The beginning of wisdom

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding. To him belongs eternal praise. (Ps 111:10)

I'm going to bring my discussion of the fear of the Lord, and fearing no evil to a close now. I hope you've found it helpful. There is more I could say, but I feel I've said enough. I may pick up the subject again at a later date if it is appropriate.

However the scriptures say that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. This is just the beginning, not the end. So to conclude and summarise, here is a checklist:

• Who do we fear more: God or Satan?


• Who do we believe is in the driving seat? On the judgement seat?


• How awesome is our God? Do we let God be God, or do we shift the bits we don't like (e.g. the curse on creation, the discipline of believers) onto Satan?


• Does the fear of God make us feel safe? Do we believe Romans 8: If God is for us, who can be against us?


• Do we have peace that our lives are in God's hands, or do we worry about Satan's attacks?


• Do we give God the respect he deserves or have we become sloppy in our attitude towards him?


• How do we see Christ? As the Lord slain, or the Lord high and lifted up?


• How do we see Satan? On a rung of the ladder just below God, or defeated and under his feet?

Finally, I'll finish with an anecdotal story about the reformer Martin Luther. It is said that one night he woke from a bad dream, and hearing a sound, lit a candle. There at the foot of his bed, was none other than the devil himself, grinning menacingly over him. "Oh!" said Luther, "It's only you!" and blowing out the candle he turned over and went back to sleep.

Sleep easy. Our God is in control: fear him, and fear no evil.