It is Sunday morning, and that means that we need some worship. Probably in two parts: there is a good resource for modern stuff called youtube and a couple of churches put up the songs for the week.
But our God is truly worthy of worship. The fear of him is the first step to wisdom, and without that any attempt to love wisdom is futile, though we call it philosophy, or if we do not.
The works of his hands are faithful and just; all his precepts are trustworthy; they are established forever and ever, to be performed with faithfulness and uprightness. He sent redemption to his people; he has commanded his covenant forever.
Holy and awesome is his name! The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever!
(Psalm 111:7-10 ESV)
Praise the LORD! Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who greatly delights in his commandments! His offspring will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed.
(Psalm 112:1-2 ESV)
What is this fear? How do we attain it? For we know that fear is useful. It tells us where there is risk: to be courageous is to manage fear, to have discernment, knowing in this fallen world that we cannot remove risk but we can choose the battles we take, where we put ourselves at risk, with wisdom.
And this wisdom comes from Christ, who neither avoided risk nor pain for the sake of our souls.
Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation—if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.
As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in Scripture: “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.” So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” and “A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.” They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
(1 Peter 2:2-10 ESV)
Our God is faithful. We are not. We stumble: we have to relearn the basics. We have to repent. We have to daily turn from those sins we love, so we build regulations and use social shaming to make ourselves feel righteous, silencing our conscience, which bears witness that we are damned.
The fear of God includes knowing our place within this world, and our state. When we know how lowly and weak we are, we can then truly praise the creator, who even takes our technical errors and industrial dumps and makes them places of beauty.
If the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom, Praise of God is the fruit of wisdom. So let us go and find our congregations this day, and praise our Lord, who made this world, is full of righteousness, faithfulness and wisdom, and saved us from the personal hells we were carefully building in our foolishness.
