The Beginning of Wisdom

"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth forever." (Psalm 111:10)

One of the things that is missing in our society, yes even in our churches, is the fear of the Lord. I recently heard a person use this phrase as just an exclamation, "For the love of God." How can we say things like this and not know we come under judgment? Have we forgotten that God is God? Have we been so indoctrinated into thinking that the Ten Commandments have nothing to do with us any more, so we can break them as we please? This is really scary when you stop to think about it. When was the last time you heard it preached in church that we should "fear the Lord"? Off and on I hear it mentioned, but I have always rationalized it to mean, we fear hurting His name and reputation. Let's look at that.

When we come to the Lord we acquire a new name. We become children of the Almighty. If we truly respect our Heavenly Father then we would turn from sin, because it brings dishonor to Him. As His children our love should be so great for God that we fear of bringing dishonor to Him. This is a very valid explanation of the fear of the Lord, right?

Only partially. We still haven't reached the point where we seem to have a clue who He is. I think we equate God with some of the other false gods, like Zeus, for instance. Our tiny little minds have difficulty comprehending the greatness of just who God really is. The Bible calls God the Father, the Creator, the Alpha and Omega, the Almighty, and many other names. Lord, is a name that is a majestic title. God is so much greater than we could ever comprehend that it SHOULD fill us with fear. Not just fear that we dishonor His name, but fear that we are judged against His perfect righteousness. We are condemned by that righteousness. The Law of God condemns us. Yet how can we begin to understand God if we do not study the Law?

People, now is the time to get alone with God and humble yourselves before Him. Ask God to break the hardness of your hearts so that He might reign in and through you to His glory. Seek the fear of the Lord, for in finding that you will find the beginning of both wisdom and understanding. How do we do this? By keeping His commands. Why does it say that? Because we can NOT keep His commands. So by keeping them we realize His Holiness and our unrighteousness. Through keeping His law we come face to face with what it really means to fear the Lord. Maybe then we can properly serve Him.

David Brollier