SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR
12/27/2012 9:16 AM
My Worship Time Focus: Key Verse to Unlock In Proverbs
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Proverbs 1:7
Message of the
verses: In Yesterday’s SD we were
looking at who it was that wrote the book of Proverbs and how it was
written. We spoke about how the word
wisdom is in the feminine gender and also in chapters 1, 8, and 9 we learned
that wisdom calls to both men and women to follow her and enjoy salvation,
wealth and life. There is an end note
that helps us to understand what the concept of wealth is all about and I want
to give that quote before we proceed to looking at what the key verse in
Probers as that will help us to unlock the book.
“Keep in mind that ‘wealth’ means much more than
possessing material things. The Bible
doesn’t promise that obedient Christians will all be healthy, wealthy, and
successful. It does promise that they
will have godly character, enjoy their Father’s generous gifts to meet all
their needs, and escape many of the physical emotional pains and problems that
the ungodly usually suffer. God’s
covenant with the Jews promised special blessings if they obeyed and
chastisement if they disobeyed (see Deut. 27-28), but the book of Proverbs also
emphasizes the ‘true riches’ of the spiritual life that are summarized in
Christ’s beatitudes. It has well been said that true
happiness lies, not in the greatness of your possessions, but in the ‘fewness’
of your wants.”
3. What is the Key Verse That Helps “Unlock” the
Book? We will look at two verses that
are similar verses in searching for the key verse of Proverbs. “7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of
knowledge; Fools despise wisdom and instruction.” (Pr. 1:7 NASB) “7 The fear of
the Lord is the start of knowledge: but the foolish have no use for wisdom and
teaching.” (BBE) “7 Start with GOD—the
first step in learning is bowing down to GOD; only fools thumb their noses at
such wisdom and learning.”
(Message) Now we will look at
Proverbs 9:10 a similar verse. “10 The
fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One
is understanding.” 10 Fear of the LORD is the foundation of wisdom. Knowledge
of the Holy One results in good judgment.”
(NLT)
We will look at eighteen verses from the book of Proverbs
that reference “The fear of the Lord,” so that we can better understand what
this phrase means. Since we have already
looked at two verses we will not repeat Proverbs 1:7 or Proverbs 9:10.
Pr. 1:29 “Because they hated knowledge And did not choose
the fear of the LORD.” Pr. 2:5 “Then you
will discern the fear of the LORD And discover the knowledge of God.” Pr. 3:7 “Do not be wise in your own eyes;
Fear the LORD and turn away from evil.”
Pr. 8:13 “"The fear of the LORD is to hate evil; Pride and
arrogance and the evil way And the perverted mouth, I hate.” Pr. 10:27 “The fear of the LORD prolongs
life, But the years of the wicked will be shortened.” Pr. 14:2 “He who walks in his uprightness
fears the LORD, But he who is devious in his ways despises Him.” Pr. 14:26-27 “26 In the fear of the LORD
there is strong confidence, And his children will have refuge. 27 The fear of the LORD is a fountain of
life, That one may avoid the snares of death.”
Pr. 15:16 “Better is a little with the fear of the LORD Than great
treasure and turmoil with it.” Pr. 15:33
“The fear of the LORD is the instruction for wisdom, And before honor comes
humility.” Pr. 16:6 “By lovingkindness
and truth iniquity is atoned for, And by the fear of the LORD one keeps away
from evil.” Pr. 19:23 “The fear of the
LORD leads to life, So that one may sleep satisfied, untouched by evil.” Pr. 22:4 “The reward of humility and the fear
of the LORD Are riches, honor and life.”
Pr. 23:17 “Do not let your heart envy sinners, But live in the fear of
the LORD always.” Pr. 24:21 “My son,
fear the LORD and the king; Do not associate with those who are given to
change.” Pr. 31:30 “Charm is deceitful
and beauty is vain, But a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised.”
I have mentioned in an earlier SD that I am reading “The
Knowledge of the Holy” by A. W. Tozer.
The title pretty much tells what the book is about and this to get to
know God by looking as some of His attributes.
He has a chapter in the book entitled “The Self-Existence of God,” and
in that chapter we see that God is the creator and that man is His creation,
and this is one of the things that man needs to learn if he is to have the fear
of the Lord. Tozer writes, “Man is a
created being, a derived and contingent self, who of himself possesses nothing
but is dependent each moment for his existence upon the One who created him
after His own likeness. The fact of God
is necessary to the fact of man. Think
God away and man has no ground of existence.”
Dr. Wiersbe writes the following on this subject: “It means to respect God for who He is, to
listen carefully to what He says, and to obey His Word, knowing that our
disobedience displeases Him, breaks our fellowship with Him, and invites His
chastening. It is not the servile fear
of the slave before the master but the reverential and respectful fear of the
child before the parent. Children fear
not only because their parents can hurt them, but also because they can hurt their parents. Proverbs
13:13 admonishes us to fear God’s commandments, which suggests that they way we
treat our Bible is the way we treat God.”
Charles Bridges in his book Exposition of the book of Proverbs” writes the following on what it
means to fear the Lord. “It is that
affectionate reverence by which the child of God bends himself humbly and
carefully to his Father’s law. His wrath
is so bitter, and His love so sweet; that hence springs an earnest desire to
please Him, and—because of the danger of coming short from his own weakness and
temptations—a holy watchfulness and fear, ‘that he might not sin against Him.”
Let us take a moment to look at the first six verses of
the book of Proverbs that will led up to the important seventh verse that first
speaks of the fear of the Lord: “1 The
proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel; 2 To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding; 3 To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice,
and judgment, and equity; 4 To give subtilty to the simple,
to the young man knowledge
and discretion. 5 A
wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain
unto wise counsels:
6 To understand a proverb, and the interpretation; the words of the wise, and
their dark sayings.” (KJV)
Louis Goldberg says that “wisdom means exhibiting God’s
character in many practical affairs of life.”
Instruction has to do with discipline like a parent correcting their
children’s misbehavior thus building character into the child’s life. The word “subtlety” means prudence and
prudence has to do with a kind of intelligence that can reason behind
things. Knowledge is translated from a
Hebrew word that has to do with hunting, or sailing or even playing a musical
instrument. The Latin form of the word
knowledge gives us our English word for science. Discretion gives the ability to device wise
plans after one understands something, and it can also mean to devise a
plot. I suppose that Sherlock Holmes
could be said to have discretion. When
we look at the Hebrew word translated “learning” “1) learning, teaching, insight
1a) instruction (obj) 1b) teaching (thing taught) 1b1) teaching-power 1b2)
persuasiveness.” (Hebrew/English Dictionary
from the Online Bible Program) The word
“counsel” means, “1) direction, counsel, guidance, good advice, (wise) counsel 1a) direction, guidance 1b) counsel 1b1) good or wise counsel 1b2) of the wicked.”
We will see these eight words throughout the book of
Proverbs and knowing them will help us in our quest of learning wisdom and also
the fear of the Lord.
12/27/2012 10:34 AM
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