Daily Devotional | The Key to Wisdom

Losing keys is a common experience at our house. Did we leave them in the laundry room? With the groceries? In a coat pocket? Might they still be in the car? In any case, when we do find them, we are relieved and joyful!

Isaiah 33:6 says, “The fear of the LORD is the key to this treasure.” Without a key, the “treasure” or “rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge” remains locked away.

Chapter 33 begins with a prayer for God’s presence, grace, strength, and salvation (v. 2). For Isaiah’s original audience, the threat of Assyria loomed. The phrase “every morning” reveals God to be the ultimate renewable resource. His mercies are indeed “new every morning” (Lam. 3:22–23).

The prayer goes on to express faith in God’s power (vv. 3–4). The Lord can easily defeat any army. Nations flee before Him. The plunder of powerful countries which have looted their victims will vanish as if devoured by locusts, that is, the tables will be turned and the conquerors conquered. God is going to battle on behalf of His people!

The prayer then goes beyond the immediate circumstances to express faith that God has even bigger and better things planned for Israel and for the world (vv. 5–6). His plan is about much more than one solution or one victory. It’s about His glory! He Himself is the only “sure foundation for your times,” the only hope for a just and righteous world. He is indeed a priceless treasure!

Wisdom is more than a quality or a virtue. It’s a Person, God Himself, specifically the Second Person of the Trinity (see Proverbs 8). So the fear of the Lord is first and foremost a relationship. If we are in a right relationship with the Lord, then we know the key to the treasure!

Go Deeper

What is the key that Isaiah describes? What does it unlock? Why do you think the fear of the Lord leads to wisdom?

Pray with Us: What is the key to wisdom? In Isaiah we learn that it’s the fear of the Lord. God, give us this key to Your beautiful treasure chest—of wisdom and knowledge and salvation. May we find joy in communion with You through Jesus Christ.

BY Brad Baurain

Dr. Bradley Baurain is Professor and Program Head of TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) at Moody Bible Institute. Bradley has the unique privilege of holding a degree from four different universities (including Moody). He is the author of On Waiting Well. Bradley taught in China, Vietnam, the United States, and Canada. Bradley and his wife, Julia, have four children and reside in Northwest Indiana.