Bless us together this evening
as we meditate in His holy word. Let us turn to the book of Psalms,
and we'll read the last verse in Psalm 111. That's verse 10.
So Psalm 111, and reading verse 10. The fear of the Lord is the
beginning of wisdom. A good understanding have all
they that do his commandments. His praise endureth for ever. It's a blessing if we can appreciate
and understand the fear of the Lord. And so often we can have
a very wrong conception of what it really means. Because this
fear of the Lord is a fear which one has of offending. Offending. You can think of it
in a natural way. We have parents and friends and
perhaps they've been very kind to us shown us many favours. We don't want to upset them by
doing or saying the wrong things. So we have then a fear of offending,
a fear of doing that which upsets them. Well, in a far greater
way, that's the same with Almighty God. And may our fear be not
to do those things which are wrong, which are not well-pleasing
to our God. We can often think of things
that we do wrongly, but to think of things which are well-pleasing
to our God and to desire to do those things, the fear of the
Lord. And here the psalmist tells us
the blessing of this fear of the Lord is the beginning of
wisdom, the beginning of Wisdom as we might think the beginning
of spiritual understanding spiritual blessing What a mercy it is if
God blesses us with that we read together the 28th of Job Which
is a very interesting account and Job sets before us in that
chapter wonderful blessings. And he speaks there about wisdom. And he gives us some understanding
of what it really refers to. He says in verse 12, But where
shall wisdom be found? Where is the place of understanding? Man knoweth not the price thereof,
neither is it found in the land of the living. And he goes through
a list then. of natural things which are valuable
and we might think worth seeking after. But he has to conclude
that none of these really account for true godly wisdom. He comes
and says, whence then cometh wisdom? Where is the place of
understanding? Well, it's a great blessing if
God shows to you and me where true wisdom is. Where is true
wisdom? Well, the very last verse of
this 28th chapter tells us. And Job says, and unto man, he
said, that's God, says, behold, the fear of the Lord, that is
wisdom. And to depart from evil is understanding. So we have really these two things
which are linked together. this blessing of the fear of
the Lord, a right fear, a fear not wanting to offend, not wanting
to do those things which are not well pleasing to Almighty
God. Understanding that that is wisdom
and also then it links to, to depart from evil is understanding. It's the same really as this
verse in this 111th Psalm It tells us the fear of the Lord
is the beginning of wisdom. And he goes on and says, a good
understanding have all they that do his commandments. His praise
endureth forever. So often we perhaps look for
natural understanding, understand things in our life, our natural
life, which will advance us in natural wisdom and natural knowledge. But what a blessing it is to
realise that these things are really centred, having a good
understanding, is to do the commandments of Almighty God. Well, there
are many commandments, are there not, in the Word of God. Many
commandments, perhaps, which we don't always realise exist,
and yet they are there. And of course, one of the greatest
commands is we should love the Lord our God with all our heart
and with all our minds. And he goes on to say, and our
neighbour as ourselves. Well, we see there a statement
which is not easy for us naturally to be able to carry out, but
it is important that we have a good understanding, because
the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and this wisdom directs
us to having a good understanding of those things which are necessary
those things which are God's commands. Well, as we think of
that, we think of the example of our Saviour, the Lord Jesus
Christ. And He gives us a very clear
command, doesn't He? He tells us to take up our cross
and to follow Him. Well, we're no doubt familiar
with that how often we fail to do it properly and yet it is
having a good understanding of the Word of God and that which
is then the fear of the Lord because it is well pleasing to
our God. Well I wonder this evening if
we can examine ourselves, it's always good to examine ourselves. It's not always comfortable,
it's not always pleasant, but it's always a good exercise to
see whether we are walking rightly before our God. The fear of the
Lord is the beginning of wisdom. It's not the end, it's the beginning. Desiring to do that which is
good and right, a good understanding of all they that do his commandments. Well, God knows whether our desire
is to do the commandments of our God, or whether we want to
please ourselves and to go our own way. It's very easy, you
know, to carry on in our own way without really desiring to
please Almighty God. The Proverbs of Solomon, it's
a wonderful book with so much gracious instruction in that
book and in the ninth chapter of this book of the Proverbs.
We read in the 10th verse, again, very similar words. The fear
of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and the knowledge of
the holy is understanding. And prior to that, the ninth
verse tells us, give instructions to a wise man and he will be
yet wiser. Teach a just man and he will
increase in learning. And then the fear of the Lord
is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the holy is
understanding. What a mercy then if our desire
is for this fear of the Lord, which is the beginning of wisdom,
to have this knowledge of the holy, knowledge of the things
of God. We strive, don't we? for natural
knowledge. We need to, our young people,
especially when they're at school or college or university, they
need to learn. That's what they go there for,
they need to learn. But yet here we have this wonderful
statement that the knowledge of the holy is understanding. And that really means the knowledge
of the things of God. the things concerning our Saviour,
the Lord Jesus Christ, the things concerning our eternal salvation. These are the important things
to know whether we are right with God and whether we are called,
as we mentioned this morning, by our God. And if the Lord in
his sovereign purpose was to come tonight and to take our
little life from this earth, Would it then be well with our
soul? Would we possess this wonderful
knowledge, this spiritual knowledge of ourselves and this spiritual
knowledge of the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, the spiritual
knowledge indeed of God the Father and God the Son and God the Holy
Ghost? To have that opened to our understanding
What a blessing if we seek then this wisdom, heavenly wisdom,
to know these spiritual blessings. Well, the Lord knows our desires. The Lord knows what we really
desire before him, whether we are concerned to be blessed spiritually,
whether we do want to grow in grace and the knowledge of our
Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Only God knows. You see, you
and I can easily say words. Words are easy, relatively. But
whether they emanate from our heart, that's really the important
issue, isn't it? See, God looks right into your
heart and into my heart. And he knows what our desires
are. And he knows whether it is a
concern that we might be blessed with the knowledge of the holy,
the knowledge of the true, wonderful blessings of God. If that really
is our concern, to receive this knowledge. And as the proverb
goes on to say, this is indeed understanding. This is true understanding. This is blessed understanding
because It's directing our souls in a right way. And in this direction, what a
blessing it is if we are led in our meditation and led in
our thoughts to none other than the Lord Jesus Christ and the
wonderful plan of salvation. And to realize that that plan
originated in eternity past, before the world was created. There was that plan of salvation
laid down, and that plan of salvation to redeem our souls. How amazing
it is to really consider that Almighty God, the one who's made
everything, should before time began, with the Father and the
Holy Spirit, agreed to deliver us and to save our souls. Well, if the Holy Spirit gives
us to realise the amazing blessing this is, then surely we can believe
we would desire to have this fear of the Lord, which is the
beginning of wisdom. Beginning indeed of spiritual
wisdom. And we have that good understanding of what the Lord
has done for us, what the Lord has done to us. What a mercy
today. If you and I may consider in
our lives to realise, yes, God has begun that good work in my
soul. I never deserved it. In actual
fact, I never asked for it. But God came and blessed me,
and God came and favoured me. It's wonderful, isn't it? If
it's through this, through the favour of God, that we have come
to this position, and we have blessed them with the true faith
of the Lord, and not wanting, therefore, to do anything against
our God, not wanting to offend our God, that one who has loved
us with an everlasting love. How often, you know, we fail
to realise the wonderful blessing that we do receive as we live
in a gospel day and we're privileged to enjoy so many favours and
yet so often we turn our back upon Almighty God. I sometimes
think of the words in the 10th chapter of Romans where the Apostle's
concern was that Israel, that means the Church of God really,
might be saved. That was his great concern. And he's able to say, for I bear
them record that they have a zeal of God but not according to knowledge. See, that's the relevant point,
isn't it? That the psalmist brings forth that we need a zeal of
God which is according to knowledge. Not that which is not according
to knowledge. You see, Israel of old was satisfied
with their own natural understanding. And they were reliant on all
the things that they did, all their good works. That's what
they were relying on. dependent on, but then the Lord
comes and speaks through the Apostle in this 10th chapter
and he says, but what saith it, referring to the word of God,
the word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth and in thy heart, that
is the word of faith which we preach. And if thou shalt confess
with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thine heart,
that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. Well, we may be truly desiring
to have the evidence in our hearts that we do possess this fear
of the Lord, this godly fear, and to realize it is the beginning
of spiritual wisdom, and it will really be worked out like this
in our lives. We won't be dumb, we won't go
around ignoring the truth of God, but as the Apostle says
here, we shall confess with our mouth the Lord Jesus. How many
people today ignore such a glorious statement? It is a wonderful
privilege to confess the Lord Jesus Christ, that he is the
one who's died upon the cross at Calvary for us. Do we offend
God by not confessing him? If he's done anything for our
souls, if he's made us aware of our spiritual need, if he's
come to us and shown us our sinfulness and directed us to the Saviour. Well, if we confess with our
mouth the Lord Jesus Christ, that he is our only hope. And then he says, and shalt believe
in thy heart. That's not with a head knowledge.
It's more than that. It is a head knowledge. but it
also comes into our heart. It's a real confession and a
real belief in our heart that God has raised him from the dead.
Thou shalt be saved. What that means is our hope is
in what the Lord Jesus Christ has done. Well, what a mercy
it is for us tonight. If we have a good hope toward
our souls, for what the Lord Jesus Christ has done. And you
see, this will be worked out in our life. Like this, the fear
of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and a good understanding
of all they that do his commandments. And a good understanding is a
spiritual understanding to know that the Lord Jesus Christ is
our Saviour. The Lord Jesus Christ has died
to redeem our souls. I wonder then, tonight if you
and I have the evidence of it. Because the apostle goes on to
tell us, the scripture says, whosoever believeth on him shall
not be ashamed. Well, are we ashamed of the Saviour? Are we ashamed of the Lord Jesus
Christ? And there's another whosoever,
for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be
saved. Well, again, that's a question,
isn't it, for each one of us as to whether we have called
upon the name of the Lord to be saved. That means, as we mentioned
this morning, we confess our sins and we call upon the name
of the Lord. And the Apostle just goes through
a very simple line, as it were, of the direction of how the soul
is blessed. He tells us, How then shall they
call on him in whom they have not believed? Again, that's quite
obvious, isn't it? If you and I don't believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ, if we don't believe that he is the
saviour of sinners, and we don't believe that he is the one who
can save our soul, really, there's no point, is there? In coming
to the Lord Jesus Christ. So here we have this statement.
How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed?
And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? There are many in the world today
who have not heard about the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, all
of us here tonight have heard of the Lord Jesus Christ, and
none of us can plead ignorance on these things. And so he says,
then how shall they call on him in whom they have not believed?
And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard?
And then he goes on, and how shall they hear without a preacher? Well, all of us here tonight
have been blessed to hear the gospel preached. So the reality
is, every one of us will never be able to say, well, I never
knew. I never heard the gospel. I was never directed in this
way. We are, every one of us, without
excuse. And that's a very solemn position,
isn't it? To think that you and I would
never be able to stand before the judgment seat of Christ and
say, well, nobody ever told me. Because you have been told. You
may not want to hear. You may have a deaf ear. But
that doesn't relieve you of the responsibility of hearing the
good news of the gospel through the preaching of the word. And
then the apostle says, And how shall they preach except they
be sent? As it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them
that preach the gospel of peace. and bring glad tidings of good
things. And he says, so then, faith,
faith to believe, is given by God. So then, faith cometh by
hearing, and hearing by the word of God. But I say, have they
not heard? Yes, very, their sound went into
all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world. But
I say, did not Israel know? First Moses saith, I will provoke
you to jealousy. By them there are no people,
and by a foolish nation I will anger you. But Isaiah says, very
bold, and saith, I was found of them that sought me not. I was made manifest unto them
that asked not after me. And that may be true. We may
not have sought the Lord, but he may have come to us. He may
have quickened us, made us spiritually alive. What a wonderful blessing
that is. And what a wonderful favour then
to have a good understanding. A God-given understanding. The fear of the Lord is the beginning
of wisdom. a good understanding have all
they that do his commandments. Well, this fear of the Lord,
this fear of the Lord brought about because of all the wonderful
favours and all the wonderful mercies that God has given to
us. And the wonderful privilege that
we have tonight of hearing the Gospel. My friends, don't turn
away from the truth of God. Realise the wonderful blessing
which is ours tonight, that we are able to hear the Gospel.
There are billions in the world who have never heard the Gospel. What a mercy it is. And may this
truly Bless us then with this, we might say, the tender fear
of the Lord, not wanting indeed to offend Almighty God for what
he's done, for his great love and mercy toward us. Moses knew
what it was, going right back into Deuteronomy, and as Moses
spoke indeed to the children of Israel, shortly before he
was to be taken from them, He wanted them to understand. He tells us in the fourth chapter
of Deuteronomy, as he began his discourse, and from verse 5 we're
told, Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even
as the Lord my God commanded me that ye should do so. in the
land with an ego to possess it and then he says keep therefore
and do them and we today are to keep the commands of gracious
God and do them keep therefore and do them for this is your
wisdom this is the wisdom that God gives us we're not to ignore
these things we're not I think well they're not relevant to
us they're very relevant is your wisdom and understanding wisdom
and understanding you see again linked together right back in
Moses day in the sight of all the nations which shall hear
all these statutes and say surely this great nation is a wise and
understanding people For what nation is there so great, who
hath God so nigh unto them, as the Lord our God is in all things
that we call upon him for? Well, is that not true for us
today? Just think sometimes of the blessings
that you and I have, surrounded with spiritual blessings, are
we not? The Word of God in our own language.
Godly people to meet with. The Gospel to hear preached.
Freedom of religion, freedom of worship. My friends, great
are these mercies. The Lord could take them all
away from us, but in His love and mercy, They're granted to
us. So today, we are wonderfully
privileged with these blessings. And what a mercy it is. And how
thankful we should be. And I hope we are. And if we
are, you see, surely it comes down to this fear of the Lord. This fear of the Lord, not wanting
to go against God. not to offend God. I wonder whether
that's true in our lives. Whether this is uppermost in
our life as we go about our work, day by day, wherever it may be.
Perhaps it's at school or college or university or in the workplace
or at home, wherever it is. To have this blessing and the
fear of the Lord constantly with us, reminding us of all that
we should do and all that we should not do. That's the wonderful
truth, isn't it? It's fear the Lord brings us
into these situations so that we are kept from doing things
which are not right and what a mercy it is. In Nehemiah's
day, Nehemiah was a godly man, you may remember. And we have
a testimony of what he did and how he spoke. and we should be
very thankful for it. And he came before the governors
and important people, but it didn't stop him being faithful. And he tells us this in the fifth
chapter, moreover, from the time that I was appointed to be their
governor in the land of Judah, from the 20th year, even under
the 230th year of Artaxerxes the king, that is 12 years, I
and my brethren have not eaten the bread of the governor. They didn't want to put themselves
in a position where they were under duress to the governor. But the former governors that
had been before me were chargeable unto the people and had taken
of them bread and wine beside 40 shekels of silver, even their
servants bear rule over the people. And he tells us this, but so
did not I. Why? Because of the fear of God. It's wonderful in our lives today,
if the Holy Spirit stops us doing things, perhaps. Perhaps things
which people have done, and we can say, well, so-and-so's done
that, and so-and-so's done this, but to have the fear of the Lord
before our eyes desire to do that which is right and not to
offend God and so we have words like this in the word of God
to encourage us so did not I because of the fear of the Lord God knows
you see whether that's our desire in our lives perhaps it is an
unctuous light to all that's right and a bar to all that's
wrong. The fear of the Lord, the fear
of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, spiritual wisdom,
a good understanding of all they that do it. It's a mercy if God
gives us a spiritual understanding to do that which is right and
to turn away from that which is wrong. It's not always easy. In actual fact, it's often very
difficult. But we must remember we have
a God who helps. He gives strength. He gives us
ability to do those things which we perhaps feared we would not
be able to do. And we prove that God is with
us. That God stands by us. Perhaps
God gives us the words we need to speak in difficult situations,
especially when we testify of our belief in the Saviour. It's easy, isn't it, today to
turn away and pretend we're not listening, or pretend we don't
want to know about the things that people may ask us, and yet
remember that great truth, those that honour me, I will honour.
and those that despise me shall be lightly esteemed. Let us never despise Almighty
God. Let us be blessed then with this
fear of the Lord, day by day, in the workplace, at school,
at college or university, wherever it may be, perhaps with our neighbours,
Whatever the situation, to remember here is a gracious and important
word to instruct us and to direct us. The fear of the Lord is the
beginning of wisdom. It is true. And it's a good understanding,
a good understanding, a right understanding, a spiritual understanding.
Have all they that do his commandments, whatever that may be in your
life, in my life. Maybe perhaps you and I are turning
our back upon God. We've got a deaf ear. We just
don't want to hear. We don't want to take it in because
we realise it might be costly. It might be costly to walk in
this way. It may spoil perhaps some of
our little plans. but the great blessing is to
be found doing the commandments of Almighty God. And come back
to that point I made earlier, and it is a wonderful privilege,
and I say that and it is true, a wonderful privilege to take
up our cross daily and to follow the Lord Jesus Christ. We don't
want the Lord to turn against us, do we? We don't want to come
to that day of the judgment and stand before the judgment seat
and hear those words, those terrible words, I never knew you, depart
from me. And to think then, I did not
do God's will. I did not. keep his commandments. I turned my head the opposite
way. A good understanding of all they
that do his commandments. God gives grace. And I'll tell
you this, my friends, the love of Christ constrains us. Constrains us. to do that which
perhaps we thought was very hard and perhaps we might have thought
impossible. Nothing is impossible with Almighty
God. He is able. He is willing. Doubt no more. A good understanding
have all they that do his commandments. Well, I pray that all of us may
have a good understanding that we may do indeed the commandments
of our God not counting the cost you only have to read in history
go back to the times of the martyrs they didn't count the cost, did
they? their life was at stake but they confessed who they were
and whom they served and they would not deny their Lord and
Master They had a good understanding of the spiritual truth of God's
word. They enjoyed the fear of the
Lord, which was to them the beginning of wisdom. And we can believe
the Lord received them safe into glory. And then he says, a good
understanding of all they that do his commandments, his praise,
Endureth forever. How true that is. And what a
blessing it is if our praise for our God starts on this earth. Because if it doesn't, it will
never start in heaven. It endures forever. And our God
is worthy of all our praise and adoration. And I hope you know
what that is. And I hope you understand why
that is. Because if he has redeemed our
soul, if he, the Lord Jesus Christ, has laid down his life, that
you and I might receive life, we have a debt that we will never
be able to repay. And surely, because of his great
love toward us, we have reason to praise and honour his great
and holy name. Well, God knows whether you have
ever praised God. If you've had success, perhaps,
in your natural life, have you praised God? Is that the first
thing you did? Or was it perhaps the last thing
you did? Well, it's better to be the last
thing than not at all. But, remember, his praise endureth
forever. As we do praise God, it's not
forgotten. And it's a great privilege to
praise God. And it's a blessing to praise
God. And there's nothing more pleasing
to ourselves than to our God. but to praise him indeed from
whom all blessings flow. And surely one of the greatest
blessings is to possess the fear of the Lord. Oh, this godly fear
that is brought about because of his amazing grace and love
and favor toward us. And it is the beginning of wisdom,
our wisdom, our spiritual wisdom, That spiritual wisdom far surpasses
all necessary of the things of this poor world. And it's quite
easy to understand why. Because the things of this world
pass away. The things of eternity live forever. And you and I, my friends, need
to be right for eternity. Doesn't matter what The worldling
thinks of us. It does matter what God thinks
of us. Come back to what I said earlier.
All of us are without excuse because we have the glorious
Word of God to instruct us and to direct us. It's an amazing
favour. and an amazing privilege to have
God's Word. But oh, my friends, may we read
it, may we study it, may we walk by it, may we heed the gracious
and loving instruction. See, all God's ways are just,
and all God's ways are right. And you and I will never regret
taking up our cross daily and following Him. We have a most
kind, and gracious God, a most kind and gracious Master, a most
kind and glorious Saviour. So may God give us that grace
then to heed these words and have a right understanding of
them. You see, it is important that
we have a right understanding of the things of God. And so
here the psalmist says, true words, The fear of the Lord is
the beginning of wisdom, a good understanding. Have all they
that do his commandments. And may we be amongst those who
are blessed with this good understanding and keep his commandments and
praise him forever and ever. Amen.