The Secret Of Wisdom

Psalm 111:1-2 and 10 - Praise the LORD. I will extol the LORD with all my heart in the council of the upright and in the assembly.  Great are the works of the LORD; they are pondered by all who delight in them.

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding. To him belongs eternal praise.

 

This anonymous Psalm was written by one that truly understood the secret of wisdom.  It starts by following the rules God set down for us in Deuteronomy….because we have a holy reverence for who God is. He just wanted to praise God for the opportunity to know him…and thank him for the things he had done to save him.

 

The wisest ones took this counsel to heart. Solomon wrote in proverbs 1:7 -  The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline. And I love the way it is worded in Ecclesiastes 7:25 – “I turned my heart to know and to search out and to seek wisdom and the scheme of things.”

 

I have to admit that even though I love God very much…I still am counted with the foolish sometimes.  I have the same problem that Paul discusses in Romans 7:16-18 …  “And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good.  As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me.  I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.”

 

I don’t have all the answers to how to break this cycle…but I know the beginning of this path is a holy fear…a reverence for who God is…and what he has done to save me.  That gives me the strength I need …when I call on him….to do what is right…and try to follow his rules.  When I mess up…it is because I let my flesh win out…..instead of asking God to strengthen me.

 

Father…thank you for the reminder that you are a holy God who has all the power to save me from everything you ask me to face.  Forgive me for the times that I allow my flesh to win out and I fail to ask you to help me be strong.  Give me a new desire this day to follow all your rules and fear you as I have never feared before…so I can grasp the great strength and wisdom that comes from loving you with my whole heart. Amen.