The Beginning of Knowledge
Some friends and I have just begun reading through the book of Proverbs. This is a book, most assume, written by Solomon the son of King David – considered to be the wisest person to have walked the earth during the days of old. Therefore, Proverbs is a book of wise sayings and general rules to live by – all of which begin with the fear of the Lord.
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge” (Proverbs 1:7a). Sounds straightforward enough, but this then begs the question: what is the fear of the Lord? Fear, as it is written here, is used to describe a deep reverence for. And to revere is to hold deep respect for someone or something. The beginning of knowledge, therefore, comes when one deeply reveres God. Now, and not a second before, you’re in a posture prepared to receive from the Lord.
Proverbs 2 gives us more guidance into this practice when the author says, “If you seek it (wisdom, insight, knowledge, understanding) like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God” (Proverbs 2:4-5).
When we revere something or someone, it incites a curiosity or even an obsession with that thing or person. When we obsess, we incline after and pursue and desire to know more. And whether intentional or not, we tend to practice and become more like the thing or person we are looking after.
Solomon knew this and it’s what he is imploring us towards in his writing. At the beginning of chapter 2, he says, “if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you, making year ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding; yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding…” (Proverbs 2:1-3).
This deep reverence moves us to first receive the instruction of wisdom, to be careful to filter what we listen to, and to practice pointing our heart towards, asking for and seeking after understanding.
As you can see, this is a full-embodied pursuit after the Lord. And it’s then that we will understand what it means to fear the Lord. What I want to point out here is that this is not a five-point how-to list of “learning” God. No, it’s only after thrusting ourselves into the deep end, fully submerged into the pursuit of the Lord that this understanding is then released to us.
It’s like this, someone can explain the grind of a grueling baseball season to you until they are blue in the face. And there are bits and pieces that you can glean from this, but until you submerge yourself in the experience of an actual season, you won’t have a full understanding.
Friend, God desires to give Himself to us. I heard it said this way once, “cars are designed to run on petrol, we are designed to run on God Himself.” If this is true, our first order of business is recognizing our need for the Lord, otherwise we won’t go to Him and will be running on empty. In the same way, you could be working on your broken-down car for years and years thinking it’s the engine or the starter or the transmission and make no progress, when the whole time it was simply out of gas. It’s when you come to realize your lack of fuel that you then fill up your tank.
We, also, must first realize our need for the Lord in order for us to fully pursue Him and His ways. Where from here? Accept that the Bible is telling the truth, then we believe that fearing the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. Practice pursuing the Lord. Begin by praying to Him. Ask Him for help in further understanding your lack and your true need for Him. Habituate this request and follow where you feel like your heart is being led. Let’s be a people filled with knowledge and wisdom and this starts – by fearing God.
