by Pamela Ashton

Created on: October 10, 2009   Last Updated: October 23, 2009

It has been said that the passage of scripture found in Psalm 111:10 is one of the most misunderstood. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, the scripture states. On the surface the verse intimates that to gain wisdom one must fear the Lord. By our most common use of the word fear today, it would seem we must be afraid of God; that we must live in a state of apprehension and dread, expecting punishment for wrongdoings, and perhaps being rewarded with the gift of wisdom when we are good, as long as we remain fearful of the Lord.

This seems to me to be an unfathomable notion. The scriptures teach God as a God of love; why then should we live in a constant state of fear of Him. If we examine the word fear a little closer, we find that in the Hebrew language of scripture, the word fear connotes reverence and awe; a submission of our will to God's will.* In this state of respectful worship of our God, we are prepared to receive the gifts He has for us.

In the other meaning of fear, which places us in a state of feeling unworthy before God and always feeling fearful of Him, we are feeling something that God, in His perfect love, seeks to cast out of our lives. (1 John 4:18). This state of fear numbs our spirits and stagnates our growth. We are unable to learn when we are blinded by this type of fear.

In the days of scripture, it was desirable to be known as a God fearing people, or people who depended upon God and were worshipful and reverent before him. When thought about in this manner, our scripture makes much more sense. If we substitute the word reverence for fear, we then read: the [reverence] of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. This suggests that to gain wisdom from God we must reverence Him. Reverence is a respectful, submissive attitude of mind resulting in affection and esteem for the person to which it is directed.* So to receive God's wisdom we must be submissive, humble and teachable. We must submit to His will for us. As far as we do so, we will also grow in affection and esteem toward God. There is nothing fearful in this process.

The second segment of Psalm 111:10 states . . .a good understanding have all they that do His commandments. . . This indicates to me that as valuable as wisdom is (as illustrated in Proverbs 8:11, 16:16, and Ecclesiastes 9:16, which state having wisdom is worth more than rubies, gold, or physical strength) by itself it is not enough. This is confirmed by the number of references in scripture where wisdom

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