Psalm 111:10
Where we begin, often determines whether we will succeed or fail. Begin to build a house in the sand without a good foundation, and the rain, the flood, and the wind will destroy it, Matthew 7:24-27. The same thing is true about obtaining wisdom. As we read in Psalm 111:10, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do His commandments: His praise endureth forever."
The truth we have here is that unless we have the fear of the Lord, we have no wisdom. Men may laud us and call us the wise men of the day. But we must fear God, or we just do not understand anything correctly.
Rule God out of His creation; fear men instead of God; and you are simply walking in folly. Attribute any part of salvation to man, and maintain that man begins it by letting Christ come into his heart, and you reveal that you have no true understanding of Christ and the salvation in Him.
To fear God means to believe that He is God. Fear is the Old Testament word for faith. Merely to be afraid of God is not wisdom. Trust in Him, rely upon Him, and serve Him, and you are wise. The psalmist here expresses that fear by stating that they who fear God have a good understanding. The words "His commandments" do not appear in the Hebrew text. And the psalmist explains it more fully by stating, "His praise endureth forever."
The idea is that he who fears God, he who is truly wise and has a good understanding, will praise God. That is what the fear of the Lord always produces. Our versification explains it thus (PRC Psalter):
In reverence and godly fear
Man finds the gate to wisdom's ways;
The wise His holy name revere;
Through endless ages sound His praise.
If you praise Him by word and deed, you reveal true wisdom. Those who do not praise Him reveal lack of good understanding.
How much wisdom have you revealed today? Do you understand your calling in the midst of this world? Are you wise as to why God placed you on this earth, and what your calling is before Him?
Read: Psalm 111
Psalter versification: #304:7
Meditations on the Heidelberg Catechism
Song for Meditation: Psalter #158
Why not sing along??
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Through the Bible in One Year
Read today:
Habakkuk 1 ; Habakkuk 2 ; Habakkuk 3
Revelation 9:10-21
Psalm 137:1-9
Proverbs 30:10
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Quote for Reflection:
"In this verse the apostle evidently declares what he intended by ‘the law’ in that foregoing, which ‘the people received under the Levitical priesthood.’ It was the whole ‘law of commandments contained in ordinances,’ or the whole law of Moses, so far as it was the rule of worship and obedience unto the church; for that law it is that followeth the fates of the priesthood ... Wherefore there is also ... ‘a change of the law;’ that is, an abolition of it: for it is a change of the same nature with the change of the priesthood; which, as we have showed, was its abolition and taking away ... there is ‘made’ a change. It did, indeed, necessarily follow on the change of the priesthood; yet not so, but that there was an act of the will and authority of God on the law itself. God made this change, and he alone could do it; that he would do so, and did so, the apostle proves in this and the verses following. So is the ‘law of commandments contained in ordinances taken out of the way,’ being ‘nailed unto the cross of Christ,’ where he left it completely accomplished" ~ John Owen (Hebrews, vol. 5, pp. 428, 434)
Additional Info
- Date: 18-December
Heys, John A.
Rev. John A. Heys was born on March 16, 1910 in Grand Rapids, MI. He was ordained and installed into the ministry at Hope, Walker, MI in 1941. He later served at Hull, Iowa beginning in 1955. In 1959 he accepted the call to serve the South Holland, IL Protestant Reformed Church. He received and accepted the call to Holland, Michigan Protestant Reformed Church in 1967. He retired from the active ministry in 1980. He entered into glory on February 16, 1998.