NOTES for Pro 2:1-9
“If you call out for knowledge and cry aloud for understanding, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.” At first glance, reason and the fear of the Lord seem entirely unrelated! Yet the author of Proverbs believes that it is impossible to find knowledge without the fear of the Lord. What, then, is this mysterious fear? It is certainly not what we usually mean by the word “fear”: not the kind of fear that enslaves and paralyzes. The fear of the Lord is a particular attitude toward God. The word closest to it in meaning is probably “reverence.” Knowledge of God is impossible unless we properly understand our relation to Him. If we perceive who we are and who He is, we will experience this very fear: awe before immeasurable greatness. But if we try to relate to God “as equals,” we are unlikely to see or learn anything beyond the end of our own nose.