the truth, would God have delivered them? "Of course." But God protected them anyway: that is his grace. We sometimes fail, and God blesses us all the same.
God sees that Abram believed his word and his promises, and he credits it to him as righteousness. "That is the Gospel, right there." When we trust in Christ, God credits us with a perfect righteousness, 100 percent, "an accounting term," and our sin is credited to Jesus on the cross. An exchange takes place.

3. Nicodemus: cowardice

Nicodemus, a Pharisee and a ruler of the Jews, comes to Jesus by night (John 3:1-3). He was respected, he believed in God at least intellectually, but he had not been born again.
Why by night? Because he feared what his colleagues would think. He loved his position, his influence, his wealth and his authority, and did not want to risk losing them.
John 12:42 sheds light on this choice: many of the rulers believed in Jesus, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess it, for fear of being put out of the synagogue.
"Courage dies when we do not trust the Lord."
Yet at the crucifixion, Nicodemus is one of those who take Jesus down from the cross and see to his burial. He steps out of the shadows and declares his faith. "Failure does not have to be final, with the Lord."

4. Aaron and Saul: compromise and disobedience

In Exodus 32, Moses has been on the mountain for forty days and forty nights to receive the law, written by the finger of God. The preacher reminds us that this law is also written on our conscience, that "independent judge" in the courtroom of our mind: guilt is God telling us that we need his forgiveness.
The people say in essence: "He is not coming back." Under pressure, Aaron makes a god that can be seen. He knew it was wrong, but he followed the people.
Even today, man wants a god made to his own measure. Yet God presents himself fully in his Word: he is love, but also holy, just, all-knowing and almighty. Faced with the attitude "let's not worry about doctrine, let's just love each other," Mike Wyatt answers: "Love and truth must go together."
In 1 Samuel 15, Saul obeys only in part: he spares the best of the livestock and King Agag. In verse 24, he confesses: "I have sinned [...] I feared the people."
Samuel answers: "To obey is better than sacrifice" (verses 22-23). This disobedience costs Saul the kingdom, and David is prepared to succeed him.
Most of the time, God remembers that we are dust and gives us another chance. Here, that was not the case. "It is for God to judge perfectly. We cannot judge that."

5. Peter: the denial

Peter is one of the preacher's favorite characters: "There is so much in Peter that we can identify with."
In Matthew 26:69-75, as Jesus is led away, one servant girl, then another, then those standing there recognize him. His Galilean accent gives him away. Three times he denies knowing Jesus, the last time with curses and oaths.
Shortly before, though, he had said he was ready to die with his Lord. "Put yourself in Peter's place." Terrified for his life, he forgets Jesus' prophecy and gives in. Then the rooster crows, and he weeps bitterly.
The text does not say what words he used, and Mike Wyatt is glad of it: there are words Christians should not use. We are new creations in Christ.
"But for Peter, praise God, the failure was not final."

6. Daniel: the window left open

First positive example, Daniel 6. Under Darius, Daniel is raised above the administrators and the satraps because an excellent spirit is in him. His colleagues cannot stand it: "He is only a Jewish captive. What is he doing, promoted ahead of us?"
They look for grounds to accuse him and find nothing, because he is faithful. So they obtain a decree from the king: for thirty days, anyone who prays to anyone other than the king will be thrown into the lions' den.
Daniel knows it. He goes home and, with his windows open toward Jerusalem, he prays three times a day as he had done before.
He could have told himself: "If I simply close the windows, I will still pray, and God will hear me just as well." But he knew he would then be giving in to the fear of man. He chose to trust in the Lord.
He probably remembered Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, whom God had kept in the furnace. God sends his angel to protect Daniel, but "we would never have had this story if Daniel had closed his shutters."
The preacher also mentions a current law in Australia, which he regards as a veiled attack on freedom of speech, and calls for prayer about it.
Psalm 56 sums up Daniel's attitude: "When I am afraid, I will put my trust in you [...] I will not be afraid. What can flesh do to me?"

7. Peter restored, and the first step toward victory

Second positive example: Peter, in John 21. The risen Lord asks him three times: "Do you love me?" Peter, grieved, answers: "Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you." Jesus says to him: "Feed my sheep."
Jesus then announces by what kind of death Peter will glorify God, and says to him: "Follow me." Peter followed him for the rest of his days. On the day of Pentecost, he proclaims the Gospel with confidence, and 3,000 people are saved.
Mike Wyatt reads a text about the tradition that Peter was crucified upside down, and about the twentieth-century excavations beneath St. Peter's Basilica. He draws a remark from it: in the past, unbelieving archaeologists dug to prove the Bible false, "now they read the Bible to know where to dig."
What turned a coward into a courageous witness? "It was the encounter with the living, risen Christ." That is also what saves our souls. Human religion says to pull yourself up; God, for his part, provides the remedy in Christ, who died for us while we were still sinners.
"We have all failed. We will probably fail again. But do not give up: God still wants to use you."
First step: if God convinces you that you fear people, acknowledge it and be honest with him. "Grace runs to the one who is humble."
Then, turn upward. The stronghold of the fear of man does not fall by human willpower. Remember this equation: "Faith is trusting rather than striving."
"Stop fearing man, start fearing God." The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom. The preacher quotes John Witherspoon: "Only the fear of God can deliver us from the fear of man," and Jesus' words in Matthew 10:28.
He concludes with 2 Corinthians 10:3-5: our weapons are not fleshly, but mighty before God for the tearing down of strongholds. The fear of man is one of them, and it must be torn down with the Lord's help.

Key takeaways

The fear of man is a snare: it makes people look big and God small, and it takes root in pride.
It leads to deception, cowardice, compromise, disobedience and denial, even in believers like Abram or Peter.
In the Bible, failure is not necessarily final: Nicodemus and Peter were restored.
Daniel shows that you can stay faithful under pressure by trusting in the Lord, with the windows open.
Victory begins with humility and trust in God: ceasing to fear man in order to fear God.

Personal application

In what recent situation did you seek the approval of others more than that of God?
Is there an area where the fear of man seals your lips when it comes to talking about Jesus?
When you feel insecure, do you first try to manipulate the situation or to trust in the Lord?
Which "window" would you be tempted to close to avoid other people's eyes on your faith?
Are you ready to acknowledge honestly before God that you fear people, and to ask for his help?

Verses cited

Frequently asked questions

What does "the fear of man is a snare" mean?

Mike Wyatt explains that the word translated snare refers to a trap. The fear of man is the pressure of other people, the unhealthy concern for what they think of you, and the insecurity that pushes you to manipulate or lie instead of trusting in God. It makes people look big and God look small.

Which biblical figures gave in to the fear of man?

The preacher singles out five: Abram, who passes Sarai off as his sister (deception); Nicodemus, who comes to see Jesus by night (cowardice); Aaron, who makes the golden calf (compromise); Saul, who admits he feared the people (disobedience); and Peter, who denies Jesus three times (denial).

How can you overcome the fear of man?

Mike Wyatt first suggests acknowledging this fear before God with humility, then turning to him: this stronghold does not fall by human willpower. Faith, he says, is trusting rather than striving. It means ceasing to fear man in order to begin fearing God, like Daniel who left his window open.