The Value of Wisdom: Proverbs 2:1-7

Friday, February 26, 2010 Bryan Hudson 0 Comments

Proverbs 2:1, My son, if you receive my words, And treasure my commands within you,  2 So that you incline your ear to wisdom,  And apply your heart to understanding; 3 Yes, if you cry out for discernment, And lift up your voice for understanding, 4 If you seek her as silver, And search for her as for hidden treasures; 5 Then you will understand the fear of the LORD,  And find the knowledge of God. 6 For the LORD gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding; 7 He stores up sound wisdom for the upright;  He is a shield to those who walk uprightly.
  

In my Bible, the subhead to Proverbs Chapter 2 read, "The Value of Wisdom." This text came to my attention while in meditation and prayer in an area in which I am seeking wisdom. It has been my long time practice to ask God for wisdom more than anything else. Proverbs could have been named "The Book of Wisdom" because of its many admonitions and instructions regarding wisdom.

Wisdom is defined: "The quality of having experience, knowledge, and good judgment; the quality of being wise; The soundness of an action or decision with regard to the application of such experience, knowledge, and good judgment."

I think of wisdom as, "Knowledge and understanding applied to gain clarity on the best course of action to take."

Wisdom, discernment, knowledge and understanding all come from God. There are obviously natural instances of these virtues, but we are more interested in the spiritual frameworks for wisdom, knowledge and understanding. Proverbs offers that framework.

Proverbs 2:1-5 establishes the importance of having a passion for words from God and man regarding of wisdom, knowledge, discernment, and understanding. We must apply our hearts to this pursuit as one would seek hidden treasure. I remember that one of the first instructions we received as new students of John Herron Art Institute was to discard all our dim 60 watt light sources. We needed to purchase 100 watt and greater light sources so that we could clearly see color hue and values.

This is good instruction for believers today. We need more of the Light of the World, Jesus Christ!

Verse 7a: "He stores up sound wisdom for the upright.."  Wisdom is a resource, not just something we gain in the "spur of the moment." Like a sound financial investment, wisdom grows in value as additional deposits of knowledge and understanding are added.  The "upright" are entitled to make withdrawals from the wisdom resource as needed. 1 Corinthians 1:30 states that "Christ is made unto us wisdom…" We don't need to accept confusion or bewilderment when wisdom has been stored up for our benefit.

Verse 7b: "He is a shield to those who walk uprightly;" People often complain about attacks and intrusions into their lives. We sometimes fall into snares that look like imbalanced alliances, exposure to sin, and misapplied expeditures of time and energy. Wisdom is a shield crafted by God. This shield can provide another layer of divine protection, IF we have the good sense to stay behind it.

God is faithful. But sometimes we are not. 100% of my unwarranted vulnerability results from my failure to access wisdom, and then stand behind the shield provided by the same.

Next Post: Proverbs 2:8-9