Wisdom and Understanding

August 23

Job 28-29

Psalm 95:6-11

Proverbs 21:3-4

2 Corinthians 11

Wisdom and Understanding

“Where then does wisdom come from? Where does understanding dwell? God understands the way to it, and He alone knows where it dwells, for He views the ends of the earth and sees everything under the heavens. When He established the force of the wind and measured out the waters, when He made a decree for the rain, and a path for the thunderstorm, then He looked at wisdom and appraised it; He confirmed it and tested it. And He said to the human race, ‘The fear of the Lord---that is wisdom, and to shun evil is understanding.’” Job 28:20-21,23-28

The fear of the Lord is difficult for us to grasp because we have grown up in a culture where God’s love and mercy are highlighted, and His holiness and justice are downplayed. Many modern churches never discuss His wrath and the image in our heads is of a gentle, meek God who gives us a hug when we mess up and overlooks our sin. In that context, it is difficult to imagine why we would have any reason to fear God. His wrath is reserved for the really bad people and His vengeance is only delivered to our enemies. I found widely varying definitions of the fear of the Lord. Most of them focused on respect and awe, which I think are certainly important, but perhaps the best definition I found described the fear of the Lord as the knowledge that God is fully aware of everything we think, desire, speak and do and we will each have to give an account to Him for our lives. The fear of the Lord is actual fear. It is not figurative, misleading, or overstated. God is to be feared, not just because of what He might do to us, but because of who He is. The reality of a holy, almighty, all powerful, eternal God who is above all, beyond all and sovereign over all should make us tremble in His presence. He is not “the man upstairs,” or “the big guy.” He is the Lord Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, Savior, Redeemer, Yahweh. He is our Heavenly Father, and He loves us, but we must approach Him with respect and reverence.

Most of us would be horrified if our friends and family knew everything we thought, desired, spoke and did because we care what they think of us, and we don’t want them to know all the bad stuff about us. Are we that concerned about God knowing all those things? The knowledge that He is fully aware of everything should fill us with humility and appreciation that He knows all our secrets and He still loves us so much that He died to save us from the punishment His justice requires. It should also give us the desire to shun evil and live lives that are pleasing to Him. Sin is abhorrent to Him, and we should not treat it lightly. In a sermon recently, the pastor said, “Where sin isn’t serious, Jesus isn’t precious.” Our sin cost Him His life so we cannot treat it lightly. Job grasped these spiritual truths that the fear of the Lord is wisdom and to shun evil is understanding. Several other scripture verses instructing us to fear the Lord are found in Proverbs 1:7, 3:7, 8:13, 14:26-27, Psalm 33:8, 86:11, 111:10, and Philippians 2:12-13.