Psalm 111

Recently, I read this maxim on Facebook: Knowledge is knowing that the tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in your fruit salad. Knowledge and wisdom are definitely not the same thing. We live in a world where there is a lot of knowledge, but not much wisdom. In fact, in today’s culture, many people jettison wisdom (which begins with reverent awe for God) because of their so-called knowledge (ignoring God in the name of “reason”).

However, the psalmist informs us that there is no wisdom without worship: “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding. To him belongs eternal praise.” (vs 10) That word translated fear doesn’t mean terror; it means awe, reverence, and respect. Those who respect the Lord have taken the first step to attaining wisdom.

Worship is the beginning of wisdom, the first step towards finding it. Unless you begin with awe for God, you will never attain wisdom; any “wisdom” without Him is just nonsense.

But, like every good author, God doesn’t simply tell us about the beginning of wisdom; He develops the plot. In the verse I quoted, there are three secrets of wisdom. The first we have already touched on—stand in awe of God.

The second secret—found in all who follow his precepts have good understanding—is to obey Him. The Word of God isn’t just something that we should read and study, like literature. It is something we should do. When we obey God, we begin to understand what He is doing in this great, universe-wide war. Obedience fine-tunes our insight.

This leads to the third secret: praising God. The psalmist wrote that God’s praise endures forever. Praise is the fuel in the engine of wisdom—keeping it running. If wisdom begins by our reverence for God, then praise perpetuates wisdom, for praise makes idolatry impossible. Praise removes selfishness from our lives by taking our eyes from ourselves and putting them squarely on God.

So, there you have it. God is the author of true wisdom. The more we respect Him, the more we will obey Him. And the more we obey Him, the more our insight about Him will increase, and the more we will praise Him. And the more we praise Him, the more we will respect Him.

As you can see, the story of true wisdom never comes to an end. God is its Author, and it just keeps on going and going and going . . .