Psalm 111:10 –
Fear of the LORD is the foundation of true wisdom. All who obey his commandments will grow in wisdom. Praise him forever!
Fear the Lord sound so ominous when talking about a Lord of love. Why should you fear one who loves you? I think it may mean more of a “healthy respect” for God in this case. My scanning of the different translations tends to support this meaning although most still use the word “fear”. Again I don’t think God is ready to pounce on us at every mistake we make or straying off the law.
We all tend to take the bad things in life and immediately assign them to God’s anger at us. My example is my debt issues, sometimes I feel I am being punished by God for getting into deep debt. In reality God has nothing to do with it! No it was a nation of fools like myself who figured the money will not stop flowing and we can cover our debt. Problem is you cannot base an entire economy on debt, therefore it had a major “correction” and our “house of cards” collapsed.
Now where we have “saved” ourselves is in the honoring God in following His “commandments” regarding money. Basic premise is “spend less than you make, and keep doing it”, but God took it a step further with the tithe. People always argue why “tithe” if a God can create the universe why does He need our cash? Two main reasons, the money helps support the church that furthers His kingdom and second it loosens the grip money has on you personally. The auxiliary reason is selfish, a generous heart tends to have blessing flow their direction. I have notices the less giving I get avenues for making cash tend to dry up.
Now the key again to this verse is a healthy respect for God and his teachings. Wisdom and knowledge can be obtained if one just takes the time to follow God. Believe it or not, when you learn to follow His commandments your eyes open to much more in this world and you gain greater knowledge about God. Or in other words … this verse!