So "fear God" is a request?
Hey Ducky. I think it depends on how you define 'fear'. I know you have disagreed with Aspen on this, but truly, I have not heard a single teacher imply that this 'fear' we should have of God, is terror. We are told elsewhere to love God, He is our Father. You cannot love that which terrifies you. Fear here is talking about our respect and awe of God, and yes, a fear of His fatherly displeasure and possible discipline, but no, certainly not true, gut wrenching fear. We do not fear Him because he drowned the entire world, we respect that power, and we love our Father who is righteous judge of the earth. We love Him for loving us so much He gave us a way, the only way, to be spared the same judgement.
Truly, there is a vast difference between actual fear for a parent, and a healthy respect for the authority they wield. It is always easy to see the difference in children if they love and respect their parents, or if they truly fear those who are supposed to love and protect them. They same applies to our heavenly Father. He would not tell us to love Him, trust Him and put all our faith in Him, if we were also meant to be terrified of Him.
In 1 Peter 2:17 the word 'fear' does appear, yes. The Greek word φοβέομαι does mean fear, or dread. But it also means 'reverence', which is defined as: "a feeling or attitude of deep respect tinged with awe; veneration".
Now I suppose you could just take the 'dread' part of it, but my point above is that 'dread the Lord' and 'love the Lord' don't really go hand in hand. And when we are told to 'love the Lord your God with ALL you heart and ALL you soul'...it just doesn't add up that we can fit dread into our hearts and souls as well.