What does it mean to 'fear God?'

Today I was on the main quad and Brother Jed was there. I've been around for this campus preacher before. I've never been an intense fan of his, but he is definitely better than some of those that have come here. While taking some time to listen to him and talk to some of his audience, the question of what does it mean to "Fear God?" It seems like there was a guy in the audience who was very confused about why we should fear a God that loves us and cares about us. That question interested me. I presented to him the analogy of God as a father...

Our own parents protected us from things because they knew better than us. It isn't like they wanted to keep us from everything and stifle us, but they wanted to make sure we'd be safe. This is the same way with God. It seems like the phrase God fearing should be God respecting, especially for the world we live in now. My roommate Evan provided me with a list of scripture on fearing God, and it was really fascinating. While not exhaustive, the list shows that (as I suspected) the majority of the scripture that talks about fearing God comes from the Old Testament. The language is not used in the New Testament nearly as much. So, it seems like the way we see God also changed from the Old Covenant to the New Covenant. Perhaps now that more of his character (specifically the grace portion) seems to be more revealed, our fear turns into a respect. Those are kinda the thoughts on my mind right now...