Welcome back everyone!
 
Mysteries stack upon mysteries as the young prince’s journey grows increasingly complex and confusing. Hugh is filled with questions, and his companion’s silence only heightens his worries.
 
His father entrusted him to Sir Malcolm. That much he knows. Yet the courtier’s strange behavior only fuels the boy’s fear. A fear that stems from an absence of something he doesn’t realize he needs—something that all mankind needs. Curious yet?
 
In Proverbs chapters 1-9 there is a series of wisdom lessons given from a noble king to his princely son. These lessons were given to guide the son from being a simple person to a man of wisdom and discernment. These are the same lessons that prince Hugh desperately needs, but he will remain lost until he understands the foundation for these lessons in Proverbs 1:7.
 
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
 
What is the fear of the Lord? Let’s dive in.
 
Everyone is born with the fear of something. A baby cries to be fed. Young children cry when they are frightened in the dark. Fear causes some to build walls of protection and others to fight to protect themselves. Everyone fears something or someone. Dr. Mark Hamby shares a moment in his childhood that I think illustrates this point well:

When I was ten years old there was a bully who daily walked up and down our streets. He was a big teenager who, to me, looked like a giant ogre. He even walked like an ogre! To this day I picture him carrying an ogre club with spikes on it. His wavy black hair, dark complexion, large face and body scared all of us kids. Whenever we saw him coming our way, we ran for the hills!
 
After years of this, something unexpected happened. A tall, muscular older teenager named Ronnie Young, who happened to be my neighbor, called me over to him and said, “Kid, if he ever threatens you, just come and get me, and I’ll take care of him for you.” That’s all I needed to hear! If you were a friend of Ronnie, you had a friend for life. I no longer feared the ogre.
 
I remember one day I was outside my house when the ogre started walking towards me and yelled, “hey punk!” I’ll never forget that moment. He shouted out a threat, and normally I would have run, but not this time. Ronnie Young just happened to be on his front porch. The bully continued to yell out threats. I stood my ground. At this point, the bully was about twenty feet from me, and you could tell that he was amazed I hadn’t started running yet. Then, about five feet from me, he reached out his hands to grab me—UNTIL, he heard Ronnie.

“Hey,” Ronnie yelled out. “Touch that kid and you’ll wish you were never born.” Before I could process what was happening next, Ronnie was standing on his porch steps, his arms crossed. The bully immediately put his arms around my shoulders and said that if I was a friend of Ronnie’s, then he was a friend of mine! From that day forth I never had a problem with the bully, and to this day it reminds me of what it is like to be protected and loved by the God of the universe!!!
 
The fear of the LORD is always more powerful than the fear of man. According to Proverbs 1:7 it is also the beginning of knowledge. To put it another way, the fear of the LORD helps us to understand how much God loves us and how much we should love God. Without this kind of fear, we will live life unprotected and unloved (like how Hugh feels right now). Additionally, we will fear man more than God. Who we fear is dependent on whom we want to please the most—or to whom we are willing to be enslaved. Who we fear will be determined by whether “people are big and God is small, or God is big and people are small.” (My Bully the Ogre by Dr. Mark Hamby)

So, we definitely see that the fear of the LORD is a complex topic! Dr. Hamby shares the following definition for this meaningful phrase: the fear of the LORD is to hate what God hates (Proverbs 8:13) and love what God loves (Proverbs 8:17-21).
 
Now, let’s bring this full circle to our young prince. As we’ve seen already through these short episodes, Hugh couldn't care less about what God loves or hates! His first thought is always for himself. Growing up with the best foods and delicacies, money to spend on whatever suited his fancy, and playmates to flatter and entertain his every whim…the prince easily remained in a cozy, “simple” state.
 
Now, when Hugh is facing the first severe trial of his life, he finds that none of those things hold weight—none can protect. When everything he has ever known is stripped from him, he finds he has nothing to sustain him in this dark night of the soul—he is fearful, as all men would be.
 
“Yesterday’s journey has ended. A new one now begins.”
 
Dame Martha’s words do little to soothe the prince’s anxious thoughts. Yet, exhausted from his journey, and eager to awake from this horrid nightmare, Hugh returns to his bed of corn husks and falls asleep. Yet a sinking feeling from within is starting to tell him that this might not be a nightmare after all…
 
Curious to find out what happens next? Join us next week to see all that is in store for our young prince. I’m so excited!!
 
Molly Mayo
Lamplighter Staff
(And long-term enthusiast of Sir Malcolm and the Missing Prince)