Wisdom and the Fear of the Lord

(from Men’s Healing and Growth Group SPCC 2003: Men of Wisdom)

Devotion 3:  Wisdom and the Fear of the Lord

Introduction

“And he said to humankind, ‘Truly the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.” (Job 28:28).

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge of the holy one is insight.” (Prov 9:10; cf. 1:7; 15:33).

“The fear of the LORD is the goal (N.I.V. “beginning”) of wisdom; all those who practice it have good understanding.” (Ps 111:10).

These texts teach that evil is incompatible with wisdom, and the way to realise this truth in practice is to fear God.  The first (and last) steps of wisdom are godly fear.  This goes against the natural inclinations of the human heart in its natural aversion to fear and a therefore signals a deep problem that we have in the realm of wisdom.

Fear Begins with God

The possibility of fearing God is created directly by God’s word to Adam in the Garden of Eden: “for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” (Gen 2:17).  God’s fear for humanity is communicated in this warning about the consequences of disobedience.  Since revelation is self – communication, the LORD was actually conveying something from within himself.  It is not sin that is named as a threat, or the devil, but the full weight of the prohibition falls upon the fact that the Creator and Father of all gives it (1 Pet 17).  It would appear from this that the purpose of the God – induced fear of himself was to keep humanity centred in his will.

If Adam and Eve had feared God they would never have experienced the reason for this fear; they would have lived a life of faith continually enveloped in the divine protection.  This would have been a state of wisdom verified by its own fruitfulness of living in the divine pleasure.  “the LORD takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love.” (Ps 147:11).  It would have sustained their union with God in joy, because the fear itself would have been a delight to them (Neh 1:11; Isa 11:3).

As it is, the first couple were deceived into an experience – based trial of the truth of God’s word and wisdom.  They wished to find out for themselves if God was a person to be feared, or whether there was a form of wisdom that surpassed the divine knowledge and understanding (Gen 3:5- 6).  What they found out was that God’s delight cannot rest on those who disobey him.  The result was a new experience of fear, not one that drew them to the source of their life, but which manifested itself in God – avoidance (Gen 3:8 – 10).  The centre of this fear was not God but the conscience’s anticipation of personal punishment.  In this a wisdom was indeed operating, but one that was “earthly, unspiritual, devilish” and “selfishly ambitious” (James 3:3- 16).  It is the wisdom of self – preservation.  Such a fear does not fear God for God’s sake, or for the sake of a relationship with God, but for selfish reasons and as such is foolish.  Apart from the true fear of the Lord all wisdom and knowledge are corrupted in this way.

God’s Promises are for the Fearful

Freedom from the tyranny of evil is the primary benefit from the fear of God (Ex 20:20; Prov 3:7; 16:6; 2 Cor 7:1).  This is all encompassing.  In this sense fear is at the heart of or approximates worship (Deut 6:13, 24; 1 Ki 8:41- 43).  It is a foundational form of obedience (Deut 4:10; 6:2; 10:12).

There are numerous particular promises associated with fearing God: these include love (Ps 103:11; 147:11); protection (Ps 33:18; 34:7); goodness (Ps 31:19; 115:13); compassion (Ps 103:13; 115:13; Mal 3:16 -17; Luke 1:50); inheritance (Ps 34:9; 145:19); salvation (Ps 85:9).

“He will be the sure foundation for your times, a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the LORD is the key to this treasure.” (Isa 33:6)

Contrary to ordinary expectations, since the fear of the Lord centres upon God himself, fear leads to actions of faith, that is, God-centredness (Gen 22:12; Ex 1:17; 21; 14:31; Ps 86:11; Luke 23:40-43).  The reward of fear-induced faith is a greater knowledge of God himself; this shows fear to be the way of wisdom.

The highest expression of fear within of humanly is Jesus regard for the Father in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the cross.  Hebrews tells us that he was heard for his “godly submission/reverent fear” (Hebrews 5:7).  His great struggle is not over a matter of self- interest, e.g. the pain of the cross and the loss of his friends, but over the impending isolation from his Father (Mark 15:34).  Jesus does not fear what the Father “might do to him”.  His true wisdom is justified against all earthly appearances by his resurrection from the dead.  In this state of glory, fear is an impossibility.

Fearing God Today

In the New Testament believers are encouraged to fear God because the result will be grace (1 Cor 2:3-5), holiness (2 Cor 7:1) and boldness in Christian service (2 Cor 3:12; 5:6, 8).  This is manifestly the way of wisdom.

Since Jesus lives within else we can have no ultimate cause of fear because there is no longer anything that can separate us from the love of God (1 John 4:17 – 18; Rom 8: 31- 39).  As long as we remain centred on Jesus as the content of the wisdom of God we can be delivered from selfish fear and share in his fear of the Father.  This is the way to resurrection power (Phil 3:10).  The more we fear God the less we fear the passing of things in this world that cannot be controlled or retained.  The wisdom of Christ and his cross (1 Cor 1:22 -24) dictates that however great earthly losses may be in the course of our obedience, “he is no fool; who loses what he cannot keep to keep that which he cannot lose.” (Jim Elliot).

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