The Promise of Wisdom

Jesus throughout the Scriptures: Wisdom Literature (2)

Pray Psalm 33.1-5.
Rejoice in the LORD, O you righteous!
For praise from the upright is beautiful.
Praise the LORD with the harp;
Make melody to Him with an instrument of ten strings.
Sing to Him a new song;
Play skillfully with a shout of joy.
For the word of the LORD is right,
And all His work is done in truth.
He loves righteousness and justice;
The earth is full of the goodness of the LORD.

Sing Psalm 33.1-5.
(Truro: Shout, for the Blessed Jesus Reigns)
Sing with rejoicing in the LORD, for praise becomes His righteous ones!
With harps and songs raise grateful words, and let new songs of praise be sung!

Joyfully shout! His Word is true; He does His work in faithfulness.
His love prevails the whole world through; the LORD loves truth and righteousness.

Read Proverbs 8.1-21; meditate on verses 6-11.

Preparation
1. How can we know the promise of Wisdom?

2. What is more to be desired than Wisdom?

Meditation
In Proverbs 7, it is temptation, in the form of the harlot, who haunts the streets and corners of the city, and beckons the simple and foolish to turn aside to her, to their destruction. Here in chapter 8, Wisdom—that is, our Lord Jesus Christ—also beckons to us from every place, that we should look to Him and be saved, and find the blessing of the Lord. 

At every moment in our lives, we must choose which voice we will heed, whether the voice of temptation, rebellion, and destruction, or the voice of Wisdom, grace, salvation, life, and truth. We live in a fallen world, where spiritual forces of wickedness swarm about, and the world promotes its ungodly ways by every conceivable means. We must learn to listen for the voice of Wisdom, first, by storing the Law and Word of God in our hearts and minds, then by discerning the glory of the Lord in the creation, to observe His goodness, faithfulness, wisdom, love, and power. Thus we acknowledge Him, and let His glory in creation cue up His Word in our souls. 

And look at what Wisdom offers: excellence, uprightness, truth, a guard against wickedness, righteousness, clarity, understanding, knowledge, and blessing. Wisdom seeks us daily; we must seek Him daily as well (v. 17).

The more adept we become at hearing the Word of Wisdom from Scripture and creation, the more we will be able to draw on both these sources of revelation to aid us in times of temptation or trial, so that we may walk in the Wisdom of God, and He will drive back the darkness of sin by His Light, shining in and through us.

Treasure Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
As our daughter, Ashley, was teaching her combined class of fourth and fifth graders this week, she wisely mentioned the importance of all God’s words; and the uniqueness of all the characters in the Word—surely each of us resembles one or more of them. She was reading to them the passage in John 20 where the author and Peter ran to see the empty tomb. Each word has something to tell us, each word is carefully chosen. “So they both ran together, and the other disciple outran Peter and came to the tomb first” (Jn. 20.4). Ashley caught her student’s attention, and delighted them, by pointing out that although John didn’t name himself, he did bother to mention that he won the race to the tomb. Just sayin’, said John.

Each word. Just sayin’. Solomon did the same thing with his chosen words for Wisdom’s attempt to get His listeners’ attention: cry out, lift up her voice, on top of the hill, beside the way, by the gates, at the entry, at the entrance—everywhere and anywhere. Why? Because He wants us to understand prudence, to not be foolish, and to be of an understanding heart.

God, through Moses, taught how Wisdom is gained, in the same way: “You shall teach them [God’s words and Law] diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates” (Deut. 6.7-9).

We have His promise of success in this endeavor: “For since the beginning of the world men have not heard nor perceived by the ear, nor has the eye seen any God besides You, Who acts for the one who waits for Him. You meet him who rejoices and does righteousness, who remembers You in Your ways” (Is. 64.4, 5).

The women the angel sent to tell the disciples that Jesus had risen from the dead left his presence in “fear and great joy” (Matt. 28.8). Two more very important words about Wisdom. We seek Him, live in Him, serve Him, obey Him, always in respectful and honoring “fear and great joy”. One resides with the other. Kingdom living can’t happen without the two.

Wisdom says, “I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently will find me” (Prov. 8.17).

“And this I pray, 
that your love may abound still more and more 
in knowledge and all discernment, 
that you may approve the things that are excellent, 
“that you may be sincere and without offense 
till the day of Christ, 
being filled with the fruits of righteousness 
which are by Jesus Christ, 
to the glory and praise of God” (Phil. 1.9-11).

“He who follows righteousness and mercy 
finds life, righteousness, and honor” (Prov. 21.21).

Just sayin’, says Wisdom.

Reflection
1. Why is it important that we pay attention to every Word that proceeds from the mouth of God?

2. It’s too easy to read Scripture just to be reading it, and not listening to the words and thinking about their meaning and application. How can we keep from “merely reading” Scripture rather than reading to hear the voice of Wisdom?

3. How can believers encourage one another in this effort? Whom will you encourage today?

The will of God is made known by the works of creation, and by the consciences of men, but more clearly by Moses and the prophets. The chief difficulty is to get men to attend to instruction. Yet attention to the words of Christ, will guide the most ignorant into saving knowledge of the truth. Matthew Henry (1662-1714), Commentary on Proverbs 8.1-11

Pray Psalm 33.13-22.
Call on the Lord to give you wisdom for this day, that you might live and serve others in all excellence, truth, uprightness, and love, to bring the blessings of God into your world.

Sing Psalm 33.13-22.
(Truro: Shout, for the Blessed Jesus Reigns)
God from His throne looks down on men; He knows our works and made our hearts.
Let not Your Church, let none depend on strength or skill or human arts.

God watches those who fear His Name, who hope upon His grace and love:
He keeps their souls from death and shame who trust in Him Who reigns above.

God is our Helper and our Shield; upon us let Your grace descend!
We hope in You; to You we yield; we trust in Jesus to the end.

T. M. and Susie Moore

If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).

Other columns of interest this week: Read Moore (from the book, Revived!); from Crosfigell, “He Knows What He’s Doing”, on the work of the Holy Spirit; and “More of Jesus”, from our ReVision series, “Pray for Your Church.” And new in our bookstore, Let God Be True and Enjoying God, both free to download and share.

Support for Scriptorium comes from our faithful and generous God, who moves our readers to share financially in our work. If this article was helpful, please give Him thanks and praise.

And please prayerfully consider supporting The Fellowship of Ailbe with your prayers and gifts. You can contribute online, via PayPal or Anedot, or by sending a gift to The Fellowship of Ailbe, P. O. Box 8213, Essex, VT 05451.

Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. For sources of all quotations, see the weekly PDF of this study. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter.