Your fear is misplaced.

Gospel Transformation Bible: English Standard Version Study Notes for Proverbs

Verse 7 defines that openness: the fear of the Lord. We begin our journey into wisdom by revering the Lord with holy awe, and we never grow beyond it, because all true wisdom is his alone. We do not master it by our giftedness; he gives it by his grace. The fear of the Lord makes us repentant (3:7), decisive against sin (8:13), stable (14:26), refreshed (14:27), humble (15:33), and satisfied (19:23). We struggle with the Hebrew word “fear,” because there is not a close English equivalent. So it is important to recall that Jesus also came in, and delighted in, “the fear of the LORD” (Isa. 11:2–3). This description of the loving and respectful relationship that the eternal Son had for his Father reminds us that holy “fear” is not terror or dread of harm, but proper and worshipful regard for all that God is in his wisdom, power, holiness, mercy, and love.

Welcome

The word “proverbs” alerts us to the style of this book. A biblical proverb is a briefly stated, time-tested insight into real life. The mention of Solomon, David’s son, locates this book within the biblical story leading to Jesus, the ultimate Son of David, and history’s greatest expert on foolish sinners who need help from beyond themselves.

Verses 2–6 explain how this book helps us. Wisdom, the primary goal, is skill (S stands for secretly, and KILL = SKILL) for living daily life well. Starting with beginners—the simple, the youth—and including the mature—the wise, the one who understands—everyone is invited to grow in wisdom together. All anyone needs is an open mind.

WISDOM = SKILLz

SKILL = S(ecretly)KILLing it!

Verse 7 defines that openness: the fear of the Lord. We begin our journey into wisdom by revering the Lord with holy awe, and we never grow beyond it, because all true wisdom is his alone. We do not master it by our giftedness; he gives it by his grace. The fear of the Lord makes us repentant (3:7), decisive against sin (8:13), stable (14:26), refreshed (14:27), humble (15:33), and satisfied (19:23). We struggle with the Hebrew word “fear,” because there is not a close English equivalent. So it is important to recall that Jesus also came in, and delighted in, “the fear of the Lord” (). This description of the loving and respectful relationship that the eternal Son had for his Father reminds us that holy “fear” is not terror or dread of harm, but proper and worshipful regard for all that God is in his wisdom, power, holiness, mercy, and love.

Raymond C. Ortlund Jr., “Proverbs,” in Gospel Transformation Bible: English Standard Version, ed. Bryan Chapell and Dane Ortlund (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2013), 795.

Raymond C. Ortlund Jr., “Proverbs,” in Gospel Transformation Bible: English Standard Version, ed. Bryan Chapell and Dane Ortlund (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2013), 795.

The reason that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of both knowledge and wisdom is that the moral life begins with reverence and humility before the Maker and Redeemer.

Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 1135.

Those who have skills are GOOD at what they do. Skateboarders!! WOW.

“After identifying your skill, you’ll soon understand your fear is misplaced.”

**What is the fear of the LORD?**

What is wisdom?

“wisdom” is the acquired skill of applying that knowledge rightly, or “skill in the art of godly living.”

What does “beginning of wisdom” mean? Does it continue..? Why?

Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 1135.

Recap of what a stronghold is...

What does “beginning of wisdom” mean? Does it continue..? Why?

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Intertwining of an army presence installed and a fortress for the weak.

Hey guys, thanks for being here tonight. For the past few weeks we’ve discussed strongholds, fear, anxiety, and the life of Joseph. I hope you’ve been encouraged as we’ve navigated these difficult areas and your CONNECT group time has helped you. Let’s go ahead and get started with tonight.

Tonight’s message is centered around understanding that your fear is misplaced, and we are going to be in the book of want to help you guys understand fear and after discussing everything, my guess, is that we’ll all agree that our fear is misplaced.

In the Bible, there are a lot of authors throughout thousands of years of history, and they, at some point, give their version of living for God in that period of history. As we heard last week, some of those stories are EXTREME. But God uses those people to do great things for Himself and we get to learn from their mistakes and successes. We get real life examples of people clinging to Jesus in the midst of fear and success. Last week we learned that Joseph knew God was good, God loved Him, and that God knew what He was doing. Joseph lived with a unique confidence that only came from God.

Instead of living in fear for his life, he lived in the fear of God.

He believed the Power and Presence of God is to help you, not harm you.

In the book of Proverbs, found in the Old Testament of the Bible, are 31 chapters written to give counsel, correction, and/or conviction. Each chapter is set up to describe how a situation could go, will go, or shouldn’t go. You could sum up the purpose of Proverbs by saying it’s a book of the Bible on how to live to for God by the wisdom of God. That “wisdom” part is what I’d like to open us up to tonight.

What is wisdom? Great question. That in itself is the first step to understanding wisdom. Asking questions is a good place to start. When you ask questions, you get answers. Sometimes they are not always the answer you are looking for, but you get answers. These answers give you knowledge, but knowledge is useless if you don’t know what to do with it. Anyways, wisdom….is knowing WHEN and HOW to use that knowledge.

When you have wisdom and are intentional about the way you use it, you develop skills. The kind of skill we’re discussing tonight is the skill of living in fear of the Lord and understanding why that’s wise and the first part of knowing your fear. Let’s go ahead and see what Proverbs has to say.

Proverbs 9:10 ESV

10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.

- says that “The Fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.” –

Look back to Joseph for me and think for a second. Joseph’s life was crazy and very unpredictable, at least to him. He never would have thought his brothers would have sold him into slavery, lied to their dad about it, and then forgot about him. Joseph’s family was taken from him and he was left with an unpredictable future. In that situation, I’m certain he needed direction and he got it. As far as we know, Joseph lived in the fear of God by his actions and his obedience. Joseph didn’t waver in believing that God was good and I believe he developed the skill in fighting against the uncertainty of his life by believing it. Joseph had skill in believing God was good. Here’s what that means….

“Even though his life was crazy, Joseph was SecretlyKILLing it. We don’t exactly know what Joseph clung to, but we know that he believed God in all of his circumstances, and he was used greatly!”

Joseph was asked to interpret dreams for powerful people on two occasions and then he was given favor, protection, and a platform to use his wisdom over an ENTIRE country! Joseph knew the difference in his fears. And hear it is….

“It wasn’t fear…..”

“It was reverence….”

Fear and reverence are two different words and produce two different outcomes. Reverence for God is different because you understand the power and presence of God to help you. Fear of God cripples you because you believe the power and presence of God to harm you!

Our fear of the unknown can be overwhelming at times. When a lot of pain, confusion, and conflict has made a train wreck of our experiences, we tend to fall apart because we don’t understand our fear. We don’t exactly understand why we’re so afraid or what exactly it is we are afraid of. Joseph’s life is just 1 example of a young man, a teenager, living with the similar issues we face, and trusting God’s power to help him instead of harm him.

Here’s what I want to challenge you with tonight. Remember, Proverbs, is a book about HOW and WHEN to use the wisdom of God. We can look to Jesus and be certain of hope. No matter what you’re confronted with tonight, you can apply the wisdom of God to know that the power and presence of God is to help you, not harm you.

Do not be overcome or crippled by the intense fear made up by our head and heart that lie to us, or overcome by the unknown of our future, but let’s instead understand our fear and replace it with reverence. Reverence for God is greater than any fear that will ever be present in our lives and the Power and Presence of God is here to help….not harm….

Let’s look to Jesus, pray.

Let’s look to Jesus, pray.