Truly, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.

The Book of Job is part of the wisdom literature of the Hebrew scriptures. These books describe how a wise person looking at the world sees reality. It is not revelation from God, but the product of observation and experience.

Job addresses the mystery of innocent suffering in the world. Job is innocent, but suffers all sorts of calamities and losses. He wants to put God on trial to ask why! Who among us has not asked this question in our suffering.

In an interlude in Job:12-29, he asks: " Where does wisdom come from? And where is the place of understanding?" The point is that wisdom remains hidden, even concealed from our eyes. Is there no answer?

It is that "God understands the way to it, and he knows its place." God "established it, and searched it out." It is more valuable than all the riches of the world.

And so what does God say to us? "Truly, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding." This fear is not to be terrified of God, but to be in awe of God's creation and grace. It is a desire to walk the way of God in faith and to forsake those things that have held us back. As Dr. Roy Burkhart wrote many years ago in If It Were Not So, it is a faith that we are God's, and God is ours.