STARTING ON THE RIGHT PATH

STARTING ON THE RIGHT PATH 

"The fear of Jehovah is the begin­ning of wisdom" Prov. 9:10

This is the last of the addresses of this father to his son. Once more he employs the method of contrast. In the first part, WISDOM is personified; in the second, FOOLISHNESS, in the guise of an evil woman. They are both revealed as appealing to men. The contrast is vivid and full of literary balance, as an examination will show. The words we have emphasized occur in the course of the call of Wisdom. We referred to them in our first note (see 1:7). In this case the Hebrew word is accurately represented by the word "beginning." Whereas at first the declaration was wider (namely, that the chief part, the PRINCIPAL ELEMENT IN WISDOM, is the FEAR OF JEHOVAH), here the whole subject is brought down to the starting-point, as it declares that the first matter, in reference to time and order, in wisdom, is the fear of Jehovah. To remember this, and to act in accordance with it, is to he enabled to live in right RELATIONSHIP with that fear perpetually. We are always beginning; every morning we start afresh; every task we take up is a NEW START; every venture, in joy or in effort, must have its commencement. Then let every beginning be in the fear of Jehovah. That is Wisdom, and it leads in the way of WISDOM. There is an old saying which runs, "Well begun is half done." This is true indeed when the beginning is inspired and conditioned by the fear of Jehovah. That is to walk in the LIGHT; that is to abound in LIFE; that is to be upheld by LOVE. And its end is perfection (Jude 24).