Beloved, I am glad to share with you today the above theme from Pr 2:1-2 and following. Indeed, before taking over the education of his son, Wisdom probes his dispositions. Is he determined to let himself be taught to find the knowledge of God? (verse 5). Is it willingly that he bows to the discipline of this “school”? Indeed, no teaching is really profitable if it is not accompanied by the personal desire to acquire this knowledge, and the feeling of its importance. Sometimes a bad schoolboy becomes a good student from the moment he understands that his future depends on his work. Here is the wisdom and intelligence that is available to us. God does not limit the gifts of His Spirit (John 3:31-36). But at the same time we have to pursue them, to actively seek them through prayer (verse 3; 1 Cor. 14:1-5). Vs. 1 to 4 invite the believer to a sevenfold effort. Indeed, if our hearts are not firmly and personally committed, the best education will not be able to preserve us for long (compare verses 10:11; see Daniel 1:3-9). We will tend to align ourselves with the environment in which we find ourselves, and we will therefore be at the mercy of evil influences (verses 12 to 22). And the day of departure from the paternal home will risk marking a fatal turning point. For, let us never forget, “bad companies corrupt good morals” (1 Cor 15:33-34).
The son of Wisdom “understands the fear of Jehovah” and “finds the knowledge of God” when the state of his soul corresponds to the revelations made to him (vs. 1-5). This state of mind consists in the fact that we are willing to receive the words that Wisdom addresses to us; to keep in the secret of our hearts and to listen attentively, in order to submit to it, what divine authority imposes on us; willing to address our voice to the intelligence to ask it to discover to us what is obscure to us (we see here the benefit of prayer to discover the thought of God); to seek this knowledge and to deepen it as a hidden treasure, as an infinitely precious thing that one seeks to possess. This is a great practical truth: The vivid manifestation of God’s thoughts to some of His servants depends on their moral state and habitual communion with the Lord. These instruments of His grace are not satisfied with a superficial, easy-to-acquire knowledge of God’s thoughts; they desire to probe them, not in order to assert themselves in the eyes of others, but in order to grow personally in this precious knowledge.
Verses 6 through 9 support this thought. After describing the state of the heart that is appropriate for the knowledge of God’s thoughts, they show us what Jehovah does for those who are in that state: Jehovah gives wisdom. Such was the gift of Wisdom to Solomon (1 Kings 3). He gathered the aforementioned characters and we know how complete was the Wisdom of which he was clothed. “From His mouth comes knowledge and intelligence.” The word of God communicates the intelligence of what Wisdom brings to light. “He reserves sound advice for upright men”; God makes them the custodians of sound counsel for others; it defends those who have integrity in their conduct; he protects the paths of those whose judgment is consistent with His character; he keeps the way of those who walk according to piety. There is on His part an unceasing protection over those who follow, with unrequited hearts, the path of the fear of the Lord.
This moral state enables us to discern (v. 9) all that pleases God in the saints: justice, just judgment, righteousness, every right way; and draws upon us all the favor of God who communicates to us his secret thoughts and protects us wonderfully all along our walk through this world.
The following verses have been compiled for your edification and grouped together for your better understanding.
Wisdom, a hidden treasure:
- Law in the heart
Ps 37:31 The law of his God is in his heart; His footsteps do not falter. Ps 40:9 I want to do your will, my God! And your law is deep in my heart. Rom 2:15 they show that the work of the law is written in their hearts, their consciences in bearing witness, and their thoughts accusing or defending themselves in turn. 2 Cor 3:3 You are manifestly a letter of Christ, written, by our ministry, not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tables of stone, but on tables of flesh, on hearts.
- Ear
Ps 40:7 Thou shalt desire neither sacrifice nor offering, Thou has opened my ears; You are not asking for a holocaust or atoning victim. Pr 18:15 An intelligent heart acquires science, and the ear of the wise seeks science. Pr 25:12 Like a ring of gold and a fine gold adornment, so for a docile ear is the wise who reprimands. Mt 13:16 Jesus, having arrived in the territory of Caesarea of Philip, asked his disciples: Who is said to be the Son of man?
- Bad conversations, general references
Ps 5:10 For there is no sincerity in their mouths; Their hearts are filled with malice, Their gosier is an open sepulchre, and they have flattering words on their tongues. Ps 55:22 His mouth is softer than cream, but war is in his heart; His words are smoother than oil, but they are naked swords. Mt 12:34 Breeds of vipers, how could you say good things, wicked as you are? For it is from the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks. Rom 3:13 Their gosier is an open sepulchre; They use their tongues to deceive; They have under their lips an aspic venom;
- Inheritance of the righteous, earthly
Ps 37:11, 22 The wretched possess the land, and they enjoy peace abundantly. 22 For those whom the Lord blesses possess the land, and those whom he curses are entrenched. Isaiah 57:13 When you cry out, will the crowd of your idols deliver you? The wind will carry them all, a breath will take them away. But he who trusts in me will inherit the country, and possess my holy mountain. Mt 5:5 Blessed are the debonairs, for they will inherit the earth! Rom 4:13 Indeed, it was not by law that the inheritance of the world was promised to Abraham or his posterity, it was by the righteousness of faith.
From all the above, we note that when wisdom is received in the heart, in the center of affections, and the soul finds pleasure in the instruction received, reflection and intelligence are acquired to save us from two dangers: 1° from the wrong path advised by the perverts to separate us from God (cf. 12-15; 1:10-19); (2) a foreign woman who has abandoned her relations with her first husband, the guide of her youth, in order to become a stranger to him by prostituting herself to others. It is the image of abandoning relationships according to God to enter into a guilty covenant with the world. This woman uses flattering words, because – our natural man knows this all too well – there are attractions in corruption. Ah! if the carefree young man had thought that this path leads to death and that there is no possible return to the paths of life for the one who entered this woman, as he would have retreated with horror from any contact with her! If this warning is received by the Son of Wisdom and he moves away from these tortuous ways, there will be blessing on earth for him, according to God’s government, while the wicked will be cut off from the land and torn away. For attachment to wisdom makes God known and guards evil. The submission of the heart to the words of wisdom and the ardent search for that wisdom result in the knowledge of the fear of Jehovah, and the knowledge of God himself. Whoever applies himself to these things will be kept: not only will he have no share with the villain, but he will be kept from the deceitful woman – from corruption. The judgment of the earth and the prosperity of the just are announced. Our prayers are with you all.
PRAYER OF ACCEPTANCE OF JESUS CHRIST AS LORD AND PERSONAL SAVIOR
I now invite every person who wants to become a new creation by walking in the truth, to pray with me the following prayer:
Lord Jesus, I have long walked in the lusts of the world ignoring your love for humans. I admit to having sinned against you and ask your forgiveness for all my sins, because today I have decided to give you my life by taking you as Lord and personal Savior. I recognize that you died on the cross of Calvary and rose from the dead for me.
I am now saved and born again by the power of the Holy Spirit. Lead me every day to the eternal life that you give to all who obey your Word. Reveal yourself to me and strengthen my heart and faith, so that your light may shine in my life right now.
Thank you, Lord Jesus, for accepting me into your divine family, so that I may also contemplate the wonders of your kingdom.
I will now choose a nearby waterpoint to baptize myself by immersion, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
All adoration, power and glory are yours, now and forever and ever. Amen!
I would be happy to react to any questions and comments you may have, before sharing with you tomorrow “wisdom brings many benefits (Pr 3).
May the Lord Jesus Christ bless you abundantly.
David Feze, Servant of the Almighty God.