Blogging Through Proverbs Part V - 2:1-6

Studying: Romans 10-12, Proverbs 2

Memorizing: Romans 1:1-9

Reading: 900 Days, the Siege of Leningrad

Entertainment: 30 minutes

Thoughts: Good

"My son, if you will receive my words And treasure my commandments within you, 2 Make your ear attentive to wisdom, Incline your heart to understanding; 3 For if you cry for discernment, Lift your voice for understanding; 4 If you seek her as silver And search for her as for hidden treasures; 5 Then you will discern the fear of the LORD And discover the knowledge of God. 6 For the LORD gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding." - Proverbs 2:1-6, NASB

So what does it mean to "pursue" wisdom?  By what means does wisdom come?

I remember when I first met Cristy (now my wife).  From the start I was interested.  So what did I do?  I went back to my apartment after meeting her, went about my normal life and prayed about it.  One day she called me up and said "Hey, remember me?  I've had this divine revelation that you've been praying about marrying me, so let's get married."  That's what happened right?

I know some of you might be thinking "Boy, I wish it was that easy!"  Now, while there's no denying it was the divine providence and work of God that brought us together as husband and wife, there's also no denying that I had to pursue Cristy.  I had to talk to her, spend time with her, learn about her, etc.  We had to fall in love with each other.  Not to sound unromantic, but it was work.  A considerable amount of time was invested in the relationship to bring it to the point where when I asked her to marry me she said "yes."  And  it doesn't stop there.  If I say "I want us to have a strong, healthy and loving marriage" I don't stop the pursuit, the seeking, the work, etc.

Thus enters the mystery of God's sovereignty and man's responsibility, and in the case of pursuing wisdom this mystery applies.  What (or better to say 'who') is the source of wisdom? God is the source of wisdom.  Verse 6 answers that with "For the LORD gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding."  And unless God grants wisdom to a person, he or she will never have it.  But, how is wisdom attained?  By what means does it come to a person?  Do I pray "Lord, give me wisdom" then sit on a hill cross-legged and hum till it comes? 

Verses 1-4 spell out a number of things involved in the pursuit of wisdom.

1.  Receiving - Solomon exhorts his son to "receive" his words.  In the Hebrew the word implies taking something as one's own.  A life of wisdom begins with training in wisdom.  Ideally this comes primarily from godly parents who teach their children the ways of the Lord at a young age.  In sad cases where parents neglect this responsibility this training in wisdom may come from another source either early in life or later, such as from a another relative, a teacher, a pastor etc. Even later in life, though we may have been raised in a godly home and taught wisdom from the beginning, we still may find sources of wisdom around us in older Christians and friends.  When one who is wise speaks to us words of wisdom, we need to "receive" those words, make them our own.  

2. Treasuring - Solomon also exhorts his son to "treasure" his commandments.  One can make something his own, but if he's not careful he may lose it.  We take great care with earthly treasures.  We put cherished family heirlooms in safes, and we put important documents in safe deposit boxes.  How many of us go into a panic if we think we've lost our wallet or our wedding ring?  Things that are of extreme importance to us, we keep safe and struggle to keep out of harms way.  Thus Solomon exhorts his son to not simply accept what he's saying, but to "treasure" it, to guard it, watch over it, keep it so that it does not disappear.  

3. Listening - Wisdom does not come by osmosis.  I can't tie a copy of scripture to my head with a string and expect it to sink it.  The attainment of wisdom requires an attentive ear, an ear that not merely hears the sounds of wisdom, but absorbs them, thinks on them and reviews them. I have "phased out" during a sermon before, the whole time fully conscious that the man up front was speaking, but when I "phased in" again, I had no clue what he'd been talking about. Listening requires more than just hearing sounds.

4. Bending - Verse 2 says to "Incline your heart," and the Hebrew could be translated "bend." Certainly we know that God alone changes the heart.  But again, here comes that mystery of the inner workings of divine sovereignty and human responsibility.  Our hearts are not "bent" towards wisdom naturally.  They are "bent" towards foolishness.  And even if our hearts are changed, even if the Holy Spirit dwells within us, we know full well that righteousness does not come easy.  We still struggle with our desires and self wills.  Doing the right thing is still difficult and downright hard.  Thus, when our heart is not bent towards wisdom, when we don't feel like understanding, we must stretch and twist and turn until we get there.  

I cannot count how many times a bad night of sleep has rendered my attitude to be "I really don't want to get up and read my Bible."  Sometimes my attitude has won sadly.  But it's in those moments when I have to "bend" my heart.  I may not feel like it, but I've got to do it. It's much easier to watch the Super Bowl than to go to church.  So we discipline, we "bend" ourselves to do the right thing.

 

5. Calling - As verse 3 says "cry for discernment."  Lest we be tempted to think that wisdom comes merely through outward work, we are reminded that we must ask for it.  We must "cry" for it, asking the One who has all wisdom and all knowledge to impart but a portion of it to us

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6. Really Calling - When something is repeated in scripture it is for emphasis.  "Cry, really cry..." it could possibly be rendered.  The attainment of wisdom, knowledge and understanding come through prayer, fervent prayer, through a passionate heartfelt plea.

7. Seeking - Wisdom doesn't just fall in our laps.  It doesn't come through lightening bolts from the sky, or heavenly lights around us with the 'ahhs' of angels as the movies depict.  To seek something means to look for it, and it says in verse 4 that we are to "seek [wisdom] as silver." We are to investigate sources, looking for wisdom as if it were silver.

8. Searching - Like verse 3 has a repeating idea, the idea of seeking is repeated in this verse but with a synonym that seams to heighten the imperative command. Wisdom is not only to be sought for as if it were silver, but also as if it were a "hidden treasure".  Indeed silver is valuable, but a "hidden treasure" holds promises of extreme value.  Take for instance the famous gold rush of 1849 in California.  When people began to hear that gold had been discovered there, they packed up everything and left their homes and headed for California. They let nothing inhibit their pursuit of finding that treasure.  Now sadly, many died, and very few struck it rich, but they were willing to risk everything they had for the one chance of finding a fortune.  The great thing about searching for the "hidden treasure" of wisdom, is that it is a sure thing.  He who seeks wisdom need not worry that he will not find it.  Why?

The answer to this question comes in verses 5 and 6.  "Then you will discern the fear of the LORD and discover the knowledge of God.  For the LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding."  Throughout verses 1-4 all of these pursuits of wisdom are prefaced by the word "if."  When we come to verse 5 the word "then" appears.  Here we have a promise that cannot fail.  If we pursue wisdom, then we will find it, we will "discern the fear of the LORD and discover the knowledge of God."  It cannot fail. 

And to reiterate the source of this wisdom; it comes from the "mouth" of God.  And where do we hear from the mouth of God?  Do I sit on a hill meditating until I hear a voice from heaven? The mouth of God is his Word.  God's Word is the source of all wisdom, knowledge and discernment.  Do we desire to be wise?  Then we must seek God's Word, study it, dig into it. We must search through it like we are searching for a "hidden treasure."  If I say "I desire to be wise" and yet not seek the Word of God then I am lying, and I do not really desire to be wise.

Now there are some very practical implications here.  If a man will forsake everything he owns in order to seek an uncertain earthly treasure that will make him rich, how much more should a believer devote his time to the pursuit of the certain treasure of wisdom found in God's Word?  I've got to ask the question "What things are inhibiting me?  What is standing in my way of seeking wisdom?"  Those things must change or go.