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The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom;
All who follow his precepts have good understanding.
To him belongs eternal praise!
I feel a little short in the wisdom department these days. Just when a plan starts coming together a new wrinkle gets thrown our way.
I love that wisdom finds its place in—indeed, grows out of—a proper positioning before God. It’s good to remember that God was not overwhelmed with Pharaoh’s power, he was not intimidated by Babylon’s glory, God never trembled before Rome’s brute strength.
He’s not surprised by a pandemic. Throughout it all, and more, our God has been steady and true. AND he has made a way for his people to be wise and have good understanding throughout.
It all starts with “ fear of the LORD .” Forgive me for the lengthy quote:
None of the available synonyms in the English language—awe, reverence, worshipful respect—seems quite adequate. They miss the punch delivered by “fear-of-the-Lord.” When Rudolf Otto… analyzed this core religious/spiritual attitude and response he resorted to Latin phrases (numen and mysterium tremendum), finding that nothing in his German language worked either.
The primary way in which we cultivate ‘fear-of-the-Lord’ is in prayer and worship— personal prayer and corporate worship. We deliberately interrupt our preoccupation with ourselves and attend to God, place ourselves intentionally in sacred space, in sacred time, in the holy presence—and wait. We become silent and still in order to listen and respond to what is Other than us. Once we get the hang of this we find that this can occur any place and any time. But prayer and worship provide the base.
From Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places by Eugene Peterson
Becoming silent and still with you this day so we might be wise and know the fear of the LORD in our very midst.
Andrew
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