Is fear a good thing? On the one hand, the most common command in the Bible is "Don't be afraid!" It occurs 365 times, one for every day of the year. But, on the other hand, the fear of Yahweh is the fundamental principle of all knowledge and wisdom (Proverbs 1:7; 9:10) and the defining characteristic of Jesus' delight (Isaiah 11:1-3). How do we reconcile the concept of fear in the Scriptures with everything our modern culture of fear is telling us about fear as a purely negative reality?