The Wisdom To Obey God
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. All who do his precepts have good understanding. His praise stands forever. (Psalm 111:10)
Wisdom is something that many people are willing to do anything to have. They look to this guru and that expert and they do plenty of research, hoping to find some nugget of wisdom for themselves. They may even look to the Bible to find some wisdom from Jesus, or from one of the Old Testament authors, but they miss the true wisdom that we find in the Bible.
The writer of Psalm 111 tells us where wisdom is found. It is in fearing the Lord. To fear the Lord is not only to be afraid of God. It is to know him, and love him, and give him the respect that he deserves. When sinners stand before God on their own, they should most certainly be afraid. God is a holy and perfect God, who cannot, and does not, tolerate sin. But that is only half of the story for those who believe. We fear God by knowing him, as he shows us in his Word. We love God because he first loved us, and sent his Son to be our substitute. We give God the respect that he deserves because of the grace that he has shown to us.
The wisdom that comes from fearing the Lord leads us to do the precepts of God. It leads us to follow God’s commands out of thankfulness for all that he has done for us. Led by the Spirit, we act according to God’s Will because it pleases our good and loving heavenly Father. It is only through the wisdom that we receive in God’s Word that we understand the love that God showed in giving his commands and the love that we are able to show to others by obeying those commands. Amen.
The song for today is “Psalm 111” by Adele Morgan