The Beginning of Wisdom

J.J. Stark

January 2016

Week 3

IGNITE Class 10

Inductive Bible Study (IBS)

The Beginning of Wisdom

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; a good understanding have all those who do His commandments.  His praise endures forever.”  - Psalm 111:10 (NKJV)

Psalm 111:10 has a lot of depth, it was difficult for me to digest, especially when it comes to wisdom.  I will be the first to admit, I am NOT wise, as much as I’d like to thing I am.  Even with the common definition – the practical application of knowledge – I still find myself asking what is wisdom?  According to this verse it is “the fear of the Lord…” Okay, great!  But, what is “The fear of the Lord…”??  I remember years ago thinking the fear of the Lord meant being scared of the Him.  I wasn’t wrong in this, for God is the Creator of unfathomable and limitless power – worthy of being afraid.  The Old Testament has many of examples of the Israelites living under the Mosaic law in actual fear of God.  Yet no matter how many times He displayed His power to enforce His law, the people always strayed from Him.  There have been so many times I have done the same thing as the Israelites. However, when Jesus came down to earth in the flesh and lived a perfect life under that Law, becoming the perfect sacrifice for all sins, all of creation of is now free in Jesus Christ from that law.  That being said, the previous “fear” of the Lord is gone because He wants to have an individual relationship with each one of us.  My fear becomes an awe, or reverent respect for God.  If this fear is then a reverent awe and love, I won’t want to hurt or disappoint Him, which means that I will study His commandments and ask Him to grant me the understanding to wisely apply those daily in my life.  These commandments can only lead to more praise of Him and for all the blessing He has bestowed on my life.

Application: I will write down tonight at least one way the Lord displayed His wisdom around me and/or in me, and then in turn use that to glorify and praise His name.