Wisdom & the Fear of God

Today, we are picking up in studying Proverbs 1:1-7 and paralleling this text with Psalm 67:7. Our theme Psalm this year ends with this verse, “God shall bless us; let all the ends of the earth fear him!” Our goal this week is to understand what it truly means to “Fear God.” We began yesterday looking at the prologue of Proverbs, and specifically diving into verse 7 of Proverbs chapter 1.

In understanding the purpose of why the book was written, it should be clear to you that Biblical, Godly Wisdom is vital to the Christian life. Imagine living in this world with no God-given wisdom to handle situations? Imagine trying to be Strong and Courageous with no wisdom. Imagine trying to Walk by Faith and Not By Sight with no wisdom. Imagine trying to live a life that is pleasing to God, but not trying to pursue wisdom. Wisdom gives us understanding of what it means to Walk in a manner that is worthy of our calling… And according to Proverbs, the Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. The Fear of the Lord and wisdom go hand in hand.

So, what is wisdom? If you think about wisdom culturally, you probably won’t be able to think of a people group who have not prized wisdom. Although, the definition of “wisdom” would change from culture to culture, we would all agree that wisdom is important. But regardless, people love sayings and wise words and anecdotal lines and stories being passed down from generation to generation. But Biblical Wisdom, true wisdom is not anecdotal. It is not even simply a saying to “keep in mind” as a good thought. It is much more essential and vital than that.

We have seen cultures from the east for thousands of years define “wisdom” as “enlightenment”… An idea that wisdom enlightens one to a supernatural power of being able to sense things or see things differently. Americans have taken this understanding of wisdom and have reinvented it to be an understanding of a plethora of knowledge about things. Someone is considered wise in our culture if they understand details about many different categories of things. If they are understanding of the world. Sometimes, we even dilute this to comparing it to being “Street Smart”… Or maybe someone who is good at giving advice.

As we learn about what wisdom is and where it comes from, we must know that Wisdom and understanding comes from the understanding of Philosophy. The English term “Philosophy” comes from one of the Greek words that means “Love” (“Phileo”). And it is combined with the Greek word for Wisdom, which is “Sophia.” And so, we get the definition of “Philosophy” to be “The Love of Wisdom.”

So, think about what philosophers are studying throughout the ages. You do not study philosophy to increase your knowledge and learning. You study philosophy to understand what is good and true and right in the world. Ancient Greek philosophers concluded quite late in their search for wisdom through the study of philosophy that there is only One God. But their understanding of “one god” had very little in common with the God of the Bible.

The key difference in worldly “wisdom” and Biblical wisdom is that in worldly wisdom “god” is the ends. And for some philosophies this “god” is yourself. For other philosophies and cultures this “god” is enlightenment. But for a Biblical understanding of wisdom, not only is God the ends, but He is also the beginning and He is the means. As you study Proverbs, you will understand that it is God Himself who is Wisdom. It is God Himself who gives understanding. It is God Himself who we are to be pursing.

And so, as we study what it means to “Fear the Lord” and what looks like in Psalm 67 verse 7 that we would desire that “all the ends of the earth” would “Fear God,” we need to understand that Wisdom is rooted in God Himself. As a matter of fact, it is rooted in the Fear of God.

Proverbs 1:7 — The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.

So, notice that there is a correlation that we must draw between knowledge and wisdom.Look at Provers 9:10, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is insight….. or understanding.” And so, we have this amazing correlation between wisdom and knowledge.

But we know what knowledge is not wisdom. I like to define it like this, Wisdom is the pursuit of holiness with knowledge.

We understand that knowledge itself is not wisdom. Just because you know a lot of things, does not mean you are wise. In the same way, just because you know a lot about Jesus, does not mean that you know Jesus. We see in Matthew 7:22 says, “Many will say to me ‘Lord, Lord’…” and yet God will cast them into eternal damnation. Those are people who thought they knew Jesus because they knew ABOUT Jesus. Those are people who thought they were pursuing wisdom, but instead were pursuing knowledge.

This is very dangerous because in American Christianity, we can convince ourselves that we know about Jesus, therefore we KNOW Jesus. But that is not true. “You will know them by their fruit”… by their works. So, make sure that you KNOW Jesus personally and don’t just know ABOUT Him.

There are so many people who can answer every question. They go to church. They give. They serve. And they THINK they have a relationship with Jesus. But they do not. Most of the time these people love to research and love to know more and more because they believe that they can “understand” their way to Christianity. But you cannot have understanding without wisdom. And you cannot have wisdom without Fearing God. And if you do not Fear God, then you do not believe.

Ambassadors, as we are studying Psalm 67, the Psalm ends by saying this: “Let all the ends of the earth fear God.” Do you understand that there will most certainly come a day when “every knee will bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord…” and that all of this will be done to the Glory of God the Father? Do you understand that this day is a certainty? Do you understand that at the Great White Throne Judgement, when EVERY HUMAN BEING will stand before their Creator, that ALL will see God as He is…? At this point, if you have not trusted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, then it will be too late for you. At the point of the Great White Throne Judgement, it will be too late for your soul to be saved — And your eternity will be damned.

When we look at Psalm 67 verse 7 and we have a desire and a passion that “all of the ends of the earth” would ‘Fear God,” this means that we are committing to tell the world about the Only Message that can save a lost soul. Do you understand that? Do you understand the significance of that commitment? Do you understand that a life without Jesus Christ is eternally damned?

Psalm 67 ends with a desire that everyone (“all the ends of the earth”) would understand the Fear of the Lord.