About the Hymn
In a world where knowledge is literally at one’s fingertips—grab any smart device, type a question, and receive an answer—how incredibly important are King David’s words in Psalm 111:10: The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom.
This hymn emphasizes that truth as a refrain. The stanzas themselves are a kind of syllabus, a curriculum of human studies, that points the singer always back to God—Father, Son, and Spirit.
Stanza 1: astronomy
Stanza 2: biology & math (Some singers may detect the Fibonacci Sequence in the coral spiral and the marigold.)
Stanza 3: history & anthropology
Stanza 4: art & music
Stanza 5: philosophy
Stanza 6 urges us not to eschew learning. The planet and all the lifeforms that inhabit it are fascinating objects of study, and Christians do well to examine, explore, learn, and (often) admire the elegant truths in all areas of human study. But we are fools if we believe that human theories, inventions, and accomplishments are the height of wisdom. We cannot fully appreciate the complexity and beauty of this world until we realize our place in it: We are the creatures, and God is the Creator. In fear and humility, in gratitude and praise, we kneel.
The hymn should be performed at a broad, expansive♩= ca. 72.
Text
1. Contemplate the distant stars and planets
and trace their travels through the universe.
Ponder how God called them into being,
how from the Father’s fingertips they burst.
Refrain:
The fear of the Lord, the fear of the Lord is where wisdom begins
2. Watch the waving spirals of the coral
and count the petals of the marigold.
Marvel at the Spirit’s ordered planet,
extravagant and beautiful and bold.
Refrain
3. Track the atlas of your ancient forebears;
consider all the kingdoms lost and won.
Praise the One who sets our times and places,
for hist’ry is a thread the Son has spun.
Refrain
4. Touch the cooling alabaster statue
and let the cello slow your beating heart.
Whisper to your God a humble thank you
for all the secret languages of art.
Refrain
5. Sift philosophies and human insights,
how sages view the workings of the world.
See them as they are, a feeble reaching
for clarity found only in the Word.
Refrain
6. Learn and love this world on which we’re spinning,
but know your learning cannot be complete
till you kneel as creature to Creator.
In God alone, all truth and wisdom meet.
Refrain
© 2018 Laurie F. Gauger
Lectionary Reading
Year B, Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany: Psalm 111
Year B, Season after Pentecost, Proper 15 (20): Psalm 111
Praise the Lord.
I will extol the Lord with all my heart
in the council of the upright and in the assembly.
Great are the works of the Lord;
they are pondered by all who delight in them.
Glorious and majestic are his deeds,
and his righteousness endures forever.
He has caused his wonders to be remembered;
the Lord is gracious and compassionate.
He provides food for those who fear him;
he remembers his covenant forever.
He has shown his people the power of his works,
giving them the lands of other nations.
The works of his hands are faithful and just;
all his precepts are trustworthy.
They are established for ever and ever,
enacted in faithfulness and uprightness.
He provided redemption for his people;
he ordained his covenant forever—
holy and awesome is his name.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;
all who follow his precepts have good understanding.
To him belongs eternal praise.
Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com. The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™
