Proverbs 9:10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding. I. THIS PRINCIPLE WILL PREPARE YOU FOR DISCHARGING IN AN ACCEPTABLE MANNER THE DUTIES WHICH YOU OWE MORE IMMEDIATELY TO YOUR MAKER. It is the fear of the Lord alone that can inspire and animate your devotions. The sense of His glorious presence will inspire a higher tone of adoration, will give a deeper humility to your confessions, and add a double fervour to your prayers. II. THIS PRINCIPLE WILL HAVE A MOST SALUTARY INFLUENCE ON THE WHOLE TENOR OF YOUR CONDUCT. The dictates of reason and conscience, considered as the commands of God, acquire thereby the force of a law; the authority of the lawgiver is respected, and it becomes a powerful motive to obedience. III. BUT WILL NOT THIS YEAR OF THE LORD ABRIDGE THE HAPPINESS OF LIFE? The impression that we act continually under the inspection of an Omniscient Judge — will it not impose a restraint on our conduct? Will it not check the gaiety of our hearts and diffuse a gloom over the whole of our existence? If, indeed, the Almighty were a capricious tyrant, who delighted in the miseries of His creatures, if the fear of the Lord were that servile principle which haunts the minds of the superstitious, then you might complain, with justice, that the yoke of religion was severe. But it is a service of a more liberal kind which the Ruler of the world requires. It is a restraint to which, independently of religion, prudence would admonish you to submit. It is not a restraint from any innocent enjoyment, but from misery and infamy and guilt. (W. Moodie, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.WEB: The fear of Yahweh is the beginning of wisdom. The knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. |
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