Psalm 111:10 “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; a good understanding have all they that do his commandments; his praise endureth forever.”

We often think wisdom is something accumulated. We imagine that enough years, enough books, enough qualifications or enough experience will eventually make us wise. Certainly, experience can teach us much, and knowledge is valuable. Yet Scripture begins somewhere rather different.

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”

Wisdom begins not with what we know, but with recognising who God is. Before Scripture speaks about intelligence, achievement or experience, it points towards reverence. The first movement of wisdom is the moment when we accept that God sees more clearly than we do, understands more completely than we do, and has the right to direct the life He has given us.

Knowing Where We Stand

The phrase “fear of the Lord” can easily be misunderstood. The psalmist is not describing a frightened life spent anxiously wondering what God might do next. Biblical fear is reverence: the recognition that we stand before Someone infinitely greater than ourselves.

There is humility in that recognition.

Much foolishness begins when we quietly place ourselves at the centre of reality. We decide what is right according to what feels right to us. We judge truth according to whether it agrees with our existing opinions. We ask God to fit comfortably within the life we have already designed.

Reverence reverses this.

Instead of asking whether God agrees with us, we begin asking whether we agree with God.

That change may sound small, but it rearranges the whole inner life.

Wisdom Needs a Foundation

Our age is overflowing with advice. Within minutes we can find thousands of opinions about relationships, money, happiness, parenting, politics, work and almost every question imaginable.

The difficulty is not finding guidance. It is deciding which guidance deserves our trust.

Ideas rise rapidly and disappear just as quickly. Cultural values shift. Yesterday’s certainty becomes today’s embarrassment. Popular opinion can change direction before we have even adjusted to the last change. The commentary accompanying this verse rightly contrasts those changing voices with the deeper foundation found in reverence for God.

The fear of the Lord gives wisdom somewhere solid to stand.

It does not mean that Christians possess effortless answers to every difficult question. We do not. But it means we begin our search from a different place. We begin with the conviction that truth does not originate with us and that God’s character and purposes are more reliable than the mood of the age.

Understanding Comes Through Obedience

The next part of the verse is particularly important:

“a good understanding have all they that do his commandments.”

Notice the word do.

The psalmist does not say that good understanding belongs merely to those who know God’s commandments, discuss them or admire them. Understanding grows in those who do them.

There are truths about Christianity that we understand more deeply only after we begin living them.

We understand forgiveness differently when we have actually forgiven someone who hurt us. We understand generosity differently when giving costs us something. We understand trust differently when circumstances give us every reason to be anxious. We understand integrity differently when dishonesty would have been easier and perhaps more profitable.

Obedience turns theology into experience.

It is one thing to believe that God’s ways are good. It is another to discover their goodness by walking in them.

Wisdom in Ordinary Places

This makes Psalm 111 remarkably practical.

Wisdom belongs in the meeting room when we are tempted to protect ourselves at someone else’s expense. It belongs in our homes when irritation makes harsh words easier than patient ones. It belongs in financial choices, private habits and relationships.

It even belongs in the way we behave online, where distance can tempt us to say things we would never say face to face.

The fear of the Lord asks a simple question in all these places: What would faithfulness to God look like here?

Often we already know the answer.

The challenge is doing it.

The Beginning, Not the End

Perhaps the most encouraging word in this verse is beginning.

Reverence for God is not the destination of wisdom but its starting point. There is always more to learn, more pride to surrender, more understanding to gain and more of God’s character to discover.

We do not become wise merely by growing older.

We become wise by repeatedly placing ourselves under the wisdom of God and then having the courage to live according to what He teaches us.

And as we do, our lives become part of something much larger than ourselves, because while fashions, reputations and human achievements eventually disappear, “his praise endureth forever.”

Wisdom begins when we recognise that God is God.

It grows when we begin to live as though that were true.

Explore More

If you have found this helpful, there is more to explore across Saints of the Restoration. You can continue with our Daily Bread devotionals, go deeper through The Deeper Walk, consider some of Life’s Questions, reflect through Bible Poetry, or browse our growing library of free Christian books and study resources.

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