The Devotional – 1459 – The Fear of the LORD!

The Devotional – 1459 – The Fear of the LORD!

Proverbs 12:1-2 – Whoever loves instruction loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is stupid (brutish). A good man obtains favor from the LORD, but a man of wicked devices, He will condemn.

Comments and challenges

Last week our theme was the Fear of the LORD and Knowledge of the Holy One and it would seem that the LORD is allowing us to look a bit deeper into the FEAR of the LORD which I believe is have reverence and love for God and His Wisdom. Then there is Understanding which for me is the ability to apply that Knowledge of the Fear of the LORD to our daily life. And as we said last week, without the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, there is NO understanding or ability to apply the Wisdom or Fear of the LORD, as the natural man cannot understand the wisdom of God. Please note 1 Corinthians 2:14 and the surrounding context.

Now believe it or not there are saints that love to be instructed in the Wisdom of God and there are saints that love to apply that knowledge of God to daily living. (But this is not popular in our so called churches these days. Many others like their ears tickled and sadly too, there are those saints who sit under instruction but use little of that knowledge in daily living). Now I do not call these bracketed groups “stupid”. Someone named Solomon already coin that thought over three thousand years ago. 

Now from Proverbs, if you do not like the word stupid (I for one do not like it, then “brutish” will have to do). But if I were stupid, I would rather be called stupid, since being called brutish is to say that “one” lacks the sense to reason, just like any beast. This should ring a bell, in that when God got into Nebuchadnezzar’s life, poor ole Neb wandered out in the pasture for seven years like an “ox”. Daniel 4:28-33.

How humiliating is that? I mean the OX is so poor in brain power that its whole name is nothing more than an “X” and “O”. I mean… maybe we should cease signing off our letters to someone we love with a bunch of X’s and O’s, it is like calling them a brute, or maybe stupid, oh what a pity. (No extra charge for the nonsense, but it was fun).

What is important in your life? Do you love instruction and do you like to apply what you have learned to your daily life? Is what you have learned important or do you just tuck it away for emergency use only? Verse 2 of Proverbs 12 says this: (A good person (man) is in italics therefore it is implied by the translator, plus the text that Solomon uses applies to man, but person works for me). A good person obtains favor from the LORD; but a man of wicked devices will be condemned.

There are other biblical examples, but I like Nebuchadnezzar and his “about-face” in life. In Daniel 4:34-37 and in just looking at verse 37 we read. “Now I Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of Heaven, all of whose works are truth, and His ways justice. And those who walk in pride He is able to abase (humble)”. This was after his seven years jaunt on his farm, eating grass and resembling the OX.

You see it is not that people do not have some Fear of God and too some Knowledge of Him, they do but they do not understand what they know: What the world has as wisdom and knowledge they have made wicked devices and worship the idolatry of their own hands. God will not be humiliated to this lowliness; but He in turn, will humiliate those whose devices and creeds are nothing more than prideful expressions of denying the only true God of Creation. Now a bit of food for thought, since you may feel that we do not have such things today.

Currently we use the wicked devices of ungodly men and women to abort babies. Living beings we put to death daily and there are some who say they are doing God’s will in this. “Bah-humbug” killing human life is murder and idolatry.

We have people who believe that a male can marry another male or a female can marry another female and they do this seeking the favor of man, then they go to God for His blessing this is blatant idolatry and sin. Romans 1:18 – For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of MEN who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. Dare you read from verse 18 through 32? God will not just say to you… Bah humbug!

But if you do READ, you just may come away from that reading with the same humility shown by Nebuchadnezzar and lay aside your pride and turn to praising God as He delivers you from your idolatrous ways. Our nation is steeped in the sin of replacing God (The Creator) with the idolatrous works of the hands of man. It is all around us today… JUST LOOK!