The Litany Project: Litany of the Holy Ghost, Part 5

Spirit of knowledge and piety, have mercy on us.

Knowledge and piety are two more of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. With knowledge, we come to know the truths of our faith. It is the foundation, in a sense, for understanding, counsel, and wisdom. Jesus assures us that the Holy Spirit “will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you” (John 14:26). The Spirit tells us what we need to know and then leads us into a deeper interaction with that knowledge. He is truly the very best teacher.

Piety is a word often misunderstood by modern culture. We might associate piety with images of solemn, dull, overly religious people who never have any fun. But this isn’t piety at all. Piety means loving devotion towards God. It recognizes that God is worthy of all our love and all our worship, and when we are truly pious, we want to give God the love and worship He deserves. Of course, since God is infinite and we’re merely tiny, finite creatures, we’ll never be fully successful. But our sincere striving in itself is pleasing to God.

Spirit of fear of the Lord, have mercy on us.

Fear of the Lord is the final gift of the Holy Spirit and another greatly misunderstood concept. We often associate fear with something negative, something horrible, something we do not want to feel. Yet Proverbs 14:27 tells us, “The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, that one may avoid the snares of death.” Proverbs 9:10 adds, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” Psalm 19:9 even calls the fear of the Lord holy and enduring. 

So this fear is not negative, nor is it simply a gut reaction or instinct. Rather it is something we learn, which makes it a deliberate choice. What is this fear of the Lord, then? First, it is a deep reverence for God. It is a recognition that God is God, omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent.  We stand in awe before the God that our human minds cannot grasp. 

Fear of the Lord also includes a strong disinclination to offend God. We love Him, so we don’t want to sin against him. This may be because of the punishments He justly applies when we sin. If so, we have servile fear, which is not perfect but does give us a start to overcome temptations. Or we may simply fear to offend God because we recognize His goodness and beauty and holiness, and we want to please Him out of love. This is filial fear, and it should be our goal.