What does the Bible say about fear (and how to overcome it)?

Fear is a human experience as old as sin.

In Genesis 3:10, after Adam and Eve sinned against God in the Garden of Eden, Adam says to God, “I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself” (NASB1995).

And men, women, and children today still face that age-old struggle.

We know (or someone in our life knows) what it’s like to be paralyzed by anxiety. To be unable to sleep at night. To want to run and hide.

So what can you do when fear takes hold of you? How should you understand the concept of fear?

There’s one source where you can find the answers: God’s Word.

Let’s take a look and discover Scripture’s answers to the question, “What does the Bible say about fear—and how to overcome it?”

Scriptures about fear, anxiety, and worry

Fear is a common theme in the Bible.

In fact, the word “fear” and related words such as “afraid,” “worried,” and “anxious” are used over 580 times!

Below are some of the most popular scriptures about fear.

As you go through the passages below, make sure to think “inductively”—asking questions of the text to make sure you’re understanding the verses in the context of what the author is actually saying. For example, you can ask questions such as:

Who is writing?
Who is the author’s original audience?
What is the author’s main point?
Where and when is the passage taking place?
Why is the author saying what he is saying?
How was what the author said meant to be applied in its original context?

This inductive approach will help you discover the truths that the Bible is teaching about fear.

What does the Bible say about fear and anxiety?

“Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs it down, but a good word makes it glad.” —Proverbs 12:25
“The fear of man brings a snare, but he who trusts in the Lord will be exalted.” —Proverbs 29:25
“The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?” —Psalm 27:1
“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” —Philippians 4:6-7
“Casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.” —1 Peter 5:7
“Do not fear, for I am with you; do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.” —Isaiah 41:10
“For I confess my iniquity; I am full of anxiety because of my sin.” —Psalm 38:18
“When my anxious thoughts multiply within me, Your consolations delight my soul.” —Psalm 94:19
“When I am afraid, I will put my trust in You. In God, whose word I praise, in God I have put my trust; I shall not be afraid. What can mere man do to me?” —Psalm 56:3-4
“When I saw their fear, I rose and spoke to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people: ‘Do not be afraid of them; remember the Lord who is great and awesome.’” —Nehemiah 4:14
“Then David said to his son Solomon, ‘Be strong and courageous, and act; do not fear nor be dismayed, for the Lord God, my God, is with you.’” —1 Chronicles 28:20
“The Lord is for me; I will not fear; what can man do to me?” —Psalm 118:6
“Therefore do not fear them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known.” —Matthew 10:26
“Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord, and you have become her children if you do what is right without being frightened by any fear.” —1 Peter 3:6
“And great fear came over the whole church, and over all who heard of these things.” —Acts 5:11
“For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same; for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil.” —Romans 13:3-4
“For even when we came into Macedonia our flesh had no rest, but we were afflicted on every side: conflicts without, fears within.” —2 Corinthians 7:5
“I fear for you, that perhaps I have labored over you in vain.” —Galatians 4:11
“Therefore, let us fear if, while a promise remains of entering His rest, any one of you may seem to have come short of it.” —Hebrews 4:1
“Those who continue in sin, rebuke in the presence of all, so that the rest also will be fearful of sinning.” —1 Timothy 5:20
“Most of the brethren, trusting in the Lord because of my imprisonment, have far more courage to speak the word of God without fear.” —Philippians 1:14
“Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.” —John 14:27

What does the Bible say about fear of death?

“By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love.” —1 John 4:17-18
“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.” —Psalm 23:4
“For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, ‘Abba! Father!’” —Romans 8:15
“I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that have no more that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear the One who, after He has killed, has authority to cast into hell; yes, I tell you, fear Him!” —Luke 12:4-5
“Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison, so that you will be tested, and you will have tribulation for ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.” —Revelation 2:10

What is the “don’t worry about tomorrow” Scripture?

There are two familiar passages of Scripture that people often quote when they say, “Don’t worry about tomorrow.”

These passages record some of the teachings of Jesus Himself about the concept of fear. (While the teachings in these passages are similar to each other, they appear to have been given by Jesus at separate occasions.)

Let’s explore both of them, keeping in mind the inductive approach of looking closely at the details of what the text says.

Matthew 6:25-34:
25 For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?
26 Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?
27 And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life?
28 And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin,
29 yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these.
30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith!
31 Do not worry then, saying, “What will we eat?” or “What will we drink?” or “What will we wear for clothing?”
32 For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.
33 But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
34 So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Luke 12:22-32:
22 For this reason I say to you, do not worry about your life, as to what you will eat; nor for your body, as to what you will put on.
23 For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing.
24 Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap; they have no storeroom nor barn, and yet God feeds them; how much more valuable you are than the birds!
25 And which of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life’s span?
26 If then you cannot do even a very little thing, why do you worry about other matters?
27 Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; but I tell you, not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these.
28 But if God so clothes the grass in the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, how much more will He clothe you? You men of little faith!
29 And do not seek what you will eat and what you will drink, and do not keep worrying.
30 For all these things the nations of the world eagerly seek; but your Father knows that you need these things.
31 But seek His kingdom, and these things will be added to you.
32 Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom.

What does the Bible say about fearing God and the fear of the Lord?

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” —Proverbs 9:10
“Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and turn away from evil.” —Proverbs 3:7
“The Lord said to Satan, ‘Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil.’” —Job 1:8
“When Israel saw the great power which the Lord had used against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord, and they believed in the Lord and in His servant Moses.” —Exodus 14:31
“Now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require from you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, to keep the Lord’s commandments and His statutes which I am commanding you today for your good?” —Deuteronomy 10:12-13
“At the beginning of their living there, they did not fear the Lord; therefore the Lord sent lions among them which killed some of them.” —2 Kings 17:25
“I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that have no more that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear the One who, after He has killed, has authority to cast into hell; yes, I tell you, fear Him!” —Luke 12:4-5
“For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; He also is to be feared above all gods.” —1 Chronicles 16:25
“Transgression speaks to the ungodly within his heart; there is no fear of God before his eyes.” —Psalm 36:1
“Just as a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him.” —Psalm 103:13
“Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised.” —Proverbs 31:30
“It is the Lord of hosts whom you should regard as holy. And He shall be your fear, and He shall be your dread.” —Isaiah 8:13
“So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria enjoyed peace, being built up; and going on in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it continued to increase.” —Acts 8:31
“Slaves, in all things obey those who are your masters on earth, not with external service, as those who merely please men, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord.” —Colossians 3:22
“Fear God, and give Him glory, because the hour of His judgment has come; worship Him who made the heaven and the earth and sea and springs of waters.” —Revelation 14:7
“The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.” —Ecclesiastes 12:13-14

Let’s dig deeper into what the Bible says about fear, anxiety, and worry

While having a list of Scripture passages like those above can be helpful, it can also be misleading.

Why? Because the Bible is not a collection of verses. Rather, the Bible is a library of books, with each book having its own points that the author is trying to make.

The “verse” format is helpful for reference, but each verse is only a fragment of the authors’ complete thoughts. So each verse must be examined in context in order to understand what the author is intending to communicate.

This is why studying the Bible for yourself is so important. When you dig in into God’s Word to see what it says and means, you can apply it to your life—including what it says about fear and how to deal with it.

Approaching Scripture inductively involves careful observation by asking the text “who, what, when, where, why, and how” questions to help get to the bottom of what the author is saying.

So let’s dig into that inductive process a bit and see what we can observe regarding what the Bible says about fear. (Although we can’t do a detailed study in the limited space of this blog, we can scratch the surface a little to see what patterns we can uncover.)

What is negative fear and anxiety?

One thing that we can observe from the Scripture passages listed above is that not all fear is bad.

On the one hand, the Bible says, “Be anxious for nothing” (Philippians 4:6). On the other hand, fearing the Lord is clearly presented as good throughout Scripture. And other forms of fear seem positive as well (such as Paul’s fearing for the Galatians’ salvation in Galatians 4:11 or Paul’s desire for people to have a fear of sinning in 1 Timothy 5:20).

So what types of fear appear to be negative? Some major themes that we can observe are that the following are fears to avoid:

Fear of man (for example, Prov. 29:25; Luke 12:4-5)
Fear of not having your needs met (for example, Matt. 6:25-34; Luke 1:22-32)
Fear of suffering (for example, Ps. 118:6; Rev. 2:10)
Anxiety that weighs a heart down or hinders peace (for example, Prov. 12:25; Phil. 4:6-7)

These are the kinds of fears and anxieties we should be on guard against.

Why are believers able to live without fear?

Why is it that believers in Christ don’t need to live in fear?

The passages above give us several reasons that we can observe, based on who God is and what God does:

God is our light and salvation (Ps. 27:1)
God gives peace that guards our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Phil. 4:6-7)
God cares for us (1 Pet. 5:7)
God has the power to strengthen and uphold people with His righteous right hand (Is. 41:1)
God gives consolations that delight the soul (Ps. 94:19)
God is someone in whom we can put our trust (Ps. 56:3-4)
God is great and awesome (Neh. 4:14)
God is with us (1 Chron. 28:20)
God is for us (Ps. 118:6)
God will reveal what is concealed and will make hidden things known (Matt. 10:26)
God takes care of the birds and flowers and views us as worth much more than they (Matt. 6:25-34; Luke 1:22-32)

These truths about God lay the foundation for why we as believers in Christ don’t have to give in to fear.

How does God say people should deal with negative fear?

We don’t have to wonder what God’s solutions to negative fear are. He has been gracious enough to tell us in His Word!

As we can observe from the above Scripture passages, some of those solutions are as follows:

Trusting in the Lord (Prov. 29:25; Ps. 56:3-4; Phil. 1:14)
Letting your requests be made known to God by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving (Phil. 4:6-7)
Confessing iniquity or sin (Ps. 38:18)
Remembering the Lord (Neh. 4:14)
Doing what is right (1 Pet. 3:6; Rom. 13:3-4)
Seeking first His kingdom and righteousness (Matt. 6:33; Luke 12:31)

These are some of the solutions we can pursue by the power of the Holy Spirit to help overcome fear in our lives.

What is the fear of the Lord?

As mentioned previously, in addition to negative fear, there is a major form of healthy fear as described in the Bible: the fear of the Lord.

So what exactly is the fear of Lord?

Let’s observe some points from the passages listed above:

It is the beginning of wisdom (Prov. 9:10)
It is related to knowing God (Prov. 9:10)
It involves turning away from evil (Job 1:8; Prov. 3:7)
It is a response to seeing God’s great power (Ex. 14:31)
It goes along with walking with God, loving Him, serving Him, and keeping His commandments (Deut. 10:12-13)
It can bring about negative consequences if someone doesn’t have it (2 Kings 17:25)
It comes from a recognition that God can both kill the body and cast the soul into hell (Luke 12:4-5)
It comes from a recognition that God is great (1 Chron. 16:25)
It is not a trait of the ungodly (Ps. 36:1)
It brings about God’s compassion (Ps. 103:13)
It brings about praise upon the one who has it, unlike vain pursuits such as charm and beauty (Prov. 31:30)
It is a response to understanding the holiness of the God of hosts (Is. 8:13)
It goes along with peace and the comfort of the Holy Spirit (Acts 8:31)
It goes along with serving masters on earth faithfully (Col. 3:22)
It is a response to acknowledging God’s coming judgment and His power as Creator (Rev. 14:7)
It applies to every person and accompanies an understanding that God will bring every act to judgment (Eccles. 12:13-14)

Of course, these observations don’t answer all of our questions about the fear of the Lord. But they clearly show that fearing God is an important, complex, and multifaceted concept!

How can you deal with fear in your own life?

The Bible does not leave us in the dark when it comes to the topic of fear—including not only the negative aspects but the positives as well!

The best way to deal with negative fear in your own life is to look at what the Creator of life says about it. His Holy Spirit can give you the power to overcome it and to instead pursue the fear of the Lord.

If you want some help with digging into what Scripture says about fear, check out our study Breaking Free from Fear. It’s a simple dive into what Scripture says about how to break free from negative fear and live in the fear of the Lord instead.

Go ahead and get your copy of Breaking Free from Fear now!