The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge.
The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life.
The fear of the Lord leads to life, and whoever has it rests satisfied; he will not be visited by harm. 🙏
The Benimar has left the Mount and come up the coast to Grandcamp-Maisy — back on the Normandy shore, between Utah and Omaha, a few miles from Pointe du Hoc.
Smith three nights running — and the second night in Romans 11. Last night, verse 26: the Deliverer. Tonight, six verses earlier: thou standest by faith.
And Smith's whole meditation is a warning against one thing: forgetting who holds you up.
Smith says: be not highminded, but fear. Le answers with what that fear actually is — three verses from Proverbs, and not one of them describes dread. A beginning. A fountain. A place to rest, satisfied.
The fear of the Lord is not the opposite of joy. It is where joy drinks.
"And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree; boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee... Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear."
Romans 11:17-20 · KJVSmith's verse sits inside Paul's picture of an olive tree.
"Thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in." Grafted. Not grown there. A wild branch, cut from somewhere else, set into a tree it did not plant. Le — that is I was mercied in the language of an orchard.
"Thou bearest not the root, but the root thee." This is the cure for high-mindedness in nine words. The branch does not hold up the tree. The tree holds up the branch.
"Thou standest by faith." Tē pistei hestēkas. The same stand as Romans 5:2 — this grace wherein we stand — and 1 Corinthians 15:1, twelve nights ago: the gospel... wherein ye stand. The standing is never self-generated. It is always by something — by grace, by faith, by the gospel.
"Believers are sometimes tempted to think more highly of themselves than they ought to think. They forget that they are indebted to the free, sovereign, and distinguishing grace of God for all the difference there is between them and the vilest of the vile."
James Smith · On Romans 11:20"All the difference there is between them and the vilest of the vile." Smith is paraphrasing 1 Corinthians 4:7: who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive?
Le — September 18, your answer to that verse: every single thing we have, God gave to us. Smith adds one thing to the list: even the difference.
"Think more highly of themselves than they ought to think." Romans 12:3, word for word — which Le read at Mont-Saint-Michel on September 8. And Romans 12:16, the next night: mind not high things. The same phrase as tonight's be not highminded — mē hypsēla phronei. Paul says it twice in two chapters. Smith says it a third time.
"A high-minded Christian is sure to be unfruitful, and is generally left to fall. Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed. David fell. Peter fell. And thousands besides have fallen — and they exhort us with groans, sighs, and tears: 'Do not be haughty, but fear.' 'Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.'"
James Smith · On Romans 11:20"Because of unbelief they were broken off." Tē apistia. Le — September 22, after 1 Corinthians 13: a great reminder to walk in love, and avoid the evil of unbelief. Two weeks ago you named the very thing that breaks a branch off the tree.
"Let him who thinks he stands take heed." 1 Corinthians 10:12.
"David fell. Peter fell." Smith names them as a warning — but notice whom he chose. Both of them were restored. David wrote Psalm 51 out of his fall: restore unto me the joy of thy salvation. Peter, by a charcoal fire on the shore, was asked three times — lovest thou me? — once for each denial.
The fall is the warning. The restoration is the gospel. The same grace that keeps a branch on the tree can graft a broken one back in — Romans 11:23: God is able to graff them in again.
"With fear and trembling." Philippians 2:12 — the verse beside Le's own Philippians 2:13, posted just four nights ago. And the reason follows it: for it is God which worketh in you. The fear is not terror. It is the care of someone handling what isn't theirs.
"Let us cultivate humility of mind, and habitual dependence upon God; so shall we be safe, holy, and happy."
James Smith · On Romans 11:20Notice where Smith ends: not in fear, but in happy. The warning was always in service of the joy.
"Habitual dependence upon God." Smith has said this three ways in two weeks: our God has determined that we shall use Him (September 23); apply to Him first (last night); and now: habitual dependence. Not an emergency measure. A habit.
"Humility of mind." Philippians 2:3, eight nights ago: in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. And the reason, three verses later: Christ made himself of no reputation. Humility isn't thinking less of yourself. It is remembering whose root you are standing on. 🙏
"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge." — Proverbs 1:7
"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding." — Proverbs 9:10
"The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death." — Proverbs 14:27
"The fear of the LORD tendeth to life: and he that hath it shall abide satisfied; he shall not be visited with evil." — Proverbs 19:23
KJV"The beginning of wisdom and knowledge." Le joins two verses into one — and Proverbs uses two different words for beginning. In 1:7, reshit: the first part, the chief part, the firstfruits. In 9:10, techillah: the starting point. The fear of the Lord is both — where wisdom starts, and the best of what it is.
And this is the answer to high-mindedness. The high-minded think wisdom begins with themselves. Proverbs says it begins with bowing. Le, September 12: who am I to debate? That is the beginning of wisdom, said in Le's words.
"A fountain of life." Meqor chayyim. A spring that keeps running — not a cistern that holds a supply, but a source. And it runs "to depart from the snares of death." Psalm 91:3, three nights ago: he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler. Same snare. Same rescue.
"He that hath it shall abide satisfied." And here is the treasure in Le's last verse. The Hebrew is ve-savea yalin — "satisfied, he shall lodge for the night."
Yalin is from lîn — the traveller's word. Psalm 91:1, three nights ago: whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest — yitlonan, the same root, to lodge for the night.
And satisfied — savea — is the same word as Psalm 91:16: with long life will I satisfy him.
"He shall not be visited with evil." Psalm 91:10: there shall no evil befall thee.
Three nights apart, Le has read the same promise twice in two books. The fear of the Lord is where the traveller lodges for the night — satisfied, and no harm visiting. A different field each night. The same rest. 🙏
"The fear of the Lord leads to life, and whoever has it rests satisfied; he will not be visited by harm."
Le · Grandcamp-Maisy, Normandy · October 6, 2026 · Ve-savea yalin — satisfied, he lodges for the night. Not dread, but a fountain and a resting placeGrafted, Not Grown
A wild branch set into a tree it did not plant. "I was mercied," in the language of an orchard.
The Root Bears Thee
The branch does not hold up the tree. The cure for high-mindedness in nine words.
A Fountain of Life
Not dread — a spring. The fear of the Lord is where wisdom begins and where the traveller lodges, satisfied.
David Fell, Peter Fell
And both were restored — Psalm 51 and a charcoal fire. The fall is the warning; the restoration is the gospel.