W.I.S.H. – Weekly Insights for Spiritual Health 09-5-2018

Read:  2 Chronicles 1:7-12

For some time now the Lord has been bringing before me a recurring theme; that’s one of the ways that God gets my attention:  through repetition. Sometimes it comes in the reflections of a quiet time, or in the timeless witness of the wonder of God’s creation, or in the beauty of fellowship and Christian sharing, or perhaps standing in line at Meijers, and sometimes in the words of children.  God’s prompting is all around us, we just need the “ears to hear, eyes to see, and hearts to know” when the Holy Spirit is prompting us.  Lately God has been drawing my attention to the topic of wisdom; specifically the importance of wisdom for living life.

Many people have heard this verse:

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, …”  – Proverbs 9:10

Proverbs 4:7 offers us another perspective:

“The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom, and whatever else you get, get insight.” 

I like that. When young Solomon was about to succeed his father, David, as king, he was approached by the Lord in a vision and offered one wish; Solomon wished for wisdom to lead God’s people, (2 Chronicles 1:7-12).  The Lord was pleased to give Solomon the gift of wisdom, and commended him for valuing it above other things.

Praying for wisdom is a good prayer, and it’s a prayer that God is eager to answer. Seeking wisdom is the beginning of wisdom, and I believe that God honors that quest: those who seek wisdom, will find a measure of wisdom.

The Old Testament was written in Hebrew, the historic language of the Jewish people.  The word translated as “fear” is the Hebrew verb “yare”.  Yare means “to fear, to respect, to have reverence”.   “Fear of the Lord” is perhaps not as good a translation, (because of all the connotations of the word fear), as “Reverence of the Lord”.  These two proverbs converge “as the beginning of wisdom” as we have reverence for the Lord and desire God’s word/wisdom for our lives.

Shalom,

Pastor Rob Nystrom