The commandment of fearing God: That the fear of God, may He be blessed, should always be on our faces, that we not sin; meaning to say that we fear with a fear of His punishment and that our hearts not be without fear of Him, the whole day. And about this is it stated (Deuteronomy 10:20), “The Lord, your God, you shall fear.” And the proof that this is a positive commandment from the tally of the six hundred and thirteen commandments that we were commanded is that which they said in Sanhedrin 56a by way of the debate about the understanding of “And he who blasphemes the name of the Lord, etc.” (Leviticus 24:16): “I will say [that it is] to express, [like that] which is written (Numbers 1:17), ‘And Moshe and Aharon took these men that are expressed by name’; and its prohibition is from ‘The Lord, your God shall you fear.’” It means to say by way of the debate that maybe we should explain “blaspheme” (nokev), as the expression of [God’s] name, alone, without him “blessing” [it]; and the sin that there would be in this is because he loses the fear — as it is from the fear of God not to mention His name in vain. And they answered there, that one should not say like this, as there are two answers to the thing, “One is that it is necessary that [it involve] the name of God with the name of God, and there is not [this in such a case]” — meaning to say that he must “bless” the Name with the Name, as in, “Yose should strike Yose!” “And also it is a [prohibition] of a positive commandment, and a [prohibition] of a positive commandment [is not called] a prohibition” — meaning to say that the verse of “The Lord, your God shall you fear” is a positive commandment.
The root of the commandment of fearing God, may He be blessed, is revealed to all who see the Sun, as the greatest protection from sin is the fear of His punishment.
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וְדִינֵי הַמִּצְוָה, כְּלוּלִים בִּפְשַׁט הַכָּתוּב [הלכות יסודי התורה פ"ב].
And the laws of the commandment are included [in the simple understanding of the Scripture] (in our searching the Scripture). (See Mishneh Torah, Laws of Foundations of the Torah 2.)
And this commandment is practiced in every place and at all times and by the entire human species. And this is one of the constant commandments upon a person, that the obligation not ever be interrupted from upon a person, even for one instant. And one upon whom the matter of a sin comes to his hand is obligated to arouse his spirit and to place into his heart at that juncture that God, blessed be He, oversees all of the actions of people and [takes] vengeance according to the evil of the deed. And one who transgresses this and does not [apprise] his heart of this at those times has violated this positive commandment; as this is the specific time [for the] fulfillment of this positive commandment. However for a person to stand with alacrity and to remember it during all of his times is included in the commandment [as well].
מִצְוַת יִרְאַת הַשֵּׁם – לִהְיוֹת יִרְאַת הַשֵּׁם יִתְבָּרַךְ עַל פָּנֵינוּ תָּמִיד לְבִלְתִּי נֶחֱטָא. כְּלוֹמַר, שֶׁנִּירָא בְּיִרְאַת עָנְשׁוֹ וְלֹא יִהְיֶה לְבָבֵנוּ בְּלִי מָגוֹר אֵלָיו כָּל הַיּוֹם, וְעַל זֶה נֶאֱמַר (דברים י כ) אֶת יְיָ אֱלֹהֶיךָ תִּירָא. וְהָרְאָיָה, שֶׁזֶּהוּ מִצְוַת עֲשֵׂה אַחַת מֵחֶשְׁבּוֹן תרי"ג מִצְוֹת שֶׁנִּצְטַוִּינוּ מָה שֶׁאָמְרוּ בְּסַנְהֶדְרִין (נו, א), עַל דֶּרֶךְ הַוִּכּוּחַ בְּפֵרוּשׁ וְנוֹקֵב שֵׁם יְיָ וְגוֹ' (ויקרא כד טז) וְאֵימָא פָּרוֹשֵׁי דִּכְתִיב אֲשֶׁר נִקְּבוּ בְּשֵׁמוֹת (במדבר א, יז). וְאַזְהָרָתֵּהּ מִן אֶת יְיָ אֱלֹהֶיךָ תִּירָא, יִרְצֶה לוֹמַר עַל דֶּרֶךְ הַוִּכּוּחַ, כִּי אוּלַי נְפָרֵשׁ וְנֹקֵב בְּהַזְכָּרַת הַשֵּׁם לְבַד מִבְּלִי שֶׁיְּבָרֵךְ, וְהֶעָוֹן שֶׁיִּהְיֶה בָּזֶה לְפִי שֶׁהִפְסִידוֹ הַיִּרְאָה, כִּי מִיִּרְאַת הַשֵּׁם שֶׁלֹּא יִזָּכֵר שְׁמוֹ לְבַטָּלָה, וְהֵשִׁיבוּ שָׁם דְּלֵיכָּא לְמֵימַר הָכִי דִּשְׁתֵּי תְּשׁוּבוֹת בַּדָּבָר חֲדָא דְּבָעֵינָא שֵׁם בְּשֵׁם וְלֵיכָּא, כְּלוֹמַר שֶׁיְּבָרֵךְ הַשֵּׁם בַּשֵּׁם כְּגוֹן יַכֶּה יוֹסֵי אֶת יוֹסֵי, וְעוֹד אַזְהָרַת עֲשֵׂה הוּא, וְכָל אַזְהָרַת עֲשֵׂה לָאו שְׁמָהּ אַזְהָרָה, כְּלוֹמַר דִּקְרָא דְּאֶת יְיָ אֱלֹהֶיךָ תִּירָא מִצְוַת עֲשֵׂה הִיא.
The commandment of fearing God: That the fear of God, may He be blessed, should always be on our faces, that we not sin; meaning to say that we fear with a fear of His punishment and that our hearts not be without fear of Him, the whole day. And about this is it stated (Deuteronomy 10:20), “The Lord, your God, you shall fear.” And the proof that this is a positive commandment from the tally of the six hundred and thirteen commandments that we were commanded is that which they said in Sanhedrin 56a by way of the debate about the understanding of “And he who blasphemes the name of the Lord, etc.” (Leviticus 24:16): “I will say [that it is] to express, [like that] which is written (Numbers 1:17), ‘And Moshe and Aharon took these men that are expressed by name’; and its prohibition is from ‘The Lord, your God shall you fear.’” It means to say by way of the debate that maybe we should explain “blaspheme” (nokev), as the expression of [God’s] name, alone, without him “blessing” [it]; and the sin that there would be in this is because he loses the fear — as it is from the fear of God not to mention His name in vain. And they answered there, that one should not say like this, as there are two answers to the thing, “One is that it is necessary that [it involve] the name of God with the name of God, and there is not [this in such a case]” — meaning to say that he must “bless” the Name with the Name, as in, “Yose should strike Yose!” “And also it is a [prohibition] of a positive commandment, and a [prohibition] of a positive commandment [is not called] a prohibition” — meaning to say that the verse of “The Lord, your God shall you fear” is a positive commandment.
שֹׁרֶשׁ הַמִּצְוָה בְּיִרְאַת הַשֵּׁם יִתְבָּרַךְ נִגְלֶה לְכָל רוֹאֵי הַשֶּׁמֶשׁ, כִּי הַשְּׁמִירָה הַגְּדוֹלָה מִן הַחֵטְא הִיא יִרְאַת עָנְשׁוֹ.
The root of the commandment of fearing God, may He be blessed, is revealed to all who see the Sun, as the greatest protection from sin is the fear of His punishment.
וְדִינֵי הַמִּצְוָה, כְּלוּלִים בִּפְשַׁט הַכָּתוּב [הלכות יסודי התורה פ"ב].
And the laws of the commandment are included [in the simple understanding of the Scripture] (in our searching the Scripture). (See Mishneh Torah, Laws of Foundations of the Torah 2.)
וְנוֹהֶגֶת מִצְוָה זוֹ בְּכָל מָקוֹם וּבְכָל זְמַן וּבְכָל מִין הָאָדָם, וְזֹאת אַחַת מִן הַמִּצְוֹת הַתְּמִידִיּוֹת עַל הָאָדָם, שֶׁלֹּא יִפָּסֵק חִיּוּבָן מֵעַל הָאָדָם לְעוֹלָם, אֲפִלּוּ רֶגַע אֶחָד, וּמִי שֶׁבָּא דְּבַר עֲבֵרָה לְיָדוֹ חַיָּב לְהָעִיר רוּחוֹ וְלָתֵת אֶל לִבּוֹ בְּאוֹתוֹ הַפֶּרֶק, שֶׁהַשֵּׁם בָּרוּךְ הוּא מַשְׁגִּיחַ בְּכָל מַעֲשֵׂה בְּנֵי אָדָם, וְיָשִׁיב לָהֶם נָקָם כְּפִי רֹעַ הַמַּעֲשֶׂה. וְהָעוֹבֵר עַל זֶה וְלֹא שָׁת לִבּוֹ בְּכָךְ בְּאוֹתָן שָׁעוֹת בִּטֵּל עֲשֵׂה זֶה, שֶׁזּוֹ הִיא שְׁעַת קִיּוּם עֲשֵׂה זֶה בְּכִוּוּן. וְאוּלָם כָּל יְמֵי הָאָדָם וְכָל עִתּוֹתָיו בִּכְלַל הַמִּצְוָה לַעֲמֹד זָרִיז וְנִזְכָּר עָלֶיהָ.
And this commandment is practiced in every place and at all times and by the entire human species. And this is one of the constant commandments upon a person, that the obligation not ever be interrupted from upon a person, even for one instant. And one upon whom the matter of a sin comes to his hand is obligated to arouse his spirit and to place into his heart at that juncture that God, blessed be He, oversees all of the actions of people and [takes] vengeance according to the evil of the deed. And one who transgresses this and does not [apprise] his heart of this at those times has violated this positive commandment; as this is the specific time [for the] fulfillment of this positive commandment. However for a person to stand with alacrity and to remember it during all of his times is included in the commandment [as well].