The eighth chapter of proverbs is rife with the imagery of wisdom. It speaks of wisdom standing and calling out.. and of understanding raising her voice. It speaks of knowledge, instruction and wisdom as being better than fine metals and gems.. as things that are priceless because they are given by God."Does not wisdom call? Does not understanding raise her voice?
I find wisdom and understanding to be interesting commodities.. sometimes we seek them out and they seem to be nowhere to be found.. and often they present themselves at the oddest times. Like the Holy Spirit wisdom and understanding are things which we flow with as they are revealed to us.. as we navigate through life seeking the Lord these gifts are often simply manifested to us as we need them.. it is like the only way to get them is to not seek them but seek their source.. you know.. seek God.
"The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate."(v13)
In this verse we see a definition of what it means to fear the Lord. I want this verse to mean that I am to hate the evil in you.. but I suspect it means that if I fear the Lord I will hate and subsequently refuse the lure of evil in my life. I think that humility is the key to this kind of fear.
"I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me." (v17)
I am glad that this speaks about wisdom and not about God.. i.e. God's love is not conditional on us loving Him. This verse does seem to contradict what I just wrote about wisdom and how we are not being able to find it when we seek it.. I don't think that is the case.. let me explain. In chapter 12 of 1Corinthians wisdom and knowledge are spoken of as a gifts of the Holy Spirit.. as such it is foolish to chase after these gifts because we are to pursue the Giver and not the gifts.
"And now, O sons, listen to me: blessed are those who keep my ways." (v32) "For whoever finds me finds life and obtains favor from the Lord" (v35)
I think that it is always good to remember that there is a blessing to seeking the Lord.. and often one of those blessings is the gift of wisdom.
If you liked this post then please click here to catch some of my other ponderings on the book of Proverbs.
"The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate."(v13)
ReplyDeleteI am so enjoying your posts on Proverbs, Bob. Love the above translation of v13. My prayer is that I may hate the things my Lord hates and love the things my Lord loves. Too often, sad to say, we don't always do either that well....but we keep pressing to the mark of that high calling :o)
Susan
Thanks Susan.. I am enjoying them as well :)
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