Jesus throughout the Scriptures: Job (5)
Pray Psalm 111.9, 10.
He has 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;
A good understanding have all those who do His commandments.
His praise endures forever.
Sing Psalm 111.9, 10.
(Manoah: When All Thy Mercies, O My God)
You have sent redemption, to us, LORD, in Christ of cov’nant fame,
and we in wonder, grace, and awe adore Your holy Name.
All they who would true wisdom know must learn to fear You, LORD,
and in that wisdom daily live and praise You evermore.
Read Job 28.12-28; meditate on verse 28.
Preparation
1. What was Job longing to obtain?
2. Where did he look to find it?
Meditation
We cannot know wisdom apart from the fear of God, and no true understanding will be ours so long as we pursue it outside the scope of God’s righteousness.
What Job here declares is fundamental to human wellbeing but ignored by most people. The fear of God is nurtured through reading, meditating, studying, and obeying God’s Law and all His Word (Deut. 17.19), and communing with God in contemplative, waiting prayer. Understanding into matters and things grows from wisdom, so the more we fear God and obey Him, the more wisdom we will have and the greater will be our understanding of things.
But not all things, as Job would come to understand.
At this point, Job was still living by faith. But he was not content, and by the end of chapter 31, he will have given up waiting on the Lord and demand an answer for his suffering (31.35-37). It will take an extended rebuke from God to cure him of his over-curious and demanding ways and teach him to wait in faith again.
All God’s Law and Word lead us to Jesus, and He is the treasury of all knowledge and wisdom (Jn. 5.39; Col. 2.2, 3). We will be wise and understanding precisely to the extent that we know Him, our Creator and Lord. By the grace of God, Job knew what to seek. His longing for wisdom and understanding was commendable. We should do the same. But whereas Job could only long for wisdom and understanding, these have come to us in Jesus. He shows us true wisdom and understanding by His life and death. And He opens these precious gifts to us in Himself by His resurrection and eternal reign, and through His Word and Spirit.
Would we have more wisdom and understanding? Then let us set our minds on the things that are above, where Christ is, seated in the heavenly places (Col. 3.1-3). For of Him and through Him and unto Him are all things, to Whom be the glory now and forevermore (Rom. 8.36).
Treasure Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162.
“We will be wise and understanding precisely to the extent that we know Him, our Creator and Lord.”
And how well we know Him determines how much we fear Him. As God said to man:
“Behold, the fear of the LORD, that is wisdom, and to depart from evil is understanding” (Job 28.28).
Solomon must’ve been a great fan of the story of Job as we see similar wisdom in his writings:
“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction” (Prov. 1.7).
“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding” (Prov. 9.10).
The psalmist, too, must have been an avid reader of Job:
“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; a good understanding have all those who do His commandments. His praise endures forever” (Ps. 111.10).
“Who knows the power of Your anger?
For as the fear of You, so is Your wrath.
So teach us to number our days, that
we may gain a heart of wisdom” (Ps. 90.11, 12).
In our age of grace, grace, grace, and more grace, used as a license to sin (Rom. 6.14, 15), we need a fresh and correct concept of God. God is Omnipresent, Omnipotent, and Omniscient—everywhere present, all-powerful, and all-knowing. Yet we fear Him like we might a box-turtle, when He is as fearsome as a lion.
As Jesus said, “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him Who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matt. 10.28).
“There is one Lawgiver and Judge, Who is able to save and to destroy” (Jms. 4.12).
Solomon summed it up perfectly with his words of conclusion:
“Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man’s all.
For God will bring every work into judgment,
including every secret thing, whether good or evil” (Eccl. 12.13, 14).
So, fear God, learn wisdom and understanding, depart from evil, and fear God.
We have the mind of Christ (1 Cor. 2.16). It would behoove us to use it.
Reflection
1. Why does God insist on our fearing Him? How do we benefit from fearing Him?
2. Jesus is ultimate Wisdom and Understanding. What does this suggest as a goal for all our reading, study, and learning (Rom. 8.36)?
3. According to Deuteronomy 10.12, 13, what is the relationship between fearing God and loving Him? Which comes first? Why?
Where is this wisdom to be found? The treasures of it are hid in Christ, revealed by the word, received by faith, through the Holy Ghost. It will not feed pride or vanity, or amuse our vain curiosity. It teaches and encourages sinners to fear the Lord, and to depart from evil, in the exercise of repentance and faith, without desiring to solve all difficulties about the events of this life. Matthew Henry (1662-1714), Commentary on Job 28.20-28
Pray Psalm 111.1-8.
Praise the Lord for His works and the Wisdom by which He made them. Thank and praise Him for His constant care and provision, and for the insight He gives for understanding His works. Commit yourself this day to walk the path marked out by His precepts and truth.
Sing Psalm 111.1-8.
(Manoah: When All Your Mercies, O My God)
Praise the LORD! O let my heart give thanks here amid His chosen race!
Your works are great, O LORD, and sought by all who know Your grace.
For Your work is full of splendor, LORD, and of majesty most pure;
Your righteousness, O glorious God, forever will endure!
You have caused Your many wondrous works to remain before our face.
For You are full of mercy, LORD, and abounding all in grace.
For all who fear You, You provide; Your covenant endures.
Your pow’r You show Your people, LORD, and make the nations theirs.
The works of Your all-sovereign hands are faithful, LORD, and just.
Your precepts evermore are true and worthy of our trust.
T. M. and Susie Moore
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).
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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. For sources of all quotations, see the weekly PDF of this study. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter.
