The punch line is in the final verse, which strongly asserts praxis over any theory or theology. It seems that immanence and transcendence come together not in the head but in behavior, not in clear principles but in right relationship: “Wisdom? It is fear of the Lord. Understanding? It is avoidance of evil” (verse 28). God, it seems, cannot really be known, but only related to. Or, as the mystics would assert, we know God by loving God, by trusting God, by placing our hope in God. It is a nonpossessive, nonobjectified way of knowing. It is always I-thou and never I-it, to use Martin Buber’s
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