The Usefulness of Proverbs

Proverbs 1; I die daily devotional.

⁷ The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; Fools despise wisdom and instruction.

I tattooed “FEAR GOD” on my chest back in the day as a reminder to this rule, this principle, that teaches us youngsters in the faith—the beginning of knowledge. I don’t mean to encourage anyone getting a tattoo, but rather stress the importance of always to remember what the fear of the Lord means. The fear of the Lord at it’s core is a reverence of our Holy Father in Christ the Lord—Jesus.

FEAR

Fear in the context of a child in respect to their parents is how we ought to behave when addressed by God or when inquiring the affairs of God. That also includes everything about this moment of my writing and your reading. All of our present experience is inspired from the source of our cause, for example; the focus of this devotion is derived from that fear of the Lord as trust is established in God. There is no reason to fear that which is evil if our faith is truly to believe in the Person of Jesus Christ—the Word of God. God is good, and to accuse our good God of being evil, is evil.

And so when we as a rebellious people on this edge of contemplation about God are finally disciplined to one conclusion, there is a choice we must make: ^(a) Trust this good God at His Word as our heavenly Father by believing in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ; or ^(b) deny the grace of which means to save your soul, and accept the consequence to your choice as an enemy to God—of which will be the judgement that claims your soul according to your sin. I pray you’ll choose the former, not because it hits the pride where it needs to, but because God is Someone we can trust by believing the Word of Jesus Christ—Truth.

FOOL

When engaging with the activities of this world, it’s so natural to be brought back to the reality of a fool. We become so drunk with time; always busy or despairing. Be mindful of our time here on earth, but don’t live like there’s no tomorrow or you’ll miss the eternity of today. Don’t worry about anything, fast from everything. Do not wish to, seek to, or love to save your soul in this life because whoever loses their soul for Jesus’ sake and the gospel’s will preserve their soul to life eternal.

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RECOURSE

Proverbs 1 (NASB)—blueletterbible.org
¹ The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel: ² To know wisdom and instruction, To discern the sayings of understanding, ³ To receive instruction in wise behavior, Righteousness, justice and equity; ⁴ To give prudence to the naïve, To the youth knowledge and discretion, ⁵ A wise man will hear and increase in learning, And a man of understanding will acquire wise counsel, ⁶ To understand a proverb and a figure, The words of the wise and their riddles. ⁷ The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; Fools despise wisdom and instruction. The Enticement of Sinners ⁸ Hear, my son, your father’s instruction And do not forsake your mother’s teaching; ⁹ Indeed, they are a graceful wreath to your head And ornaments about your neck. ¹⁰ My son, if sinners entice you, Do not consent. ¹¹ If they say, “Come with us, Let us lie in wait for blood, Let us ambush the innocent without cause; ¹² Let us swallow them alive like Sheol, Even whole, as those who go down to the pit; ¹³ We will find all kinds of precious wealth, We will fill our houses with spoil; ¹⁴ Throw in your lot with us, We shall all have one purse,” ¹⁵ My son, do not walk in the way with them. Keep your feet from their path, ¹⁶ For their feet run to evil And they hasten to shed blood. ¹⁷ Indeed, it is useless to spread the baited net In the sight of any bird; ¹⁸ But they lie in wait for their own blood; They ambush their own lives. ¹⁹ So are the ways of everyone who gains by violence; It takes away the life of its possessors. Wisdom Warns ²⁰ Wisdom shouts in the street, She lifts her voice in the square; ²¹ At the head of the noisy streets she cries out; At the entrance of the gates in the city she utters her sayings: ²² “How long, O naïve ones, will you love being simple-minded? And scoffers delight themselves in scoffing And fools hate knowledge? ²³  “Turn to my reproof, Behold, I will pour out my spirit on you; I will make my words known to you. ²⁴ “Because I called and you refused, I stretched out my hand and no one paid attention; ²⁵ And you neglected all my counsel And did not want my reproof; ²⁶ I will also laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your dread comes, ²⁷ When your dread comes like a storm And your calamity comes like a whirlwind, When distress and anguish come upon you. ²⁸ “Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; They will seek me diligently but they will not find me, ²⁹ Because they hated knowledge And did not choose the fear of the LORD. ³⁰ “They would not accept my counsel, They spurned all my reproof. ³¹ “So they shall eat of the fruit of their own way And be satiated with their own devices. ³² “For the waywardness of the naïve will kill them, And the complacency of fools will destroy them. ³³ “But he who listens to me shall live securely And will be at ease from the dread of evil.”

^{Matthew 16:25} For whoever wants to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.

^{Mark 8:35} For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it.

^{Luke 9:24} For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, this is the one who will save it.

^{Luke 17:33} Whoever strives to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will keep it.

^{John 12:25} The one who loves his life loses it, and the one who hates his life in this world will keep it to eternal life.

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COMMENTARY

Matthew Henry (P1-V7) Commentary
Solomon, having undertaken to teach a young man knowledge and discretion, here lays down two general rules to be observed in order thereunto, and those are, to fear God and honour his parents, which two fundamental laws of morality Pythagoras begins his golden verses with, but the former of them in a wretchedly corrupted state. Primum, deos immortales cole, parentesque honora-First worship the immortal gods, and honour your parents. To make young people such as they should be,

• I. Let them have regard to God as their supreme.
  • 1. He lays down this truth, that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge (v. 7); it is the principal part of knowledge (so the margin); it is the head of knowledge; that is,
    • (1.) Of all things that are to be known this is most evident, that God is to be feared, to be reverenced, served, and worshipped; this is so the beginning of knowledge that those know nothing who do not know this.
    • (2.) In order to the attaining of all useful knowledge this is most necessary, that we fear God; we are not qualified to profit by the instructions that are given us unless our minds be possessed with a holy reverence of God, and every thought within us be brought into obedience to him. If any man will do his will, he shall know of his doctrine, Jn. 7:17.
    • (3.) As all our knowledge must take rise from the fear of God, so it must tend to it as its perfection and centre. Those know enough who know how to fear God, who are careful in every thing to please him and fearful of offending him in any thing; this is the Alpha and Omega of knowledge.
  • 2. To confirm this truth, that an eye to God must both direct and quicken all our pursuits of knowledge, he observes, Fools (atheists, who have no regard to God) despise wisdom and instruction; having no dread at all of God’s wrath, nor any desire of his favour, they will not give you thanks for telling them what they may do to escape his wrath and obtain his favour. Those who say to the Almighty, Depart from us, who are so far from fearing him that they set him at defiance, can excite no surprise if they desire not the knowledge of his ways, but despise that instruction. Note, Those are fools who do not fear God and value the scriptures; and though they may pretend to be admirers of wit they are really strangers and enemies to wisdom.