Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding; If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; Then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding. ~ Proverbs 2:3-6
Wisdom is given by the Lord. Out of His mouth comes knowledge and understanding. It must be sought by a heart that is cries out for it! “Liftest up thy voice for understanding.” The lifted voice is a declaration of the longing heart. It desperately desires it. But desire alone does not equate to obtaining it. “Seek her as silver, and search for her as a hidden treasure.” Silver, gold, precious gems, and hidden treasures lie beneath the surface. You’ll never see them by merely blinking your eyes and glancing across the terra firma. You must dig in order to find them. “Then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.” When the true knowledge of God is uncovered you will understand the fear of the Lord! In understanding the fear of the Lord you find the knowledge of God.
In Proverbs 9:10 Solomon writes, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.” Today we hear much of being accepted before God but very little of the fear of God. You may go years of Sunday successions hearing about receiving blessings, affirmation of your salvation, and assurance that you are accepted by God and somehow never hear a single word of the fear of the Lord. Why is this? In Proverbs 16:6 Solomon writes, “By mercy and truth iniquity is purged and by the fear of the LORD men depart from evil.”
There is very little pursuit of holiness in the church today. Could this somehow stem from a lack of understanding the real knowledge of God? Hebrews 12:14 says, “Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.” Holiness is God’s foundation. No, holiness isn’t a list of rules that someone checks off in hopes of getting into heaven or faithfulness to the horizontal structure of the Law. Holiness is God living inside the regenerated heart of those who have been bought by His blood. Shaping them as a potter molds a clay vessel with his own two hands. Conforming them daily to the image of the Son.
God’s people perish for a lack of heavenly knowledge that would have inclined their heart to reverently fear His name and be delivered from captivity. How shall they come into this freedom if they never understand what it means to fear God? The true knowledge of God certainty won’t be discovered apart from knowing this fear, which must be both seeked and sought after.
The way in which you fear God will relate to your beholding of Him. Ask yourself in light of these passages, “Do I cry for the knowledge of God?”