“And (God) said to man, the fear of the Lord – that is wisdom, and to shun evil is understanding.”
In one of his long discourses, Job spoke of wisdom and understanding. In verses 20-21 he said: “Where then does wisdom and understanding dwell? 21. It is hidden from the eyes of every living thing, concealed even from the birds of the air.” Wisdom and understanding seem to be hopeless quests for people. In verses 23-24, Job gave the key to wisdom and understanding: “God understands the way to it and He alone knows where it dwells, 24. For He views the ends of the earth and sees everything under the heavens.” Out of his misery, Job gave a clue as to where we can hope to find wisdom and understanding in this world: It is found in God! Job said that “The fear of the Lord – that is wisdom.” In the prologue to Proverbs, Solomon wrote: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.” Real wisdom begins and ends with fearing God. This does not mean that we are to be afraid of God as we are of ghosts. It means that we are to hold God in great reverence and accept Him in all of His omnipotence, omniscience and omnipresence. We must see God as all-powerful, all-knowing, and ever-present. To limit God in any way is foolish. This means that wisdom begins in holding God in great awe, and accepting that all of our hopes and dreams reside in Him. Wise people depend on God and look to Him as the source of all of the things that they seek out of life. Throughout the Bible, and throughout human history, we see how badly things go for people when they ignore God and leave Him out of life. That is why we have constant chaos in the world, because the world is not right with God and seek to do things on their own without God. Great empires have risen and fallen because they did not fear God, but went their own way. A lot of lives are in chaos right now because they do not hold God in great reverence and worship Him as they should. People are so busy seeking what they want, trying to get through life on human wisdom alone, that they are finding futility. There might be momentary joy in reaching our human goals, but we soon discover that earthly joy comes and goes like smoke. If we want to live truly wise lives, we recognize that God is all-important, and that true wisdom is to hold Him in reverence and awe. People go to great lengths to try to find wisdom and understanding in many different ways. Self-help books abound on the shelves of bookstores and libraries. Today, we have the internet to help us find out about almost anything that we want to know. The problem is that no matter how many books we read, and no matter how many internet sites we go to, we will not find wisdom and understanding until we find it in God – in the Lord Jesus Christ. When we find wisdom through God we learn to shun evil and to find understanding. Many people are committing suicide today because they just come to their wit’s end and find that life has no meaning. Until we discover the wisdom of God, and use that wisdom to find understanding through shunning evil, we will not find the illusive wisdom that we need. God sent Jesus into the world to enable us by faith to gain His wisdom and understanding. Jesus gave us the Holy Spirit to lead and guide us in shunning evil. What the world needs today is to go way back in time and discover Job 28:28 and discover the true route to wisdom and understanding. We are far away from that now, but God will ultimately prevail and the “earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” (Habukkuk 2:14) Bro. Joe
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“O God, thou knowest my foolishness; and my sins are not hid from thee.”
Abraham Lincoln said: “You can fool some of the people some of the time, but you can’t fool all of the people all of the time.” That is true, but what is even truer is that you cannot ever fool God. He is omniscient (all-knowing). We cannot hide from God. David wrote that “thou knowest my foolishness.” When I read that this morning, I thought, man I am really in trouble. If God knows my foolishness, He knows a lot about me. (Don’t laugh it probably applies to you as well. Lol) What is foolishness? According to The American Century Dictionary it is “lacking good sense or judgment, unwise.” This is why the Lord told us in Proverbs 3:5-7: “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not to thine own understanding." 6. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths. 7. Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord and depart from evil.” Since God knows so much about us, it is understandable that He knows all of our thoughts. There is one illustration I have occasionally shared with churches: “How would we like it if all of our thoughts were placed over our heads like thoughts and words in comic strips?” We would all know what everyone is thinking and I imagine that a lot of relationships would be changed “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye.” Then we would know a lot of what God already knows about us. That leads to a question: If we care that much about what other people think about our thoughts, why aren’t we as concerned that God knows our thoughts? David also wrote: “and my sins are not hid from thee.” This means that God not only knows what we think but what we do as well. There is nothing that we ever do that God does not see, but God6 has all-seeing eyes. All of the things that we ever think that we have done in secret were not secrets to God. That is a sobering thought isn’t it? As the old saying goes: “You can run but you can’t hide.” I don’t know at what point in David’s life this psalm was written, but when he committed adultery with Bathsheba, he found out that this is really true. Even if David could have hidden what he did from the people and the prophet Nathan, he still would not have gotten away with it, for God already knew it. God knows our every thought and our every deed, but He loves us anyway. That is the good news of the Bible. We are sinners who sometimes think bad thoughts and do bad things, but He loves us anyway Understand that He is not always pleased with us, and because of His love for us will discipline us, but He will also forgive and clean the whole slate. That’s why I’m glad that: “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.” Bro. Joe “Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other. 11. Truth shall spring out of the earth, and righteousness shall look down from heaven. 12. Yea, the Lord shall give that which is good and our land shall yield her increase. 13. Righteousness shall go before Him, and shall set us in the way of his steps.”
These verses contain the components of true revival. We can take these promises that were given to Israel and apply them to our need for revival. We need to understand that for us to have true revival we will need God’s mercy and truth. They are tied together in this text to show us that we need to experience both. We need God’s mercy because we are sinners in need of God’s mercy, which He gives abundantly. But with God’s mercy comes His truth. We cannot fully appreciate God’s abundant mercy if we do not also appreciate His truth. We have an answer for mercy and truth through Jesus, who said, “I am the way, the truth and the life.” Jesus is ready and willing to supply His mercy and truth for us. We cannot deny our need for Christ’s mercy and we cannot deny His truth in our lives. The promise that Jesus gave to the church in Laodicea is also given to us: “Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him and he with me.” The psalmist tied righteousness and peace together. He wrote that they have “kissed each other.” The Hebrew word for “kissed” means to “kiss repeatedly and intensely.” (Key Word Study Bible) We are reminded, as we were with mercy and truth, that we cannot have peace without righteousness. Revival will mean that we have surrendered to living righteously and in the process have peace. We cannot have one without the other. Often we try to attain, and maintain, peace in our churches without also living in God’s righteousness. Of course our commitment to biblical truth is important in our experiencing the revival that is promised in this text. Finally we are promised that when we receive God’s mercy and truth, and when righteousness and truth have “kissed each other,” we will realize the blessings of the Lord in our churches. Read verses 11-13 in the text printed above. It is important to see the concluding words in the text: “and (He) shall set us in the way of His steps.” God-sent revival makes a difference in our fellowship and in our personal commitment to following in the steps of Jesus. Are we ready for this kind of revival in our lives and in our churches? Bro. Joe “I will hear what God the Lord will speak: for He will speak peace unto His people, and to His saints, but let them not turn again to folly. 9. Surely His salvation is near them that fear Him; but glory may dwell in our land.”
The psalmist pleaded for revival in verses 6-7, then in ensuing verses he gave some idea of what revival would be. As I read these verses I thought that we could use these ideas in our churches to have revival. First, he wrote that he was listening for the voice of God in the matter of revival. It occurred to me that we need to listen for the Lord’s voice in planning for revival. This would call for prayer on the part of members of the church. God will speak to our hearts if we really want to see what His will is. Second, the message from the Lord would be “peace unto His people, and to His saints.” The Lord’s message to us will always end in peace if we really understand His will. The interesting thing is that when God gave “His people and His saints” peace, they should not “turn again to folly.” If you have really read about the nations of Israel and Judah, you know that folly pretty much describes what they did. They worshiped the false gods of the Canaanites. In their actions they did not reflect the lives of God’s “saints.” If revival accomplishes anything it will bring change to the membership of the church. We are not strangers to “folly,” with our church feuds and splits. (Please forgive my negativity, but we need this message if we want revival.) Third, the psalmist wrote the Lord really wants revival for those “who fear Him.” This does not mean that revival would make us afraid of God. It means that we would be careful to seek His will, and because we know that He is the source of revival in our churches. Proverbs 14: 26-27 speaks to this issue: “In the fear of the Lord is strong confidence and His children shall have a place of refuge. 27. The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death.” If we want our churches to come alive, we will honor the presence of God in our midst and in His will for us. This would call for confession and repentance. When we go to our knees is prayer, we are already having revival. Look for “This Is Revival II” tomorrow. Bro. Joe “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.”
Are we supposed to be afraid of God? The answer to that question is yes and no. Yes, we should be afraid of Him if we do not acknowledge His existence and His great love for us, that is, if we just shut Him out of our lives.That is why Hebrews 10:31 tells us: "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." No, we should not be afraid of Him in the sense of dread if we believe in Him, trust Him for salvation and sustenance in this life. God is serious about loving us. He loves us so much that He disciplines us. (Read Hebrews 12:5-11.) He is serious about having a relationship with us. He went to great lengths in sending His Son to die as a perfect sacrifice for our sins. Therefore, He is serious about our reaction to Him and our relationship to Him. What does it mean, however, to “fear God” when we are believers? To fear God in the sense that a Christian should fear Him, means that we hold Him in great awe. When we think of God, we do not think of Him as a powerless being that is helpless before the forces of evil. To fear God in that sense is to realize His true greatness. Think for a moment about the greatness of God from the standpoint of size. He is the creator of the universe. He is the master of the universe, that is, He is in charge of the universe and holds it all together. From what we know about the size of the universe today, this makes Him a great being indeed. To some people this is beyond belief, for they do not understand how a great being like that can exist. To those of us who believe, His greatness makes His reality even more meaningful. God’s greatness is beyond all that we can imagine. That is why we must accept Him by faith. To fear God, then, is to hold Him in great awe as One who is larger than life. Ironically, I think that to say we fear God is to say that we love Him. What do I mean? When we think of God’s vastness, His omniscience, omni-presence and omnipotence, we stand amazed that such a great being as this could love us enough to take an interest in our mully-grubbing little lives. We love God because He created us in His image. We love God because he wants to be involved in our lives. David expressed what I am trying to convey in Psalm 8:3-4: “When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars which you have ordained; 4. What is man, that you are mindful of Him? And the Son of man, that you visit Him?” David looked at the greatness of God and stood amazed that this God would be interested in Him. Though David did not use the word “love” here, I think that this is an expression of love as well as amazement. In 1 John 4:19, John gave good reason for us to love God: “We love (God), because He first loved us.” To fear God is to take that awesome love seriously. To fear God in the sense of holding Him in great awe, and realizing His greatness, is to acknowledge that He is involved in our lives. This is amazing. God loves us so much that He sacrificed His Son for us, and the Son sent the Holy Spirit to live in our lives. This great God wants to be part of our lives. What is there about us that makes God want to relate to us? The Bible explicitly says that “there is none good, no not one.” The Bible tells us that “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” The Bible makes it plain that we are not innately worthy of all that God has done for us, and all that He wants to do for us through Jesus. But in spite of that, in His grace and mercy, God loves us and yearns for us to draw close to Him. How can we not hold such a great, loving God in awe and wonder? Remember the hymn: “I stand amazed in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene, and wonder how He could love me a sinner, condemned, unclean.” Do your fear God in the sense of holding Him great awe, loving Him and having a relationship with Him? Bro. Joe |
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