Dock
Resource Kit
Sunday sermon, 7 June 2026
Summary
This week Michael talked to us about the foundation of wisdom in the book of Proverbs, introducing the series "Growing in Wisdom" by grounding everything in Proverbs 1:7: "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge." Biblical wisdom is not a set of abstract principles to apply mechanically, but a way of life rooted in a right relationship with God: one characterised by trust and submission.
Key Points & Takeways
Proverbs is far more than a collection of wise one-liners — It is an entire, profoundly practical book, teaching us how to approach life in a way that honours God, blesses others, and works for justice.
"The Fear of the Lord" describes a relationship, not an emotion — Just as you cannot understand what a butterfly is by analysing "butter" and "fly" separately, you cannot understand fear of the Lord by separating "fear" and "the Lord." It describes a correctly oriented, trusting, dependent relationship with God.
“The Fear of the Lord” is trust and submission — Proverbs 3:5–8 calls us to trust in the Lord with all our heart, lean not on our own understanding, and submit to him in all our ways, a relationship that is shaped this way is what “the Fear of the Lord” looks like.
Jesus is our model of perfect trust and submission — From resisting temptation in the wilderness to praying "Yet not my will, but yours be done" in Gethsemane, Jesus lived the fear of the Lord perfectly. The good news is not merely that he gives us an example it is that he trusted and submitted perfectly on our behalf, reconciling us to the Father.
The fruit of wisdom is a fountain of life, not just better behaviour — Proverbs 14:26–27 promises that the fear of the Lord is a secure fortress and a fountain of life. A fountain does not keep its water to itself, it overflows and refreshes others.
Dock Discussion Questions
Michael asked: when you need wisdom, where is your first instinct — your gut, a trusted friend, the culture around you, ChatGPT, or God? Be honest. What does your natural pattern reveal about where your trust actually sits?
"Fear of the Lord" is not about terror, it describes a right, trusting relationship with God. Does that reframe the phrase for you? What would it look like practically for your day-to-day life to be more shaped by that kind of relationship?
Michael shared that as a circus acrobat he intellectually trusted the catchers and understood the mechanics, but still couldn't let himself fall. Can you identify something in your life right now where you believe God is trustworthy but are still leaning on your own understanding? What makes it hard to let go?
In Gethsemane, Jesus prayed, "Yet not my will, but yours be done," the perfect expression of trust and submission. What is the equivalent prayer for you this season? What is the "cup" you are finding hardest to submit to God?
Proverbs 14:27 describes the fear of the Lord as "a fountain of life," something that overflows and refreshes others, not just ourselves. As a group or as individuals, who in your world needs that overflow right now? What might it look like to be that fountain for them this week?
Long-form, edited transcript
HEAVEN COME DOWN.
Trinity.
Proverbs 1:1-7; 3:5-8; 14:26-27
Introduction: A Series on Proverbs
In March, many of us went away together as a church for the first time to our Big Spring Weekend Away, over a hundred of us, with wonderful worship, teaching, eating, and time together. While we were there, Phil spent some time unpacking the theme of growth: how we can grow in depth, in impact, and in number. He shared how he and we as a church feel that this is a year of growth. So we thought we'd spend the next few weeks focusing on that theme looking through the book of Proverbs.
The book of Proverbs can sometimes go a little under the radar. It sits right after 150 Psalms, so it's easy to miss. You may have encountered it in a Bible-in-a-year plan, where a proverb gets sprinkled in each day; a "proverb a day keeps the foolishness away" kind of approach. There's nothing wrong with that. But Proverbs is far more than a big collection of pithy one-liners. It is not just observations or warnings. It is an entire, incredibly powerful book teaching us how to approach our lives in a way that honours God, blesses others, and works for justice in the world.
Background: Wisdom in the Ancient World
The kind of literature found in Proverbs, wisdom literature, was actually the most common type of literature in the ancient Near East. There was a real culture of sharing proverbial wisdom across nations, and you can find similarities between ancient Israelite wisdom literature and Sumerian, Akkadian, and Egyptian wisdom traditions. But there are also significant differences. The one similarity I want to draw out is this: these proverbs are profoundly practical. There is no abstract, ephemeral philosophical debate here. They are designed to help us understand how we can get on well in life.
Not only is this wisdom practical, it was also deeply sought after. Here is a short passage from 1 Kings 4:29–34 that sets the scene:
God gave Solomon wisdom and very great insight and a breadth of understanding as measureless as the sand on the seashore. Solomon's wisdom was greater than the wisdom of all the people of the east and greater than all the wisdom of Egypt. He was wiser than anyone else... and his fame spread to all the surrounding nations. He spoke three thousand proverbs and his songs numbered a thousand and five. He spoke about plant life, from the cedar of Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of walls. He spoke about animals and birds, reptiles and fish. From all nations, people came to listen to Solomon's wisdom, sent by all the kings of the world who had heard of his wisdom. (1 Kings 4:29–34)
People travelled days, if not weeks, to hear this wisdom. And here it is, right in front of us, available to us today. We are extraordinarily blessed to have unprecedented access to it.
Today we are going to work through four movements: the foundation of growth, the shape of growth, the model of growth, and the fruit of growth.
The Foundation of Growth: The Fear of the Lord
We begin in Proverbs 1:1–7, which is our home base for today:
The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel: for gaining wisdom and instruction; for understanding words of insight; for receiving instruction in prudent behaviour, doing what is right and just and fair; for giving prudence to those who are simple, knowledge and discretion to the young. Let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance — for understanding proverbs and parables, the sayings and riddles of the wise. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. (Proverbs 1:1–7)
What an opening. What an offer. Wisdom and instruction — yes please. Understanding and insight — yes please. And who is this available to? Those who are simple and young. And those who are already wise and discerning. It is available to all of us. I'll let you decide which category you're in today — for me it genuinely depends on the day.
Then we arrive at verse 7: "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction." Most scholars agree that this verse is the lynchpin, the foundational stone that shapes the entire book. The scholar Bruce Waltke, widely regarded as the pre-eminent Proverbs scholar, puts it like this:
What the alphabet is to reading, what notes are to music, what numerals are to mathematics, the fear of the Lord is to gaining this book's wisdom and instruction.
So what is the fear of the Lord? Waltke offers another brilliant insight here. He says that in the same way you cannot understand what a butterfly is by analysing "butter" and "fly" separately, you also cannot understand the fear of the Lord by analysing "fear" and "the Lord" in isolation. It is not fear in the way we fear other things. It is not simply terror, or dread, or even just respect alone. The emotion cannot be separated from the person of God.
Fear of the Lord describes the nature of a relationship with God. We used to use an old-fashioned word for this: God-fearing. If someone called you a God-fearing person, you wouldn't imagine they literally meant you were terrified of God. You'd think of someone devout, committed, someone who had a firm foundation for their life. Fear of the Lord is not about fear, and it is not simply about the Lord in the abstract. It is about a correctly oriented, right relationship with God.
And this proverb says that relationship is the beginning of knowledge. Wisdom is not simply a matter of learning principles and mechanically applying them. Wisdom begins with a relationship with God. And "beginning" here doesn't just mean the starting point — it means the foundation, the cornerstone. God is not just the initiator of knowledge but the foundation of all true knowledge and wisdom.
So here is a question to sit with: when you need wisdom, what is your natural instinct? Where do you go first? Your own gut? A trusted friend? The culture around you? ChatGPT? Or do you go to God?
The Shape of Growth: Trust and Submission
If the fear of the Lord is the foundation, what is the shape of growth? Let us let scripture speak to scripture. Proverbs 3:5–8:
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil. This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones. (Proverbs 3:5–8)
Those who fear the Lord do not lean on their own understanding. They trust in the Lord with all their heart and submit to him in all their ways. Trust and submission. That is the shape of growth.
Now, some of you may already know this about me, but I used to be a professional circus acrobat. I came to London originally to train. And one of the first exercises we did in group acrobatics class — the kind of class where people throw each other around and stand on each other — was trust falls. You'll remember them: you stand completely still, arms crossed, and fall backwards into someone's arms. They started us low to the ground, then gradually further from the catcher, then up higher, until eventually you were falling from a height equivalent to your own body. I confess — I never successfully did it when it was really high. Genuinely terrifying. I am not a flyer; I prefer the ground.
Here is what struck me: I understood the theory of trust. I actually trusted the people catching me — I knew they were strong and experienced. I even trusted the mechanics. I knew that if I kept my body tight, it would work. But at the actual moment of needing to let myself go, I just couldn't do it.
What is God asking you to trust him with right now — not generically, but specifically? A relationship, a decision, a disappointment, a calling? A lot of us, in my experience of growing with the Lord, genuinely believe that God is trustworthy. We desire to submit to him. But we still spend most of our lives leaning on our own understanding.
Trust and submission can give you that feeling of your stomach leaping into your chest. That moment of being untethered. But just as with the fear of the Lord, trust and submission are not floating, abstract ideas. They are always in the context of a relationship — with a God who loves us. We are not asked to trust blindly or submit without reason. We are asked to do that in relationship with a God who is for us.
The Model of Growth: Jesus
If only we had a model, someone who perfectly trusted and submitted to God. The Sunday school answer to almost every question is Jesus, and here it is entirely right. Jesus is our model of growth.
In Matthew 4:1–11, when Jesus is in the wilderness being tempted, he looks to God for his needs: "Man shall not live on bread alone." He refuses to put God to the test. He refuses to serve anyone but God. He trusts and is in perfect submission to the Father.
And perhaps the most powerful moment of all: Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, on the night before his arrest and crucifixion.
Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done. (Luke 22:42)
"Yet not my will, but yours be done." Jesus shows us what it means to trust, to obey, to submit — to live in a right relationship with the Father.
But the good news is not simply that Jesus gives us a good example to follow. If that were all he gave us, we would still fail. The good news is that Jesus trusted perfectly when we did not. He submitted perfectly when we resist. And through his death and resurrection, he reconciles us to the Father and brings us into the very relationship with God that Proverbs describes — a relationship of submission, trust, and fear of the Lord.
The Fruit of Growth: A Fountain of Life
So what is the fruit of growth?
Whoever fears the Lord has a secure fortress, and for their children it will be a refuge. The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, turning a person from the snares of death. (Proverbs 14:26–27)
Not only does Jesus show us the path of wisdom — through him, he brings us onto that path. And that trust and submission, that relationship with God through Jesus, is a secure fortress and a fountain of life.
A fountain. Think about what a fountain does. It doesn't keep its water to itself. It overflows. It refreshes others. It brings life wherever it goes.
That is the promise at the beginning of this series. Not simply that we would know more. Not simply that we would behave better. But as we learn to live in a right relationship with God — in the fear of the Lord — we discover the life that God intends for his people. The book of Proverbs is not about developing moral character as an end in itself. It is about the character-forming work of God: of the fear of the Lord, of a heart positioned towards him in humility and teachability and neighbourly love.
Over the next few weeks we will be talking about speech, relationships, money, humility, and justice. But before any of that, Proverbs asks us a deeper question:
Are we willing to let God tell us how to live?
Are we willing to trust and submit to him, even when his wisdom challenges our own understanding?
And if we are — to whom will that living water overflow and refresh and bring life?
Take a moment now to sit with these questions. Where do you go when you need wisdom, and how can you shape your habits to go to God? Is there something you have been wrestling with — a relationship, a challenge, a calling — that you need to give over to God again today? Where is God asking you to trust him? And where do you need him to breathe life into you, your family, your friends, your community?
"Not my will, but yours be done."
Closing Prayer
Father, help me to bring my earthly fears to you and lay them down. I accept Jesus’ invitation to enter into a relationship with you based on trust and submission. Lord grow my faith that I might trust you more and give myself fully to you, every day. Lord that my relationship with you would be my source of knowledge and understanding.
In Jesus Name
Amen.