Chapter 2

PROVERBS 2 (David)

“My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God.” Proverbs 2:1-5

God’s Word promises that as we search for wisdom, we will benefit in two wonderful ways: we will understand the fear of the Lord and we will know God.

Most of us welcome the knowledge of God but we might resist the fear of the Lord. We don’t want to fear God, much less understand it. We would much rather grasp God’s love and grace, two more inviting attributes of God that suggest He is pleased with us. But the fear of God? No, the presence of fear only serves to indicate God is mean or angry with us. Why else would we fear Him?

Psalm 110:5 and Proverbs 9:10 tell us the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. We can’t experience wisdom without the fear of God. We can enter the realm of wisdom only through the door of godly fear. That alone is reason to embrace the fear of the Lord.

A healthy fear and reverence of God only positions us to know God more intimately than ever. How? When we fear Him, we acknowledge He is holy, set apart from us and above us in every way. God is awesome and as we begin to realize His holy attributes, we find ourselves in the presence of a God who transcends us, who moves in ways we can never truly understand or comprehend with our minds (Isaiah 55:9). That may be a bit disconcerting at first (ok, downright frightening!) but when we accept that this same God additionally invites us into a personal relationship with Him, well, that is reason alone to draw closer.

Fear God? Yes I do! Why, this amazing God of ours could do anything to me or with me at any moment, and there is absolutely nothing I could do about it. I most certainly have no real control of my life; all I am is in His eternal, holy hands. Yet, when I also consider this same fearsome God is complete in love, full of grace, perfectly patient with my humanity, faithful in all His ways, then I can move beyond my crippling fear of Him into wild abandonment and worship. The fear of the Lord is only a starting place, a launching pad into a much greater revelation of wisdom and understanding.

Come embrace the fear of the Lord with me and let’s see where He takes us!

“Lord, I both fear You and trust You to lead me into new places I would never go without You. Yes, I am quivering with fear and anticipation, but I know You know what lies ahead and that is enough for me. Lead on, Lord!”