14. He who fears God begins to possess His wisdom, and comes to know within himself the One whom he cannot know in His own nature. — It is as if it were openly said: O man, return to yourself, search out the secrets of your own heart. If you find that you fear God, then assuredly it is certain that you are full of this wisdom. And though you cannot yet know what that wisdom is in itself, you already know in the meantime what it is in you. For that which among the angels is revered in itself, in you is called the fear of the Lord; because it is certain that you possess it, if it is not uncertain that you fear God. Hence also it is said through the Psalmist: 'The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord' (Ps. 110:10); for it then begins to penetrate the heart, when it stirs it with dread of the last judgment.
Therefore the divine word draws itself down to our littleness: just as a father, when he speaks with his little child, of his own accord babbles so that he may be understood by him. For since we cannot penetrate the nature of wisdom, what it is in itself, by God's condescension we have heard what it is in us, when it is said: 'Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom.' But because he truly understands the force of divine fear who keeps himself from all wicked works, it is rightly added: 'And to depart from evil is understanding.' Therefore the words that follow, since they are full of the spirit of prophecy, the very words of sacred history bear witness, when it is said: