SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12/27/2012
9:16 AM
My Worship Time Focus: Key Verse to Unlock 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 is 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
wit 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 for 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 pleas 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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