Proverb a Day in May - May 9th/Chapter 9

As we come to chapter nine, we also come, in my opinion, to one of the great singular verses in all of the Scripture - verse 10: The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding. You notice that it says "the holy," and not, "holiness," or, "what is holy." Strong's Concordance indicates that the word used for holy here refers to God himself. It is as if Solomon is saying here that understanding comes from fearing (reverencing) the Lord and knowing the holy God of heaven.

Every time I read this verse, I think of the great devotional book written by A.W. Tozer, "The Knowledge of the Holy." If there is one book (outside of the Bible, of course) that should be read and re-read, it has to be this book. Just writing about it percolates my desire to dive back into the book again.While I must admit I sometimes don't read the "Preface" of many books, this is one that I read every time. In it, Tozer makes this statement:

The Church has surrendered her once lofty concept of God and had substituted for it one so low, so ignoble, as to be utterly unworthy of thinking, worshiping men. This she had done not deliberately, but little by little and without her knowledge; and her very unawareness only makes her situation all the more tragic. The low view of God entertained almost universally among Christians is the cause of a hundred lesser evils everywhere among us. A whole new philosophy of the Christian life has resulted from this one basic error in our religious thinking.

I could go on with all the great truths Tozer shares in his book, but let me leave you with this opening thought from chapter one: What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.

How is your "knowledge of the Holy?"