Read Proverbs 2:1–9
Questions from the Scripture text: Whom does Proverbs 2:1 address? What two things does it say to do? What should he do with his ear (Proverbs 2:2a)? With his heart (verse 2b)? For what two things should he cry out (Proverbs 2:3)? In what manner should he seek and search for wisdom (Proverbs 2:4)? In this way, what will a man understand (Proverbs 2:5a)? And find (verse 5b)? To Whom must all this seeking for wisdom bring them (Proverbs 2:6)? For whom does He store up sound wisdom (Proverbs 2:7a)? What is He, unto them (verse 7b)? What paths and way does He guard and preserve (Proverbs 2:8a)? For whom (verse 8b)? What will a man understand, when he comes to the Lord for this wisdom (Proverbs 2:9)?
How ought we respond to wisdom’s invitation? Proverbs 2:1–9 looks forward to the sermon in the midweek prayer meeting. In these nine verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that when we seek wisdom truly, we seek God Himself, Who gives Himself to us, along with the understanding that we need.
What to do with wisdom’s invitation, Proverbs 2:1-4. (a) Receive. Attend upon God’s words, both as they are formed in the mouth of a parent, and as they are formed in the mouth of an undershepherd. “Incline your ear.” Be there to hear them. Give your attention while they are being spoken; think carefully and intentionally. “Apply your heart.” Bring your heart under them, to be convinced in your will and moved in your affections. (b) Treasure. The second half of Proverbs 2:1 corresponds to Proverbs 2:4. In this inclining our ears and applying our hearts, we must be valuing wisdom with more desire than we desire for any earthly treasure, delighting in it more than any delight, guarding it as precious. (c) Ask. Proverbs 2:3 fills out, for us, the source of this attending and treasuring: God’s grace. Wisdom is something unto which to put forth effort, but it is not obtained by that effort. It is a gift. We must “cry out” for it and “lift up our voice” for it. Prayer is an essential component of your response to wisdom’s invitation.
What (Whom!) we find, when we seek for wisdom, Proverbs 2:5-6. When our prayers for wisdom are answered, and God blesses our quest for wisdom, that quest brings us to a person, to a Being: Himself. When we seek, successfully, for wisdom, what do we find? We “find the knowledge of God” (Proverbs 2:5). Wisdom is attained through “the fear of YHWH” because it comes from Him as a gift (“YHWH gives wisdom,” Proverbs 2:6), and a very personal one at that (“from His mouth”).
Seeking wisdom as if it can be obtained merely as a set of ideas, like a theological system or a conceptual abstraction, is more like the wisdom of the world than the true wisdom of the Bible. True wisdom can be had only in relationship with the living God, only in the personal knowledge of Him that He gives us by means of His Word.
What we get from God, when He gives Himself to us, Proverbs 2:7-9. The relational nature of wisdom does not mean that there is no doctrinal or practical aspect to it—far from it! Those who are right with Him are granted to make choices that are effective and successful (Proverbs 2:7a). This is “stored up” for them, the Lord keeping this “sound wisdom” in abundance for them. His instruction is a means by which He Himself shields them (Proverbs 2:7-8a). This, too, is not merely transactional (uprightness or integrity in exchange for protection). It is personal; He does this for them, because they are “His saints.” If we have Him Himself, He will give us to “understand righteousness and justice, equity and every good path.” These are important, but they are not the substance of wisdom but the consequence of true wisdom, which is the knowledge of God.
How does your diligence for hearing God’s Word, and your treasuring of it, appear in your habits and choices? How easily do you give up reading the Word? Meditating upon it? Worshiping by means of it with your family? Worshiping through it in the public worship? Sitting under the preaching of it? How do the true answers to these questions reflect your actual relationship to the Lord (regardless of how you perceive that relationship)? What (in Whom) is your hope for a life wisely and safely (in a spiritual and eternal way) lived?
Sample prayer: Lord, grant unto us that, by Your Spirit, we would long for Your Word and love Your Word. And that, by Your same Spirit, we might have You Yourself by means of Your Word. Give us to know You, and to live in relationship with You. And, for the sake of Your love toward us, give us to thrive in Your service in this life, and forever, in Christ, through Whom we ask it, AMEN!
Suggested songs: ARP119C “That I May Live and Keep Your Word” or TPH225 “Lord, My Weak Thought”
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