Fear of the LORD

Driving home: It's the starting point, and it is the essential ingredient of every development, of every sphere of true knowledge.

The fear of the Lord is compared to the alphabet for writing, illustrating that it is not only the starting point but also the chief and essential part of all true knowledge, incorporated into every development.

When Solomon says the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, what did he mean? Well, you'll notice if you have an American Standard Version, that in the margin, or at the bottom, you have this translation of the word, the fear of the Lord is the chief part of knowledge. In other words, the fear of the Lord is, to all knowledge, what the alphabet is to all writing. You can never write until you learn your ABCs.

16:29 - 16:58 Read in full sermon

Driving home: The answer is not to be found in their intellect. The answer is not to be found in their culture. The answer is not to be found in any of these human factors. Here's the answer. There's no fear of God before their eyes.

This analogy is revisited to emphasize that casting off the fear of God is like throwing out the alphabet, robbing oneself of the ability to attain true knowledge.

And so, Solomon says, the man devoid of the fear of God has no preparation for true wisdom and true understanding. By casting off the fear of God, he actually robs himself of any ability to do good. The ability to be truly wise as much as the man who casts off the alphabet robs himself of the ability to read and write.

22:44 - 23:09 Read in full sermon

Driving home: The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. The chief part of knowledge, leave that out and you despise all true wisdom and instruction in every realm.

The current generation's attempt to understand the world and man through science and psychology alone, without true religion, is presented as an example of self-imposed ignorance and folly.

This text asserts then that true religion is the foundation of all true knowledge in general. I need not remind you of how eloquently our own generation is witness to this fact. For having ruled out true religion as a necessary element of true knowledge, our generation staggers under the influence of the heady wine of its own self-imposed ignorance.

26:29 - 27:04 Read in full sermon

Driving home: The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. The chief part of knowledge, leave that out and you despise all true wisdom and instruction in every realm.

A scientist observing a star is used to illustrate that without seeing the glory of God in creation, one does not truly understand it, despite scientific analysis.

So the scientist who looks into his telescope and sees nothing but a mass of matter so many light years away of such and such a density taking such and such a time for the light to come to us and says, I understand a part of God's world. He doesn't understand it until he sees in that glistening star a manifestation of the glory of God. For the heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament showeth His handiwork. And until he sees in that star these words written the glory of the Creator God, he hasn't seen a star.

28:08 - 28:48 Read in full sermon

Driving home: The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. The chief part of knowledge, leave that out and you despise all true wisdom and instruction in every realm.

A doctor analyzing the human body is used to illustrate that without seeing God's wisdom and power in its intricate functions, one does not truly understand it.

Sure, the doctor may look at the human body and analyze it and see all of its intricate functions, but until he says with David, I am fearfully and wonderfully made and sees in the human body a manifestation of the wisdom and the power of God, he doesn't understand the human body. Why? Because he's ruled out true religion. That receives the self-revelation that God has made and responds to that revelation in love and in obedience.

28:54 - 29:28 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: He argues that true religion is also the foundation for all true knowledge of human duty, as the book of Proverbs delineates, and that without the fear of God, there is a…

Martin recounts an experience at a garage where workers' lack of diligence and respect for time led to resentment and inefficiency, illustrating the breakdown of human duty and ethics without the fear of God.

You can't have any stable business ethics. You can't have a stable economy. You can't have a stable labor market without the fear of God. What a classic illustration I had of this the other day when I tried to get some snow tires put on.

32:35 - 32:50 Read in full sermon