What Do You Know?
Let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance. … The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. Proverbs 1:5, 7
The book of Proverbs is the work of several authors, some specifically mentioned. Solomon wrote many of the proverbs and was probably the one who collected them into a book.
Solomon not only believed in God, but he also carried on conversations with him. When Solomon was about to take the throne after his father’s death, God appeared to him in a dream and said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.”
Solomon replied, “Now, Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, 
too numerous to count or number. So, give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?” (1 Kings 3:5-9).
God gave Solomon wisdom so lavishly that he became known as the wisest man who ever lived. “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 also 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: 32-34).
In the first chapter of Proverbs, Solomon said knowledge begins with the fear of the Lord. The word fear as used here means “awe, reverence.” This includes behavior as well as attitude—honoring, expressing gratitude, and obeying God’s commandments. When he referred to “fools,” he meant “morally deficient.”
Rather than fear God, many dismiss him. They substitute “Mother Nature” for “Father God” or the Big Bang Theory for “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Some place God “somewhere way up there,” rather than “right here, right now.” Some believe death is “oblivion—what you see is all there is—there’s nothing after you die, no heaven, no hell.” Some even say God is dead.
But “He who forms the mountains, who creates the wind, and who reveals his thoughts to mankind, who turns dawn to darkness, and treads on the heights of the earth—the Lord God Almighty is his name” (Amos 4:13).
Add to your knowledge, fear, or reverence, for the Lord.
Dig Deeper:
According to 1 Kings 3:12-14, what else did God give to Solomon? What condition did he give?
What does Psalm 139:7-16 say about God’s presence?
What’s another reason to have a proper fear of God according to Hebrews 9:24-28?