Proverbs 9

WISDOM’S BEGINNING IS GOD’S FEAR

‘The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.’

Proverbs 9:10

I. Nothing can prosper long that runs its head against any of the great walls of the universe.—Life is known by its manifestations; no one has ever seen it. There is an eternal march of judgment, which they who choose can see. And calm, and clear, and pitiless on every side, amidst the noise of ignorant self-will, the clash of blinded passion, and wisdom blinder still, the voiceless warning strikes upon the world; and the great prison walls close in on those who will have it so.

II. It may be said: ‘These are but words; what proof is there of this invisible, everlasting wall of doom, and of the unseen executioners, God’s secret police, that arrest the guilty and the careless, self-indulgent fools?’—Take any form of vice you like, give it power, give it wealth, and then—wait a few years and see what comes of it. Watch the curse day by day, and hour by hour, walking by the victim’s side; watch him dragged from bad to worse; stand in his dreary home when the last scene comes—and doubt no more of God’s great prison walls on earth.

III. But it is equally true that the great laws of life act for good to those who follow them.—‘The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.’

—Rev. E. Thring.

Illustration

‘ “The Christian’s Rose,” said Martin Luther, “is not a Red Rose, but a White—whiter than snow; his joys are not the gaieties of this lower earth, but the blessedness of the world of spirits. Another voice rings in my ear—that of Folly, of Madam Bubble. It has enchantment in its dulcet tones. It promises me enjoyment more immediate, more manifest, more reckless and riotous, than Wisdom’s calmer delights. But I shall make shipwreck of myself, if Duessa entice me and Una go unheeded. The simple it is who is attracted like the moth to the flame. ‘He knoweth not that the shades are there; that her guests are in the depths of Sheol.’ So let me prefer the White Rose to the Red.” ’