Psalms 111:10, commentary and pictures

The fear of the Lord is reverent remembrance that God in heaven as Creator has absolute authority and irresistible power, learned by living and working under the constant sense that He is present, seeing every act and knowing every motive. Wisdom is learned in Christ's school by submitting to His teaching in meekness and lowliness, and it is not mere book knowledge, for even the youngest child who loves and fears God is greater in His sight than a talented learned person who neglects salvation. True education begins with God and reverence for Him as its foundation, with the Bible as the central first textbook and knowledge of Christ as the first and most precious knowledge. A good understanding belongs to all who do His commandments, coming only to humble seekers who want truth in order to obey it, while disobedience shuts off knowledge and keeping His law is choosing life with great reward. Love and fear of God unite the human agent to the divine like a thread of gold, giving power to overcome temptation, and His enduring praise is to replace faultfinding and become the song to turn to when tempted to criticize.

Meaning of Fear and Wisdom

The fear of the Lord is reverent remembrance that God in heaven who created the earth has absolute authority and irresistible power. Love and obedience are due to Him as Creator who bestowed every blessing, formed human beings, understands their needs and rejoices in their happiness, and He is therefore entitled to implicit faith and ready obedience. To obey Him is to accept the guidance of infinite love and wisdom in a course that ennobles character, strengthens intellect, and alone prepares for a life of true enjoyment and real usefulness. Losing this fear makes people lawless and reckless, living as if they have forgotten God, and makes their influence demoralizing even among those who claim to believe the truth, while only a few follow the Lord fully like Caleb.

This fear is learned by living and working under the constant sense that God is present here. It means living continually conscious that God sees every act, hears every spoken word, and knows every motive behind plans and actions. Opening every part of the heart heavenward welcomes the bright rays of Christ the Sun of Righteousness, and this reverent awareness brings a hallowed influence that the Spirit impresses on heart and mind and that impresses patients in the sickroom with truth for good. Keeping this holy fear before the mind means recognizing Christ and need of Him, recognizing Him as counselor infinite in wisdom and always ready to help, making God first in everything done, seeking Him in earnest prayer, and being careful not to make mistakes so that spiritual experience does not become lifeless. Such wisdom leads physicians and ministers to favor establishing sanitariums, publishing houses and schools outside the cities for the good of youth, patients and helpers.

Wisdom is learned in Christ's school by entering as His student, submitting to His teaching as the greatest Teacher the world ever knew and Captain of salvation who stands with believers in the battle together with all the heavenly intelligences. There the learner receives meekness and lowliness of heart from His lips. There the learner drinks at the fountain of God who created the heavens and earth and ordered the sun, moon and stars, rather than going to infidel authors who do not know God. Being so grounded and rooted in truth and converted every day, nothing can move the believer.

Wisdom is not mere book knowledge. Even the youngest child who loves and fears God is greater in God's sight than a talented, learned person who neglects personal salvation. The Scriptures give light and understanding even to the simple, while people of great learning still need the higher education of knowing Scripture and God's power to understand how a sinner may come to God and be justified. Young people who consecrate their hearts and lives to God connect themselves to the source of all wisdom and excellence.

Love and fear of God are like a thread of gold uniting the human agent to the divine, and thus all the movements and choices of life are simplified. Those who walk in humility of mind in love and fear of God possess through faith a power far more valuable and greater than learning or eloquence. When the children of God are struggling with temptation and battling against the passions of the natural heart, faith connects the soul with the only One who can give help, and they are overcomers.

The saying stands where God's works are verity and judgment, all His commandments are sure, they stand fast for ever and ever and are done in truth and uprightness. He sent redemption unto His people and commanded His covenant forever, holy and reverend is His name, and His praise endures forever. The Word of the living God is the study book and foundation for educating students, and no new foundation is to be laid. Those who do His commandments have good understanding.

That enduring praise is to replace faultfinding. Its words are a song to turn to when tempted to find fault and criticize, linking obedience and praise with a wise response.

Education Begins With God

True education begins with God, for reverence for the Lord is the foundation of wisdom and true knowledge. Religious life must not be treated as secondary, and students must not put studies ahead of prayer, Bible study and other religious duties. Knowledge of God as revealed in His Word lays the foundation for a thorough education, and Bible instruction belongs in a setting shaped by this fear of God, with the study of the Bible given a prominent place.

The Bible holds unfailing wisdom as the Word of the living God, and it must be opened and made the central and first book of study in institutions of learning, not treated as only one book among books. It is to be studied thoughtfully to understand how its passages fit together and to gain the essential knowledge needed for eternal life. It reveals God's will to His children and His precepts are to be acknowledged as the rule of life, and it should be read with quiet, devout attention as in God's presence hearing Him speak. Neglect dishonors God and leaves students drinking turbid valley water while forsaking pure streams, whereas usefulness for this time requires drinking its pure, holy, heavenly streams, including histories such as Daniel's life that have been only feebly appreciated.

The first and most precious knowledge is the knowledge of Christ, which wise parents keep ever before the minds of their children. True education begins with knowing Christ and puts Jesus and His love at its center as the students' best knowledge, and its true object and aim is to restore God's image in the soul. Knowledge becomes a power for good only when guided by religious principle, Bible religion does not hinder learning or achievement, and plans and education that turn from God the source of wisdom cannot succeed.

True wisdom and higher education mean knowing God through His Word rather than only science, literature and what the world prizes. This Scripture-based wisdom, found through understanding and obeying God's Word, is essential for young people who seek eternal life, and knowledge of God and His plan of salvation is wiser and more life-giving than ideas that turn people from Him. Knowing God and Jesus Christ belongs to true education even for one who knows much about science, reverence for God does not hinder the study of true science, learning God's revealed truth develops the mind and also advances secular knowledge.

Right understanding of God's Word is better than other knowledge and forms the foundation of an education that honors God and serves Him rather than pursuing selfish ambition. Knowing God and His requirements opens a student's understanding of responsibility to God and to the world and leads the student to develop talents for the best results. The pursuit of knowledge is a search for truth and all truth comes from God, and students who are virtuous and have the Spirit of Christ can grasp knowledge with all their faculties when religion is joined with education and study.

Learning pursued without prayer, communion with God and the wisdom that comes from Him remains deficient, however wise a person may think himself. True learning depends on seeking wisdom from God through prayer and communion with Him. Depending on God is essential to true wisdom, and education that does not depend on God and lacks His grace produces only ungodliness and does not make a person truly wise.

Religious principle is the foundation of the highest education, enabling young people to develop their mental powers fully. With it they can resist temptation and remain unsullied by prevailing evil while carrying their attainments into the future immortal life. Educational work must therefore stand on the exalted platform of eternal truth, the Word of the living God, with all who unite with the school understanding that they are educating themselves for the future, immortal life.

Those who live in communion with their Creator understand His purpose in creating them and their accountability and duty to use their abilities to the fullest. They seek neither self-glory nor self-depreciation, neither exalting nor belittling themselves, but glorify God. The person shaped after God's likeness and reflecting the divine likeness is the noblest example and specimen of God's work, and knowing God through His Word and serving Him in daily consecration bring the highest development of mind, soul and body for His service and the good of others rather than self-exaltation.

Fear of the Lord as the beginning of wisdom requires giving central attention in schools to the incarnation and mediation of Christ, and neglecting this dishonors God as Creator and Redeemer. True wisdom teaches that Christ gave Himself for the sins of the world because of Adam's transgression and purchased the world by making a ransom for it by taking human nature. He was not only the offering but Himself the Offerer, clothing His divinity with humanity and voluntarily taking human nature to make it possible to offer Himself as a ransom.

Anyone who teaches the science of education must first learn this fear of the Lord so as to teach it as the highest science. In preparing to teach in a church school, teachers are to learn to work on sound principles, with their minds fully given to learning how to serve God.

True education must be grounded in Christ and in practical knowledge of God's Word, for learning apart from this foundation is deficient. It teaches sincere, reverent love for truth and integrity as preparation for eternal life. This fear of the Lord calls for willing obedience in response to God's gifts and grounds the wise use and cultivation of the intellectual and moral faculties God has entrusted to each person.

Obedience Gives Understanding

A good understanding belongs to all who do His commandments, for reverence for the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and obedience is its proof. Keeping God's law while keeping reverence for Him before the mind is part of living wisely, and children are to be taught that obedience to all His commandments is essential to true wisdom. Students learn this wisdom not by theory alone but by self-denying practice and obedience.

Understanding is joined to obedience and comes only to humble seekers who want to know the truth in order to obey it. Disobedience shuts off knowledge that could be gained from Scripture and closes off what is available in God's word. Obedience would have enabled people to understand God's plan of government and to explore the riches of heavenly grace and glory. Through that search they would have been ennobled and would have understood and appreciated more fully the mystery of redemption, Christ's incarnation, and His atoning sacrifice.

Obeying God's commandments is choosing life, while disregarding His law is choosing death. Keeping them brings great reward, and no worldly wealth can make up for departing from God's law. They guide those who obey them like a pillar of fire, lighting the path to eternal salvation. The Lord gives health to those who keep His commandments and love Him. Those who seek this wisdom and ask in faith will receive it.

God's wisdom comes with true humility, requiring a person to give up pride in worldly wisdom and humble himself to receive it. The world may regard such a person as foolish, but God regards him as wise, for obedience to God is worth far more than the world's approval. Obeying the Lord's warning and proving the result of obedience to His Word is the wise and safe course, protecting a person's usefulness and influence in the work God has appointed.

Keeping the fear of the Lord ever before the mind is lived out by walking in all of God's commandments with strict integrity. Parents are to set the example in family education, and men of wide influence are to guard their ways and works. Those who listen diligently to the voice of the Lord and cheerfully keep His commandments will be among those who see God. Studying the Bible and practicing its lessons gives sound understanding and preserves the mind. Time spent this way is more valuable than overwork for small earnings.

Wisdom in Responsible Work

Reverence for the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and those who keep His commandments have good understanding, a truth that bears with special weight upon physicians whose work carries responsibility for human life and health. The physician who seeks God's counsel and maintains firm connection with Him works together with Christ, acting cautiously, standing firm in principle, and treating all with kindness and courtesy. Such fear of God guards against doing harm to others and gives patients greater security.

Living and working under the constant sense that God is present opens every part of the heart heavenward to welcome the bright rays of Christ the Sun of Righteousness. This reverent awareness brings a hallowed influence which the Spirit impresses upon heart and mind. That same influence then impresses those in the sickroom with truth for good.

Those in positions of responsibility must keep the fear of the Lord before them to guide their conduct and work. Position itself gives no grace and makes no one righteous, so responsibility must be exercised with godly wisdom rather than used to exalt self or to impose one's own will and methods upon others. Leaders fulfill a high purpose when they use their influence to teach Scripture and impress reverence upon minds, for spreading knowledge of God's Word promotes spiritual health.

Reverence for God is the foundation of wisdom and true greatness, carried into every part of life through integrity and fidelity to Christian principle. Studies, temporal pursuits, abilities, responsibilities and ordinary occupations must remain subject to the higher claims of the gospel, and success must never require sacrificing principle. Without such reverence, wisdom and human strength are inadequate. Those who begin with the fear of the Lord and heed the counsel of experienced people become a blessing by carrying the light of present truth to others and to their own people.

Medical missionary work centered at the Battle Creek Sanitarium was ever to serve as the arm and hand to the gospel ministry of truth for the last days as the body, with Christ as the head, in the great work of preparing a people to stand in the soon-coming day of God. There only thorough instruction in God's Word is enough to save souls ready to perish. True wisdom begins with reverence expressed by making God first in everything, recognizing Christ as counselor infinite in wisdom and always ready to help, and living continually conscious that God sees, hears every spoken word, and knows every motive behind plans and actions. That wisdom leads physicians and ministers to favor establishing sanitariums, publishing houses and schools outside the cities for the good of youth, patients and helpers.

Character of the Wise

Wisdom begins with distrust of self and humility before God rather than jealousy toward others, calling for sincere repentance and a changed life. Holiness can be perfected only in the fear of the Lord, and those worthy of a place in God's cause work and walk in all wisdom by giving heed to instruction.

Fearing the Lord means turning from the evils of the fashionable world and choosing a life guided by God. This includes refusing to envy evil men and turning away from fashionable dress and worldly evils, while parents gather the divine light coming through health reform. Those who fear God put away trifling and live with seriousness, yet remain cheerful, pleasant, and courteous.

Wisdom keeps appetite and passions under the control of an enlightened conscience, so the mind stays clear to recognize Satan's snares and not mistake them for God's providence, and overcoming requires obedience, continual effort, and self-denial following Christ's example. When those with sinful habits yield to divine truth, God's Word brings light and understanding, applies truth to the heart, and revives moral power. Understanding grows stronger and clearer as souls fasten to Christ the Eternal Rock, and health improves as security in Christ grows, showing that religion and the laws of health work together. Reverence for the Lord is the foundation of wisdom and of real prosperity, and the path of wisdom and holiness brings the benefits of godliness in this life and the life to come, in harmony with the laws of health.

Keeping this holy fear before the mind means recognizing Christ and need of Him, seeking Him in earnest prayer, and being careful not to make mistakes, which keeps spiritual experience from becoming lifeless. Reverence for the Lord is worth more than all the world's treasure, and those who know the truth should practice it while serving God. This wisdom calls fathers, whatever their work, to give attention to children in their homes to spare them sorrow, anxiety, and suffering. Spiritual training must not be neglected: children are to learn from the Bible as their first textbook, making God's Word the rule of life, knowing God as Father, learning His character, and doing justice and judgment. In educating young children this means teaching God's truth, helping them see sin as an offense against God, and guarding their hearts. Parents who choose social approval and disobedience over God's commandments reject this wisdom and teach their children to do the same, whereas fearing God means taking His claims seriously and guiding children in obedience.

History and Final Proof

Reverence for God as the beginning of wisdom was lived out by the young men who had been taught to worship and serve God alone, and therefore would not bow to the king's image. Putting that fear and love of God in the hearts of children weaves Christ's likeness into life and character and places them where they can resist temptation and intemperance as Daniel did when surrounded by temptation in the king's court. Such training does not make fools but produces superior wisdom, understanding and knowledge even in mysteries, because Daniel honored God by refusing to let anything come between him and God, and God honored Daniel in return. Daniel's wisdom and knowledge came from God as he held firmly to his religious principles and refused influences that would lead him away from them, and the young remain undeveloped when they do not make that reverence the foundation of their lives. His refusal to join in the sinful indulgences of the king's court shows that this reverence leads to obedience and integrity, and God rewarded his faithfulness with favor and gave him knowledge and understanding.

Daniel and his companions had received early training that taught them to honor God's law, yet they had to choose for themselves to remain faithful. Their fear of God grounded that choice, and God's Spirit strengthened their good purposes and noble resolutions, making reverence the foundation of wisdom and greatness. Piety accompanying learning likewise marks the wise, as seen in Wycliffe, whose fear of the Lord accompanied his education. This truth was deliberately reversed during the French Revolution, when the fear of God was called the beginning of folly, religious worship was prohibited, and devotion to liberty and the country was promoted instead.

Fearing the Lord and holding steadfast principle at any cost will be openly proved in the testing day of God. Then one hour of transgression will be seen as great loss, and the pleasure of self-indulgence will perish like stubble. By contrast, fearing the Lord is the gold that never loses its value, never can be consumed, and endures forever.