A wise man will hear and increase in learning, And a man of understanding will acquire wise counsel, Proverbs 1:5
When does a person stop learning in life? According to Proverbs, only an unwise man stops learning. A truly wise man will hear things throughout his entire life and will continue learning from what he hears. Here in verse 5 of chapter 1 of Proverbs we see that in the opening statement of Proverbs a lifetime of learning is what the wise man embraces. The fool is the one who thinks he knows everything. He walks about in life thinking he has learned all he needs to learn. But it is a fact of life that we will never learn a billionth of all there is for us to know. Were we to spend a thousand lifetimes doing nothing but learning - we would only scratch the surface of all that there is to know in the universe - let alone know all there is to know about God. Therefore we should always be listening, studying, and opening our minds to learn as much as we can. Only this way can we ever hope to have a heart of wisdom. When the wise man hears the words of Solomon - and more importantly the Word of God - he hears. Note it does not say that he listens - for many listen but don't actually hear what is being said. The wise man hears what is said and allows it to sink deep within his heart. When he does so he increases in learning. The word for learning here is very interesting. It is "leqah" and it means learning or insight. The idea behind this word is not just gathering a group of facts. It refers to when a person has insight due to the facts that they know. Spiritual education requires that we know the facts - but it goes far beyond that. Spiritual education leads someone to be able to have insight - to be astute to what God is doing and saying. It means we are able to discern between good and evil - between knowing God and not knowing Him. When we increase in learning we are not just increasing in the amount of knowledge we have. We are increasing in our ability to walk with God and discern all things from His standpoint. The second half of the Proverb points this out to us. It tells us that a man of understanding will acquire wise counsel. When we hear and learn - we will also gain understanding and wisdom. We hear and are able to distinguish the difference between things - between choices - between outcomes. We understand the truth - and can apply the truth to every situation of our lives. In doing this we acquire the counsel of wisdom from God. The Lord makes Himself known to us - and knowing Him makes all the difference in the world. We see things differently - and definitely make different choices. A good question to ask ourselves is whether we are just gathering information - or we are gaining a greater insight and ability to make godly choices in life. If we constantly hear what God is saying to us in His Word, in the circumstances of our lives, and through the godly counsel of others, we will increase in our ability to discern and see things as God sees them. "THAT" will do wonderful things in helping us make good choices all day long - and over the course of our lives.
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A scoffer seeks wisdom and finds none, But knowledge is easy to one who has understanding. Proverbs 14:6
It is interesting in our day to see how many mock the things of God. The large number of best sellers that mock the existance of God and the morality and truth of His Word is a little shocking to the general public - but for those who know the Word - just another proof that we live in a fallen world that rejects God and therefore rejects truth. The scoffers present themselves as seekers of knowledge. They paint themselves as the wise among us - and as those who are trying desperately to turn the ignorant masses away from God and away from seeing God's Word as anything more than an old, archaic, rotting document that no longer deserves our attention. But, no matter how much these mockers present themselves as wise - they are anything but wise in the end. They may seek wisdom - but they will find none. The one prerequisite of wisdom is what they lack. We read in a myriad of places that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom - and that is what these individuals lack - any fear of the Lord. Their mocking shows that they consider themselves to be the ultimate resource of wisdom and understanding - which honestly - makes them fools. They will not humble themselves and admit that they are not the repository of all things wise. They are so filled with pride that they will not admit their own ignorance and lack of perfect knowledge. They not only don't know what is going on in perfect detail on the remotest planet in the universe - they are not even aware of its existance! Yet they have the arrogance to say that unequivically there is no God in the universe. Their scoffing will always keep them from knowledge and wisdom. Only their foolishness will be verified in the end. We are told something wonderful here though. Knowledge is "easy" to him who understands. The concept behind the word "understands" is that this person is teachable. It is not that he already understands all things - but rather than he has a desire to understand all things. His admission of a lack of knowledge is what makes his so marvelously teachable. He longs to better understand things and to know what is true. Therefore he has a very teachable spirit and heart. This makes him a perfect candidate for wisdom. James counsels us that the man who will receive wisdom from God is the very one who says that he does not already have it. Since he doesn't have it - he asks God for it. God loves this man - because he is open to all that God has for Him. The Holy Spirit loves this man because He knows that this man will not resist Him when He comes to teach him truth. Knowledge then becomes easy to this one - because he is wide open to God when He teaches him. He loves receiving things from the Lord - and is longing to be taught - to be instructed - even to be rebuked and corrected. Therefore knowledge becomes something very pleasant to his soul. He is a wise man indeed - because he admits lacking wisdom. But the arrogant scoffer - who exalts his own mind - his own learning - his own egotistic sense that he is always right? That man won't receive anything from God - except an invitation to repent of his arrogance and come to the table to learn from the only One who truly has all wisdom. My guess is that without God's mercy and grace touching his life - he would reject it anyway. "All the utterances of my mouth are in righteousness; There is nothing crooked or perverted in them. "They are all straightforward to him who understands, And right to those who find knowledge. Proverbs 8:8-9
Ah yes, that sticky doctrine of infallibility of Scripture rises again with a statement made by Wisdom. God is speaking in this passage as wisdom is personified. God is calling out to men and women everywhere to listen and to open their hearts to receive the wisdom that God wants to grant to them. Wisdom is awaiting them at home, in the workplace, in the market, where the two roads diverge in the wood (with thanks to Robert Frost). But the question should rightly be asked, "Can we trust what Wisdom says to us in all these situations?" ALL the utterances of my mouth are in righteousness! Well there is an answer for us. Wisdom cannot lie to us - cannot mislead us - will not deceive us! Every utterance - every word from the mouth of God given in wisdom is righteous (that means they are all in a state of being RIGHT!). What is even better is that we next read, "There is nothing crooked or perverted in them." Crooked here means to twist something - and it speaks of those who are shrewd and cunning - those who are devious and who wrestle the truth in a direction that is to their liking. God does not work like this. Holiness means that God's motives are utterly transparent. He may speak things in a mystery - but He never speaks things with devious or cunning intent. What drives Him is His love - and His passion for righteousness and for His own glory. Perverted here is the Hebrew word "iqqesh" which means something crooked and perverse. It describes one with a deceitful, perverse, and evil heart. The person like this perverts morals, social graces, even religious things for underhanded purposes. Once again - God knows nothing of this kind of mindset or motive. We read further of His heart in verse 9. All God's utterances - His Word - are straightforward. In the vernacular of our day - God shoots straight with us. The idea behind this word is honesty. It also has with it the idea of someone who is incapable of being perverted or being partial in their judgment. Something we all need to grasp is that ultimately God is worthy of all glory - therefore - what He does is ultimately to display His own glory. What we don't grasp is that God is not being in any way conceited by doing this. To be conceited, God would have to be gaining or seeking glory that is not rightfully His. The truth is - all glory is rightfully His - all the time - in every situation - and from every person that has ever lived or ever will live - period! Therefore God speaks the truth - and He does so with absolute honesty - and with a view to the absolute best at all times. Now there is something that would be nice to have. Someone Who will never be partial to anything but the very best. Someone Who knows what needs to happen, what needs to be said, what needs to be addressed - and does so every single time with wisdom, with tact, and with razor sharp accuracy. But we need to note that this ability to see God in this way is for those who "understand." There is a discernment that takes us beyond fleshly, earthly wisdom that is necessary for men to understand the straightforwardness of God at all times. You see all the time in liberal circles men and women who don't understand - and who accuse God of the most horrific sins and the most terrible motives. The fact is that they DON'T udnerstand and are blind the true nature of God. This understanding comes from the work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts and minds. Without Him and without God's gracious work in us - we will never understand. Our minds and hearts are perverted and twisted by sin. It is only when God's grace is manifest to us that we are transformed - and that our sinful tendencies are no longer dominant in our thinking. God is offering wisdom to us every day - in a myriad of situations where we need it. The truly wise man is the one who submits himself to God - and learns to listen at the crossroads as God instructs him in how to live and how to walk. May we be such men and women - and may we be blessed by the wonderful straightfoward words of God! "Whoever is naive, let him turn in here!" To him who lacks understanding she says, "Come, eat of my food And drink of the wine I have mixed. Proverbs 9:4-5
Wisdom is calling to us every day through the work of the Spirit of God. That is the theme of what God is saying to us in Proverbs chapter 9. The actual call of wisdom begins here in verse four. It is a good thing for us to hear this call - because embedded within this call is also the qualifications we need to grasp to be one who hears and receives the wisdom that God wants to give to us. The call of wisdom is to those who are naive. These are the open-minded and naive. They are not open-minded in the way we speak of it - as someone who is open to all things - and investigating a number of different things. This naive is actually a fool. He is simple-minded and because of this - easily led astray. Wisdom is calling to this simple-minded person to turn in where wisdom is offering her counsel. "Turn in here!" is her call to the simple ones. She is wanting us to turn away from our simple-minded ways - ways dominated by worldly and fleshly thinking - and turn in to where she is offering her wisdom to us. Want wisdom? Then you need to be aware that you lack it. You need to be aware of the natural tendency of lost men and women to be led astray by the world and by their own sinful tendencies. Wisdom also calls to us as those who lack understanding. This is not something lost people enjoy admitting. Actually, it is not something anyone enjoys admitting. But for those who will agree with the Lord that we lack wisdom and understanding - that we lack the wisdom to make basic decisions in life - the Holy Spirit is longing to enroll them in the classes where He teaches wisdom. Next we see that wisdom is not preparing a "dressing down" for not being wise, but a feast for the simple-minded. Too often we think that admission of the fact that we lack wisdom will result in being rebuked and humiliated by God. Nothing is further from the truth. What we read here is that God is preparing a banquet for us - a banquet of wisdom and understanding. Food is being prepared - wine is being mixed - and a feast of all that God has for us is set awaiting our presence at God's table. Are you willing to come and eat? There are multiple invitations from the Lord for those who are thirsty as well as those who are hungry. God is awaiting in His banquet hall of wisdom to bring wonderful blessing to us. All we need do is admit our ignorance of His ways - and to sit and be fed a sumptuous fare of God's wise and wonderful counsel. Listen. Hear God's call to you each and every day. Hear God's invitation to receive wisdom for the decisions that you have to make every day. There is a feast awaiting you if you will only open your heart to receive all that you need. For the LORD gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding. Proverbs 2:6
According to most folks - you can get wisdom from numerous sources - all of which are pretty much equal to one another. I know this is not a popular statement - but that view is contrary to what the Scriptures state. The Word of God makes it clear that the true source of wisdom is Jehovah and the Words that come from His mouth (i.e. revelation of Himself in Scripture). The world will actually lead you astray in the end - God never will. Now in order to undestand the previous statement, you have to grasp a biblical view of life. It is not enough for us to go around and make semi-wise choices in life. The purpose God gave us life is that we would live for and unto His glory. That includes coming to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ - then living the rest of our lives to the glory of God. That is wisdom. Anything that does not ultimately lead to that end is foolishness. Some assert that Confucius, Plato, Socrates, and other philosophers and sages offer us great wisdom. I do not disagree that they have sayings that are wise - but I also assert that the only reason their sayings reach the level of wisdom is because they agree with what the Scriptures teach us - either directly or in spirit. The problem with following such wisdom as a source is that none of these men ever came to faith in the God of the Bible. Thus, in spite of their temporary wisdom - they ended their lives in utter foolishness - following the same rebellious purposes of mankind. Unfortunately, none of their so-called wisdom led them to see their own sinfulness and the God of creation. None of their so-called wisdom led them to turn away from their own works and look in faith to God and His solution for the sin of mankind. I realize that such a statement seems either unbelievably bold or incredibly arrogant. But this is the standard worldview of the Bible. The LORD gives wisdom - this is the assertion of this proverb. If you really want wisdom - turn to God. If you want to grasp knowledge and understanding, you are going to have to realize such things come from God's mouth - i.e. the revelation of Scripture. Jesus said, "man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God." This does not mean that we have to hear God actually speaking to us every day. Jesus was speaking of how the Scriptures give us God speaking - His revelation of Himself and His will and ways. If we learn to listen to Him through the Word - we will truly be wise. What does it mean to know wisdom in the area of "knowledge?" The Hebrew word here for knowledge means a technical or specific knowledge of God, of the world, and of how to make practical decisions based upon what God says. That is a wonderful thing to have - that specific "word" from God that comes from understanding and applying Scripture to your situation. The ability to technically use God's Word and the knowledge of Him and His ways to know what to do in every situation you face. The second word, understanding, helps even more. It means the ability to discern - decide between two things and differentiate between them - thus a biblically based reason and skillfulness in chosing between what is God's will and what is sinful - or in certain cases, second best. That means we have the ability through knowing God and His Word to see a choice between two or more things - and then be able to distinguish what is God's will and way - and what is not. Some want these things through a direct - or at least that is how they represent it - communication with God. "God told me to do this or that," is their reply to just about everything. I used to do this more than I needed to and it presents a real problem for us and for those who love us. It places us in the position of infallibly knowing God's will. God said it to us - are you questioning God? I've heard from God - are you questioning Him? The problem actually is not anyone questioning God - it is that we are questioning your ability to hear Him infallibly at all times. Thus we place ourselves in a position of not being questioned about our decisions - and put our friends and family in the uncomfortable spot of not really being able to offer loving critique of our infallibility of having heard from God. Wisdom is seeing that the way we hear from God is through His Word as His Spirit teaches us - or grants us impressions and leadings. Often what I was actually saying when I spoke of God speaking to me, was that His Word said something to me - and I was seeking to obey Him. In all honesty - I could have misinterpreted the Word - or picked a verse that agreed with what I wanted to do. Remember, the LORD gives wisdom - and it is from His mouth that the specific knowledge and discerning understanding come to make godly decisions. Therefore it is wise to appeal to His Word - and also be open to correction, suggestion, and possibly even rebuke as to our impression or leading. This requires the ability to think critically about ourselves and our decisions - which I know is very hard. But it also requires us to be able to stand on the Word when we know it is God leading us through it. In the end, it requires knowing the LORD, the Word, and a growing maturity in both. God does give wisdom, knowledge, and understanding to us. He gives it freely, according to James chapter one, to those who need wisdom and understanding. Turn to Him - to where He has spoken objectively in His Word - and learn to follow His leading - not as an infallible inner subjective word - but as a work of His Holy Spirit that can be confirmed through the Scriptures and godly counsel. He will lead you and guide you this way - and you will be far more secure in that leading - than in a subjective feeling you have inside. The plans of the heart belong to man, But the answer of the tongue is from the Lord. Proverbs 16:1
To what level is God sovereign in our lives? There are some who think God is not sovereign over their lives - they can do whatever they want. They can plan their lives to the smallest detail without ever consulting with the Lord to make sure that their lives are pleasing to Him. The truth though is something far different. The plans of the heart belong to man is what Proverbs tells us. A man makes plans - and tries to set up how his life is going to be. There are those who make a few plans - and others who have an entire plan-book detailing almost every aspect of their lives. Whichever you are - you make those plans in your heart thinking that if you act on them you will be able to do what you want. But here is where Proverbs tells us something a little different - well - a lot different. The answer of the tongue is from the LORD. Jehovah is the One who determines whether the plans of men are accomplished or whether they just remain plans. God is the ultimate arbiter of all things - if He says this will not happen - it will not happen. But on the flip side of this is a very comforting realization. If God says something IS going to happen - it will just as He said it would. This does place us in choppy waters at times, because men will criticize God for what He allows within the scope of difficulties, disasters, and ungodly behavior. All we can do in these situations is to call upon the revealed character of God as well as His perfect wisdom and wait until the day that all the secrets of men's hearts will be revealed to us. To us life may take on the look of the backside of a tapestry with threads seemingly going all directions in what looks like a helter-skelter pattern. Yet the front of the tapestry reveales His eternal plan which is beautiful in every way. What we are to learn from this Proverb is what James tells us in his letter. When we presume upon God by saying we will do this or that, we are acting in insolent pride. What we need to say is that we will do this or that if God wills it. That is the wise man's stance on these things. There is one last lesson though - and that is we should seek and know God to where what is most important is not the inadvertant ways we may cross God's will with "our" desires, but rather that we would strive to know Him intimately so that "our" desires are submitted to His design at all times. Does not wisdom call, And understanding lift up her voice? On top of the heights beside the way, Where the paths meet, she takes her stand; Beside the gates, at the opening to the city, At the entrance of the doors, she cries out . . . Proverbs 8:1-3
Here is a comforting passage dealing with wisdom and where it is available. Proverbs eight personifies wisdom as if wisdom was calling out to men. The fact is that Wisdom is personified - because Jesus Christ is to us . . . Wisdom (1 Corinthians 1:30). This passage does not speak of Jesus as wisdom, though, because wisdom is spoken of as a woman. Thus, what we have here is God offering to us the person of wisdom - a wise woman who is calling to us to come and receive her insight - her understanding into the heart of God. She is calling to us to show us how to walk in this world according to God's wisdom and understanding. The first thing we see here is that wisdom calls to men. God does not hide His wisdom from us - He makes it available to us every day. The idea of wisdom calling is that wisdom is summoning us - inviting us to be educated and taught. Wisdom joins her voice with that of understanding - who is also lifting her voice above the din of the crowd to be heard by the naive of the world. They want us to know the heart of God - to know how God views things and sees the world around us. They want us to grasp how to make decisions in light of God's Word - to discern where God wants us to go - to discern what God wants us to do and what to say. Here is the comforting fact . . . when God wants to reveal to us His wisdom and understanding it is not in a convent or a monestary - not in a closed room filled with dusty religious books. Where are wisdom and understanding calling out to us? On top of the heights beside the way is the first location. Wisdom is calling to us as we are walking along the way - even in remote locations God wants us to know His wisdom. This location is further described as being where the "paths meet." Here is the place of decision in life. When the paths come together and you need to make a decision - there is wisdom and understanding calling out to you wanting to be revealed to you so that you can make a godly decision. What is interesting here is that the Word tells us that wisdom takes her stand at the place of decision. How often have you faced a decision - you were at a crossroads - and you just wished that you knew what God thought about it? What we learn from this verse of Scripture is that God is there - that His wisdom is there calling to us, wanting us to know the heart of God and the direction He wants us to take. Why would wisdom "take her stand" at the place of decision? Because she is not the only one awaiting the moment when we are about to make a decision. The world would love to help us make our decisions - as would our flesh and the devil. Things would be much easier if the world was not in a fallen condition. We would not have an opponent in the devil who desires for us to follow his will ratrher than God's will. We would not have a world system dominated by the devil that sends us messages contrary to God's will. We would not have a fallen nature that thinks contrary to God's ways - and is unwilling to submit itself to God. Yes, things would be much easier if man had not fallen. But . . . man did choose to rebel against God - and therefore we need for wisdom to take her stand at points of decision in our lives. The last place that is mentioned in this message to us about wisdom's call is the gate of the city. Why is that singled out for us? It is because the gates of the city were the place where the elders and leaders would meet to make decisions. It is equivilent to the political arena today. The elders, the wise men of the city met there to make decisions that would affect the entire city. As they sat there discussing the issues of the city and the situations where wisdom was needed - they would be entrusted to make the kind of decisions that would work for the best interests of everyone who lived there. What a blessed place our world becomes when our leaders are filled with the wisdom and understanding of God. We saw what happened when our forefathers put our government together with careful thought and consideration for future generations. They made decisions to pit the three branches of government against one another so that one branch would not try to consolidate power to itself. The reason they did this is because they recognized the fallen nature of man - and how when invested with too much power - men are corrupted. They sought to put a governmental system in place that would represent society and protect it at the same time. Just as a nation and city is blessed when wisdom speaks at the gate - society is cursed when wisdom is ignored there. Unfortunately, we have a system that is broken - not because the system itself is flawed - but because the men and women working within it are more interested in their own future than that of succeeding generations of Americans. They make decisions that promise whatever the people want - whether what they want is good for them or not. They craft laws designed to get themselves re-elected - and honestly don't care whether the laws will bring blessing to future generations. What we need is to see our elected officials once again far more concerned about he good of the people more than they are concerned about their continued place of power among them. Until we do - we won't see the kind of wisdom in the gate that will last for generations. Wisdom and understanding are standing at the place of personal and societal decision. May God give us ears to hear and a heart turned to what God desires to reveal to us. Wisdom is calling - I guess the question is, "Are we listening?" My son, if you will receive my words And treasure my commandments within you, Make your ear attentive to wisdom, Incline your heart to understanding; Proverbs 2:1-2
The father in this passage again is teaching his son to be wise. Therefore we once again see that wisdom flows best from a father to his children. The father here presents wisdom in an "if-then" scenario. If you want to be wise, then you need to do this. God did not make us to be robots - preprogramed to make all the right choices. He gives us the option to make wise or foolish choices - and then to experience the ramifications of those choices. Let's take a look then at the "ifs" that need to guide our choices - as well as the "thens" of how we will be blessed by wise choices. If you will receive my words is the first of the cause and effect statements made by the dad to his son. Do we receive God's Words - or words of wisdom from godly sources? The word "receive" here is interesting to consider. First it implies that someone is giving us something - in this case wisdom. Do we receive such things as intended? It is a wonderful thing when wisdom is offered to us. Truly such words are gifts and should be received as such. If we hear the wisdom of God's Word - or hear wisdom offered to us by another with irritation or pride - the words offered are wasted on us. Pride resists what another offers to us - thinking our own understanding to be adequate in all situations. This godly father (who simply mirrors our heavenly Father) wants us to remember to gladly receive what is said. This is especially the case when it is offered by someone in authority or care over us in our lives. Receive what dad says to you. Receive what mom says. Receive what is said to you by an authority in your life. If you do - you will be blessed. There is more than receiving though - when it comes to getting wisdom. We need to treasure the commands of our fathers and those in authority over us. Our culture is not much on commandments - preferring a radical autonomy for self rather than a wise command that offers not just something to obey - but a wisdom and understanding behind the command that protects us as well. The second "if" statement here is that we also treasure God's commandments as well. Imagine treasuring , "Thou shalt not murder." What would that look like - and what benefit would we gain from it? First of all - we would treasure life. It is something sacred given from God - therefore we do not take life without there being a clear directive from God to do so. Life is not ours to take. Thus we choose to highly value life in every situation we experience. As we do this - we find ourselves receiving as a gift God's words - treasuring those words as they command us on what is right and wrong . This leads to us finding delight in the character of the One giving the commandments - and speaking the words to us. The father goes on to tell the son that doing this will lead to other choices. These choices are first to make his ear attentive to wisdom as the words and commandments are received and treasured within him. As God's Word comes to us we are ware not just of words - but wisdom represented by those words. We see things from God's perspective - and learn to delight in His perspective and how His heart sees things. We learn to love how God sees, perceives, and acts in the world around us. The second choice is to incline our heart toward understanding. God wants us to receive words - to receive commands - to receive wisdom - but this is not an end in itself. We are to take these things and grasp the world around us according to them. Imagine putting on a pair of glasses that allows you to see beyond the raw information you get - to where you grasp what is going on in your own heart and the hearts of others. You would be getting understanding at this point. Information is great - but the ability to then take that information and use it in a way that helps you understand people - understand situations - understand what to say, how to say it, when to say it - and consequently when to say nothing - this is a wonderful gift. This is ultimately where God is taking us . He wants us to have wisdom - but wants it to be practical wisdom that helps us live life better. This always involves receiving raw date and information - but it also always moves us toward coordinating and cataloguing that information so that it can be accessed to foster a better understanding of our world. THE GOAL of all this - to live so as to glorify God in all that we say and do. |
Proverb a DayEach day, we'll take a look at a verse from the chapter of Proverbs for the day. Our hope is to gain wisdom each day - and from that wisdom - to have understanding to make godly decisions in the throes of everyday life. Thank you for visiting our website! Everything on this site is offered for free. If, however, you would like to make a donation to help pay for its continued presence on the internet, you can do that by clicking here. The only thing we ask is that you give first to the local church you attend. Thank you!
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