Sep 16, 2019
In The Lord’s Wisdom —Proverbs 2
“For the Lord gives wisdom;
from his mouth come knowledge and understanding”— Proverbs 2:6 NRSV
What are the ways one can find wisdom?
All throughout Proverbs, there’s this dialogue between an elder and a trainee. Could be a king to a prince, father to a son, teacher to a pupil. Yet, the book of Proverbs was used to teach the ways of wisdom to the young men of Israel.
The book of Proverbs has a very positive outlook on the gaining of wisdom. If one gains Godly wisdom, then they will be blessed—their life will benefit, they will worship God better, they will gain stronger friendships, their family will abound in more riches. It’s all a very positive outlook.
In Proverbs 2, God giving someone wisdom proverbially promises safety and salvation. “[Wisdom] will save you from the way of evil, / from those who speak perversely…” (Proverbs 2:12 NRSV).
But these reminders of gaining wisdom from God is something that is given, taught, and learned. It’s given by God, taught by others, and learned by the individual.
Much of the wisdom of life is a learned thing from one’s personal experience. For me, much wisdom has been learned in making mistakes, messing up, picking up the pieces, and trying again.
Godly wisdom is a lot like the virtues of Christian living — the fruit of the Holy Spirit. In Galatians, Paul is going on about the life of the church in the Holy Spirit. He contrasts the slavery of being under the law and the freedom of being in the Spirit. In life in the Spirit, it transforms our fallen flesh into redeemed and being redeemed new flesh.
Paul states that this new life in the Spirit is one where the fruit of the Spirit is made wholly present. As a child, my Sunday School classes often taught me about trying to work on one aspect of the fruit, like patience, for example. Though working on things like patience and kindness are good things, it’s not Paul’s point.
You see, in Galatians 5:22–23, this fruit of the Spirit is one fruit — not many. So, this singular fruit of the Spirit is love-joy-peace-patience-kindness-generosity-faithfulness-gentleness-self-control. Life in the Spirit is marked by this gigantic fruit of virtue. All are interrelated and interdependent.
This kind of fruitful life can’t be done on human effort alone because it takes the work of Christ on the cross and the giving of his Spirit to us to transform our fallenness into this fruitfulness.
The way one attains Godly wisdom is as the elder teaches the trainee —accept your elder’s words (v. 1), listen with your ears and your heart (v. 2), cry out in request to God for wisdom (v. 3), seek and search it like treasure (v. 4).
If someone seeks after God’s wisdom in such a way, the Proverbs wisdom teacher states, “then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God” (Proverbs 2:5 NRSV).
It is in God we know of true righteousness, true justice, true equity, and the true path for life. All three of these words are interrelated. In the Christian life, we understand that it is in Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection that we know and understand God’s righteousness, justice, and equity.
Just as Godly wisdom is something we can only attain from God, so too is our true righteousness found in Christ. As Paul describes in the salvific work of Christ on the cross, “For our sake [God] made [Christ] to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21 NRSV).
The wisdom of God is a gift to us from him. It is something that we are given by God. It is something that we are taught by those before us. It is something that we learn as we understand who we are in Christ Jesus.
How do we attain the Lord’s wisdom? Understand that God’s wisdom will hold you, keep you upright, be for your benefit, and is a gift you can’t earn on your own merit. God’s wisdom will transform you. It’s not something you store away, but must live by in all moments of life.
How do we attain it?
My child, if you accept my words
and treasure up my commandments within you,
making your ear attentive to wisdom
and inclining your heart to understanding;
if you indeed cry out for insight,
and raise your voice for understanding;
if you seek it like silver,
and search for it as for hidden treasures —
then you will understand the fear of the Lord
and find the knowledge of God.
For the Lord gives wisdom;
from his mouth come knowledge and understanding— Proverbs 2:1–6 NRSV
Seek and ye shall find. Ask and it shall be given to you.
