Why Does Jesus Delight in the Fear of the Lord?

"The Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.  And He will delight in the fear of the Lord."  Isaiah 11:2-3

The study of Isaiah has convinced me that I don't understand the fear of the Lord and that I probably lack the fear of the Lord.  I'd be ok with that and go on my merry way, except for this prophecy of Christ in chapter 11.  If Christ not only had the spirit of the fear of the Lord but DELIGHTED in the fear of the Lord, then I'd best take it seriously!

To help my understanding I often turn to Strong’s Concordance (I have an app and it’s the best $5 I ever spent!)  First I discover that in the King James no delight is mentioned; instead the phrase is translated, “of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord.” 

Next I look to the Hebrew word.  In this case, I’m more confused than ever!!  The word is ‘ruwach,’ and it means to blow/breath, literally to smell, by implication to perceive, figuratively to anticipate, enjoy.  It’s usually translated accept, smell, or make of quick understanding, but a quick scan of the places where it’s used shows that it is most commonly translated ‘smell', as in the smell of battle, the smell of raiment (the way Isaac recognized Jacob), and the smell of incense or perfume before the Lord. 

Or here is another use:  "And as for the perfume which you shall make, you shall not make to yourselves according to the composition thereof: it shall be unto thee holy for the Lord.  Whosoever shall make like unto that, to smell thereto, shall even be cut off from his people.” Exodus 30:37-38

This is a perfume, a recipe given by the Lord, to be put in the tabernacle and will be holy.  “Whoever shall make any like it, to use as perfume, shall be cut off from his people.” “Whoever copies it for personal use will be excommunicated.” 

How in the WORLD does this word for smell get translated ONE time to ‘of quick understanding’ followed by ‘of the fear of the Lord’? And where do smell, quick understanding and delight connect? I need more help, so I look at the phrase in several versions.

“Fear-of-God will be all his joy and delight.”

“And shall make Him of quick understanding, and His delight shall be in the reverential and obedient fear of the Lord.” 

John Walvoord's Bible Knowledge Commentary “To fear God is to respond to Him in awe, trust, obedience and worship.”

Matthew Henry's Commentary on Isaiah: "The believing fear of God is a special preservative against the disquieting fear of man. We must look upon God as the Lord of hosts that has all power in his hand and all creatures at his beck. We must sanctify him accordingly, give him the glory due to that name, and behave towards him as those that believe him to be a holy God. We must make him our fear, the object of our fear, and make him our dread, keep up a reverence of his providence and stand in awe of his sovereignty, be afraid of his displeasure and silently acquiesce in all his disposals. Were we but duly affected with the greatness and glory of God, we should see the pomp of our enemies eclipsed and clouded, and all their power restrained and under check. Those that are afraid of the reproach of men forget the Lord their Maker.”

Do I feel like I understand any better?  Let me give it a whirl.  God is holy and as such He is set apart from us.  God asks for our trust, our obedience, our reverence, and our worship.  In Old Testament times, He gave His people specific instructions for how to worship, including this special perfume that was to be carefully crafted and used ONLY for worship, before the testimony, in the tent of meeting, where God promised to meet with man. (Ex 30:34-36) God gave them instructions to define a heart attitude: "Some things are reserved just for Me because I am different than everything else."  Approach a holy God with a heart that acknowledges the difference, that acknowledges the set-apart-ness.  With a breath He could destroy us. Instead He seeks us, invites us, redeems us.

Delight comes from understanding that I owe Him everything, and I deserve nothing.  Fear of the Lord is the wonder, awe-inspiring comprehension of all God can do, all He could do, all He does do and all He restrains Himself from doing.