The Fear of the Lord and the Knowledge of God

Proverbs 2:1-5:

1 My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you,

2 making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding;

3 yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding,

4 if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures,

5 then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God.

Note that most of Proverbs is directed primarily to young people. In Prov. 2, the young man faces two temptations. One is the temptation to follow the evil ways of others (vv. 12-15). The other is the temptation to engage in sexual pleasures with the prostitute (vv. 16-19). Young men, you face these temptations today—the temptation to follow the sin of others and the temptation for easy sex.

Note the words, “if,” and “then.” The word, “if,” indicates a conditional clause (protasis). The word, “then,” shows a consequence clause (apodosis). Verses 1-4 speak of the “if,” or conditions of wisdom. Verses 5-8 speak of the “then,” or consequences of wisdom.

Thus, “if” you receive the words of wisdom and keep it; if you incline your heart to understanding; if you pray for wisdom (v. 3); if you search for wisdom like you search for gold (v. 4), “then” you will understand the fear of the Lord. You will find the knowledge of God (v. 5).

We ask—Why is this so? Why will seeking wisdom find God? The reason is in vv. 6-8.

6 For the LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;

7 he stores up sound wisdom for the upright; he is a shield to those who walk in integrity,

8 guarding the paths of justice and watching over the way of his saints

To seek wisdom then is to find God. The reason is that wisdom is a divine gift (v. 6). It comes from God. The source of wisdom is God.

The Fear of the Lord and Crisis

In Prov. 1:24-33, Solomon says that if you do not choose the fear of the Lord, you will lack the wisdom to handle crisis, distress, and anguish. But if you choose the fear of the Lord, you will dwell secure. Fear God and you will live without fear of calamity (v. 33).

D Because I have called and you refused to listen, have stretched out my hand and no one has heeded, because you have ignored all my counsel and would have none of my reproof, (vv. 24-25)

E  I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when terror strikes you, when terror strikes you like a storm and your calamity comes like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you. Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently but will not find me. (vv. 26-28)

D1 Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord, would have none of my counsel and despised all my reproof, (vv. 29-30)[1]

The text is chiastic, with the main message in E (vv. 26-28)—its center. D and D1 give the reasons for the main message in E. It states the cause of the destruction of fools.

There is only one reason for the downfall of fools–they reject wisdom. They reject wisdom because they reject the fear of the Lord. To reject the wisdom of God is to reject the fear of God. To reject wisdom is to reject God.

Because fools reject wisdom, wisdom will also reject them in the time of trouble. The words, “calamity,” “terror,” “distress,” and “anguish,” refer to the “coming doom” in Jewish apocalyptic and prophetic literature.[2] When crisis comes, and it will certainly come, fools will seek wisdom to get themselves out of it. But they will not find her. They will call on her but she will not listen to them. In other words, they have lost their chance to get her.

Thus, in the day of disaster, they will lack the wisdom to handle it.

“For the simple [fools] are killed by their turning away, and the complacency of fools destroys them; but whoever listens to me [wisdom] will dwell secure and will be at ease, without dread of disaster” (Prov. 1:32-33). Do you fear God today? Then you are wise. You are listening to wisdom. When distress comes, you will be secure.

But if you don’t fear God today, you don’t have wisdom. Reject wisdom, and you will be destroyed. Fear God and listen to wisdom, and you will be secure.

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[1] Garrett, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes Song of Songs, 71.

[2] Murphy, Proverbs, 10.

The Fear of the Lord and Wisdom

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction” (Prov. 1:7, ESV). Divine wisdom begins with the fear of the Lord. Many people no longer fear the Lord today. In America, they do abortions, having no fear of God. They approve of gay marriage, having no fear of God. In the Philippines, they cheat, gamble, and worship idols, having no fear of God.

We begin with the question—What does it mean to fear the Lord? The rabbis taught that the fear of God can mean two things—reverential fear and fear of retribution.[1] I think it is both. The fear (Heb. yira) of God is reverence for God or piety. (BDB) Reverence means an eagerness to listen to God, a readiness to obey God, and willingness to live for God. The emphasis of the fear of the Lord in Proverbs is reverential awe towards God.[2]

But the fear of the Lord is also the fear of God as judge. It is the fear of offending God who will judge us someday. Jesus said, “Do not fear those who kill the body . . . But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him” (Lk. 12:4-5)! Heb. 10:31 says, “‘The Lord will judge his people.’ It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (cf. Rev. 14:7). The two are intertwined. When you fear God as judge, you will revere Him. When God is the object of fear out of fear of offense, divine retribution, or divine presence, there is reverence.

Now Solomon connects the fear of God and wisdom. The fear of the Lord, he says, is the beginning of wisdom. The word, “beginning” (Heb. reshit), means, “first phase, step, or element in course [sic] of events.” (BDB) The fear of the Lord is the first step in becoming wise. It is the first phase of wisdom. If you fear God, you begin to be wise. Wisdom begins in the fear of the Lord. This is the main theme of the book of Proverbs.

But Solomon also says that, “fools despise wisdom and instruction.” The fool in Proverbs is not someone who is looney tunes. The fool is someone who rejects wisdom and instruction. His rejection of wisdom indicates a lack of the fear of God.

Solomon says that as you pursue wisdom, you will meet fools who reject it. You will meet fools who despise wisdom and instruction. You will meet fools who do not fear God.

The fool will also try to persuade you to follow his rejection. That is why Solomon tells the young man that if sinners entice him, he should not consent (v. 10). Hence, when people tell you to do sinful things, say no to them. That is the fear of the Lord. That is wisdom.

Do you desire to know how to live wisely in this life? The first thing to do is to fear the Lord. Be willing to listen to God, to obey God, and to live for God. Live out a holy dread against offending God. Expect to meet fools who do not fear God. They will encourage you to sin. Do not consent. Fear God and not men.

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[1] Cohen, “Proverbs,” The Soncino Bible (rev. ed., ed. A. J. Rosenberg; London: Soncino, 1985), 3.

[2] TWOT, s. v. ירְאָה 907b.

The Wisdom of God to Number Our Days

“So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom” (Ps. 90:12). Because of our short calendar, Moses asks for divine wisdom. First, he asks for wisdom to number our days. To number our days is to make our days count for God. God has ordained the shortness of our lives. “Lord, You are eternal and we are temporal. So please teach us how to make our days count for You. Give us a heart of wisdom to make our short life count for eternity.”

“Return, O LORD! How long? Have pity on your servants” (v. 13)! “Return” (Heb. shub), means, “turn back.” (BDB) God is angry at their sin. Thus, second, Moses asks God to turn back from His wrath. Moses used the same word in his prayer in Ex. 32:12, “Turn from your burning anger and relent from this disaster against your people.”

Third, Moses asks God to manifest His steadfast love. “Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days” (v. 14). God’s steadfast love gives satisfaction to those He loves. It gives them joy. That is why Moses asked God to show His steadfast love. His steadfast love will satisfy His people. It will make them joyful all their days.

Why did Moses ask for satisfaction “in the morning”? God brought back the waters of the Red Sea in the morning, drowning the Egyptians, and saving Israel from death. God saved Israel from the Assyrian armies of Sennacherib in the morning (Ex. 14:27; 2 Ki. 19:35). Moses knew that God’s steadfast love came in the morning.

“Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, and for as many years as we have seen evil” (v. 15). Fourth, Moses also asks God to make them glad in the future as much as the wrath they had experienced in the past. He is asking God to give His people as much joy tomorrow as the pain that they have experienced yesterday.

Wouldn’t you like to ask God also to fill your life with as much joy tomorrow as you had pain yesterday? That is a good prayer we can ask God this year. Ask God to give you as much joy this year as the pain last year.

Finally, Moses asks God to establish the work of their hands. “Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands upon us; yes, establish the work of our hands” (v. 17)! This is a prayer for blessing for their work. The blessing of their work is a sign of God’s favor upon them. It is a sign that God has forgiven them.

You will know that you’re experiencing the steadfast love of God. You are assured of His forgiveness in Christ. You experience His satisfaction and His joy. You receive His blessings on your life.

Your Greatest Need

Moses acknowledged that God has judged Israel’s sin of unbelief and rebellion (Ps. 90:7-10). The penalty is death in the wilderness. What an awful thing to fall into the hands of an angry God!

Do you know that God has judged your sin? The Bible says, “The wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23).

We pay the penalty of sin—spiritual death with physical consequences. That is why our life is short, cut off by disease and death. Our sickness is but death in slow motion. If you don’t treat your sickness, your body will deteriorate. Left without any medical intervention, a sick body will eventually die. Sickness then is slow death. Death—spiritual death with physical outcomes—is the penalty of sin.

What then is your greatest need today? You mighty say, “Well, my greatest need is long life.” But when you get to the end of your life, what then? You have no assurance of peace with your Maker, because of your sin. You have no assurance of heaven. You have no assurance of salvation from sin.

Your greatest need is not long life. Your greatest problem is sin and the wrath of God. Therefore, your greatest need is the forgiveness of God. You need the mercy of God found only in Christ.

If God is angry at your sin, how then can you be saved from it? The answer is not in the church, but on the cross. It is not in religion, but in a relationship with God maintained by His steadfast love in Christ.

I have good news for you. God so loved you that He gave His only Son to die on the cross for your sin. Come to the cross and you will be forgiven your sin. You will be saved from God’s wrath. You will receive eternal life. You will experience the steadfast love of the Lord.

The Wrath of God Against the Sin of Humans

A “For we are brought to an end by your anger; by your wrath we are dismayed” (v. 7).

B “You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence” (v. 8).

A1 “For all our days pass away under your wrath; we bring our  years to an end like a sigh” (v. 9).

Verse 9 clarifies verse 7. Both verses envelope v. 8. Moses is saying that God in His wrath ended the lives of the rebellious Israelites because of their sin. The sin of rebellion is the ultimate cause of God’s wrath. But the wrath of God marks the brevity of life.

Do you realize that God hates your sin? When Israel rebelled against God, God saw their sinful hearts. God placed their sin before the eyes of God. God put their secret sins before the light of God’s face.

You cannot hide your sin from the eyes of God. God sees your sinfulness. The sins you keep from others are never hidden from God. The light of God illumines the darkness of our hearts.

Because of our sin, our days pass by under God’s wrath. Our days shall “end like a sigh.” The word, “sigh” (Heb. haga) means, “rumbling, growling, moaning” (BDB) or a passing sound.

“The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away”(Ps. 90:10). How many years can you probably reach in life? 70? 80 years? Even if you reach 100 years old, 100 is but a sigh. Because of our sin, life is short, and life is full of troubles.

This is a profound acknowledgement of the wrath of God against the sin of humans. Divine judgment seals human frailty. Sin is a very serious thing.

But there is good news. In v. 14, Moses asked God to cancel His wrath by His steadfast love. The steadfast love of God can avert the wrath of God.

The steadfast love of God in Christ gives us a chance to start over. Only the faithfulness of God in Christ can make our short life meaningful and productive.

The Sovereignty of God and the Temporariness of Humans

“You return man to dust and say, “Return, O children of man” (Ps. 90:3, ESV). Remember the background of this prayer. Yahweh has ordained the death of the rebellious Israelites. He has ordained their “death march” in the wilderness. Just as God has ordained creation, so He has ordained death. Humans live under the divine will of mortality.[1] Thus, human life is so temporary.

“You sweep them away as with a flood; they are like a dream, like grass that is renewed in the morning: in the morning it flourishes and is renewed; in the evening it fades and withers” (Ps. 90:5-6, ESV). Moses admits that God is the cause of mortality. Like a flood that sweeps, God sweeps away humanity. Human lives are like a “dream” (Heb. yashen), “sleep.” How many of you can remember your last dream? We forget our dreams. Our dreams just fade away into nothingness. Moses says, God causes the fading away of people like a dream.

Human life is also like “grass.” In the desert, grass grows in the morning. But it fades in the evening, because of the hot sun. Human life is as short as the desert grass. God has ordained the shortness of life.

You live today because God has allowed you to live today. Your life is short because God has ordained it so. The sovereignty of God can sweep you away like a flood. He can make you pass away like a dream. God can make you wither like the grass. In effect, Moses seems to be saying, “Lord, we have a short calendar.”

Why made Moses say that? It is because of the wrath of God against the sin of Israel’s rebellion (vv. 7-8).

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[1] Marvin E. Tate, Psalms 51-100 (WBC 20; ed. John D. W. Watts; Dallas: Word, 1990), 441.

God–Our Eternal Dwelling Place

“For a thousand years in your sight are but as yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night” (Ps. 90:4, ESV).We see Hebraic step parallelism here. The first line is explained in the second and third line. Thus, a thousand years is like “yesterday” to God. A thousand years is like a “watch in the night.” The passing of a thousand years is like the changing of the guard. This means that a thousand years to God is as nothing to God. This is the eternality of God.

But this eternal God has chosen to show His steadfast love to Israel. He has been their dwelling place, their refuge, from generation to generation. When Moses acknowledged this, they were out wandering in the wilderness. They lived in tents, which are temporary dwelling places. They had no permanent home. But though they had no permanent place to stay, there was God. The people of Israel lived in temporary homes. But God is their dwelling place, their refuge, their eternal home. Moses realized that they had no other permanent home but the eternal God Himself.

Let me ask you today, “Where is your home? Where do you live?” Do you live in the things of this world; or do you live in God? Do you live in your own success, friends, or religion? If you live in your own success, when failure comes, your house of success crumbles. When your friends fail you, the house of friends falls down. When your religion fails you, it falls like a house of cards.

Moses said that God is our true home, our eternal refuge. God is Israel’s home, her eternal refuge. From generation to generation, in all generations, Israel experiences the steadfast love of the Lord (v. 14).

Are you facing a crisis? Are you worried? Are you under spiritual attack? Go home to God. He is your dwelling place. He is your refuge. His steadfast love in Christ shall enfold you.

The Eternity of God in the Timeframe of Humans

“Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God” (Ps. 90:1-2, ESV). The words, “dwelling place” (Heb. ma’on), means “refuge.” (TWOT) The phrase, “all generations,” literally reads in Hebrew, bedor wador, “by generation to generation.” The singular noun, “generation” (Heb. dor), means, the “period” (BDB) of a man’s lifetime from conception to death. (TWOT) Thus, Moses is saying that the Lord has been our refuge from lifetime to lifetime, from generation to generation.

In v. 2, Moses said that even before God created the world, God is “from everlasting to everlasting.” We see a play of words here. As God is from everlasting to everlasting, so is He Israel’s refuge “from generation to generation.”

This means that this timeless God is their refuge within the timeframe of their lives. Within the limited timeframe of their lives, Moses finds the eternal, timeless God as their enduring refuge.

Now try to think about it. You are time-bound and therefore, temporary. You live in the limited timeframe of your life. But this eternal, timeless God has chosen to enter into your temporal timeframe, to help you, to be there for you.

Teach Us to Number Our Days

Psalm 90 is my favorite Psalm. I’ve long memorized these beautiful words in Ps. 90:1-2.

But this Psalm was written against the backdrop of sadness and difficulty. Moses wrote this Psalm after that crucial event in Kadesh Barnea. At Kadesh Barnea, the people of Israel rebelled against Yahweh (Num. 14). Near the border of the promised land, they turned back in unbelief. Yahweh condemned Israel to wander in the wilderness for forty years. He announced that everyone 20-years old and older shall die in forty years. God sent a plague and they all died, without seeing the promised land.

Psalm 90 is about Moses’ prayer to Yahweh after the crisis. Instead of complaining, Moses turned to God in believing prayer. It tells of the eternal power of Yahweh and His vital role in our lives

I will be honest with you—we shall face difficult times this New Year. But this Psalm teaches us that God can give us a heart of wisdom to face any crisis. It teaches us to number our days on the earth.

Please take time to read Psalm 90. In the coming days, we shall go deeper into the thoughts of Moses about the eternality of God and the frailty of humans.