1 My son, if you receive my words
and treasure up my commandments with you,
2 making your ear attentive to wisdom
and inclining your heart to understanding;
3 yes, if you call out for insight
and raise your voice for understanding,
4 if you seek it like silver
and search for it as for hidden treasures,
5 then you will understand the fear of the LORD
and find the knowledge of God.
6 For the LORD gives wisdom;
from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;
7 he stores up sound wisdom for the upright;
he is a shield to those who walk in integrity,
8 guarding the paths of justice
and watching over the way of his saints.
9 Then you will understand righteousness and justice
and equity, every good path;
(ESV)
STOP! Think a little 🤔 What is God saying to you?
- What is the writer saying?
- How do I apply this to my life?
What is wisdom? It is more than just the accumulation of knowledge, though knowledge is an important part of wisdom. Wisdom is knowledge plus application and experience. Wisdom is something that if you recognise it’s value, you will treasure, seek out and search for it. True wisdom begins with the fear of the Lord (Prov 9:10). We must begin by acknowledging that God is the source of everything and that includes the knowledge of how we should live as well as the wisdom to live that way. Without the Holy Spirit, our natural inclination is to live in foolishness, not wisdom. Wisdom from God is a matter of the heart and leads to moral uprightness. It will guard your path and protect you like a shield. How valuable is wisdom to you? Is it something you seek and search for regularly?
Wisdom is not something we find easily because in our sin we are easily deluded. This is shown most clearly in the cross, the ultimate display of God’s wisdom as He made a way to save us from our sin. But the cross to most people is complete foolishness showing that as humans we have a hard time discerning wisdom and need God’s help (1 Cor 1:18-31).
It is so wonderful that reading God’s word helps us and gives us wisdom and tells us so in this passage.
How God doesn’t try to keep anything good that he wants for us, he gives it to us if we seek him and his word