The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom.

The fear of God, the beginning of wisdom…

Psa 111:10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; A good understanding have all those who do His commandments. His praise endures forever.

What does the scripture mean, in the context of the fear of God being the beginning of wisdom?

It is the reverential fear of God. This is fear that is an honourable respectful fear, birthed from an understanding of who God is, the magnitude of His being, being all powerful, transcendent, far above our understanding. It is the fear of God in knowing that He possesses all knowledge, having limitless understanding, incapable of learning anything as he is all knowing, and incapable of making a mistake because of Him being absolute perfection. Knowing that God does not change, and in Him there is no shadow of turning, no varying degrees, as He is simply and perfectly God. God who is the fulness and expession of absolute love.

This fear of God, in His Word is not an earthly, demonic oppressive fear that would lead to bondage, turmoil and confusion, but it is a fear that is birthed through a spiritual understanding of God.

Knowing that God is wisdom itself, and knowing that in and through God is life, as He is the author of life, we have an understanding that God knows what is best. Because all life originates from God, and Him being the sustainer of life, He has given us His spoken Word through the Bible. It is a love letter, an understanding of His heart, an instruction manual to find the fullness of life as this is His desire for us, not leading us into bondage but freedom.

So in fearing God, it results in the beginning of wisdom. What is part of wisdom? Honouring God’s Word based of the knowledge of who and what He is. What does wisdom do? It protects, preserves, and gives life.

The more we understand God, the more we become like Him. The more we understand God’s Word, and receive it, the more we become like God in nature. The things that grieve God’s heart begin to grieve ours. The things that God loves, we begin to love. The things that offend God, offend us, because God cannot entertain and accept sin. Because He is the author of life and is life itself, we long to say with full conviction and understanding that ‘ I have been crucified with Christ and it is no longer I that live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me’.

The fear of God leads to obeying His Word, and obeying His Word is wisdom.

Because God is wisdom, if we fear Him and long to obey Him, in obeying Him, it leads to wisdom, and wisdom is to become like God. Wisdom that is a spiritual wisdom, flowing from the presence and understanding of who He is. A wisdom that the world does not understand.

We will not fear God if we do not know Him. If we do not know Him, we will not become like Him. If we do not become like Him, we will not find life, as He is the fullness of life.

Pro 2:1 My son, if you receive my words, And treasure my commands within you,

Pro 2:2 So that you incline your ear to wisdom, And apply your heart to understanding;

Pro 2:3 Yes, if you cry out for discernment, And lift up your voice for understanding,

Pro 2:4 If you seek her as silver, And search for her as for hidden treasures;

Pro 2:5 Then you will understand the fear of the LORD, And find the knowledge of God.

Pro 2:6 For the LORD gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding;

Pro 2:7 He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk uprightly;

Pro 2:8 He guards the paths of justice, And preserves the way of His saints.

Pro 2:9 Then you will understand righteousness and justice, Equity and every good path.

Pro 2:10 When wisdom enters your heart, And knowledge is pleasant to your soul,

Pro 2:11 Discretion will preserve you; Understanding will keep you,

Pro 2:12 To deliver you from the way of evil, From the man who speaks perverse things,

Pro 2:13 From those who leave the paths of uprightness To walk in the ways of darkness;

Pro 2:14 Who rejoice in doing evil, And delight in the perversity of the wicked;

Pro 2:15 Whose ways are crooked, And who are devious in their paths;

Pro 2:16 To deliver you from the immoral woman, From the seductress who flatters with her words,

Pro 2:17 Who forsakes the companion of her youth, And forgets the covenant of her God.

Pro 2:18 For her house leads down to death, And her paths to the dead;

Pro 2:19 None who go to her return, Nor do they regain the paths of life—

Pro 2:20 So you may walk in the way of goodness, And keep to the paths of righteousness.

Pro 2:21 For the upright will dwell in the land, And the blameless will remain in it;

Pro 2:22 But the wicked will be cut off from the earth, And the unfaithful will be uprooted from it.